my country’s four great inventions are: papermaking, compass, gunpowder, and movable type printing.
The four major ancient civilizations in the world: Babylon, ancient Egypt, ancient India and ancient China.
Traditional view
The so-called four new inventions refer to the four imported inventions. About 400 years ago, the British philosopher Francis Bacon pointed out that printing, gunpowder, and the compass "these three inventions have changed the entire appearance and situation of things around the world."
Come to China Joseph Joseph, a missionary and sinologist, was the first to add papermaking to the above three great inventions. When comparing Japan and China, he pointed out that "we must always remember that they (referring to Japan) did not have the same technology as printing, papermaking, compasses, and That remarkable invention of gunpowder".
Other views
As soon as the four traditional inventions were proposed, some scholars put forward new views. Dr. Joseph Needham, the world-famous historian of science and technology, once listed 26 technologies that China introduced to the West, and believed that China's important inventions and technologies are not limited to these four inventions.
Among them, silk is one of the important inventions in ancient China. Compared with other inventions, it has the four characteristics of being the earliest, most widely used, farthest spread, and the highest technology. It appeared in the Neolithic Age, the same age as Chinese civilization; it clothed the world and served all living beings; it spread around the world, and the Silk Road became a channel for exchanges between the East and the West; it had the highest technological content and many inventions and creations. In this exhibition, the silk section highlights six invention patents that are unique in the world's textile history.
The first is to domesticate wild mulberry silkworms into domesticated silkworms; this is an extremely important invention in the history of biology. Only two insects, silkworms and bees, have been domesticated in human history.
The second is the invention of the treadle loom. Since then, the word "machine" has not only become a general term for all machinery and machines, but also a pronoun for intelligence, cleverness, cleverness, etc.;
The third is A complete set of fabric structure system, it is precisely because of the design of this set of structures that various silk weaving varieties such as silk and satin brocade appeared;
The fourth is the jacquard program that controls the pattern circulation, which is the silk weaving technology The most magical part is that this thread-woven floral version was introduced to Europe and developed into a perforated paper version, which in turn influenced the invention of the telegraph and early computing machines;
The fifth is the valerian clip. , this colorful resist-dye printing technology invented during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty has been passed down to this day;
The sixth is lock embroidery, although it is only a manual technique, it is unique in the world of embroidery art.
Paper printing is closely related to silk. The earliest printing technology was used on silk in the Han Dynasty. Engraving printing on paper only appeared in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, the earliest paper was a thin layer made of silk fibers. Later, after adding other plant fibers, it became paper with a certain strength and usable for writing.
Cultural Relics Exhibition
The four great inventions of ancient China have long been known to women and children overseas. After more than a year of preparation, the "Miracle of Heavenly Works - Exhibition of Cultural Relics of Ancient Chinese Inventions" was recently held Launched at the new China Science and Technology Museum. This exhibition was co-sponsored by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the China Association for Science and Technology. It mainly displayed the great inventions and creations of ancient China, focusing on four major cultural relics: silk, bronze, papermaking and printing, and porcelain. Once it was exhibited, it was greatly welcomed.
Zhao Feng, the main curator of the silk section and deputy director of the China Silk Museum, said that the original four great inventions no longer fully represent the highest level of ancient Chinese science and technology. This exhibition is the first collective appearance of the new "Four Great Inventions".
Zhao Feng is participating in the "Compass Project", which is a major scientific research project included in the "National Cultural Development Plan for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan Period" and is a major cultural project after "Exploring the Origin of Chinese Civilization" project. Experts will study how many inventions there were in ancient China. This exhibition can be said to be a preview of this project.