From three great inventions to four great inventions
The "Three Great Inventions" were first put forward by the British philosopher Francis Bacon.
Later, it was recognized by scholars such as maddox and Marx.
The British philosopher Francis Bacon pointed out in "New Tools" that the three great inventions of printing, gunpowder and compass "have changed the whole face and situation of things all over the world: first, scholarship, second, war, and third, navigation; And this has caused countless changes: unexpectedly, there is no Sect, no empire, no planet, which has a greater impact on human affairs than these mechanical discoveries. We now clearly know that this invention came from China. " Later, Marx inherited Bacon's statement and mentioned: "Gunpowder, compass and printing-these are the three great inventions that predicted the arrival of bourgeois society. Gunpowder shattered chivalry, the compass opened the world market and established a colony, while printing became a tool of Protestantism, a means of scientific rejuvenation in general, and the most powerful lever to create the necessary premise of spiritual development. " But Marx did not attribute these three great inventions to China.
Maddox, a British sinologist, also imitated Bacon's statement and pointed out: "China's invention genius has long been manifested in many aspects. China's three great inventions (compass, printing and gunpowder) provided extraordinary impetus for the development of European civilization.
Yue Se, a missionary and sinologist in China, was the first person to add papermaking to the above three inventions. When comparing Japan and China, he pointed out that "we must always remember that they (referring to Japan) did not have such outstanding inventions as printing, papermaking, compass and gunpowder".
Needham's praise and attention to these four great inventions made this statement greatly recognized by China and written into textbooks.