The emergence of any object or invention has a great relationship with the social environment at that time. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Egypt's civilization developed for two thousand years, and hadn't it been three thousand years since China's civilization had also appeared? The Eastern Han Dynasty can be said to be a peak period in the development of ancient Chinese science. Zhang Heng, Zu Chongzhi, Hua Tuo, and Zhang Zhongjing were all people of that era. Judging from archaeological excavations across China, papermaking was indeed mature at that time. Let's talk about Egypt. The poster also said that the Egyptians have been using papyrus for thousands of years, but what records do the Chinese use? At first, they used animal bones and armor, and later they used bamboo slips and wooden slips, which were too inconvenient and urgently needed improvement. The Egyptians used papyrus, which was relatively convenient, so there was not much need for improvement. In addition, China's feudal society had been developing for hundreds of years at that time, and what kind of society was Egypt at that time? What kind of society is Europe? I think it goes without saying how important differences in social systems are to a country and a nation. Just look at modern China. Also, if the Egyptian papyrus is considered paper in the strict sense, then your claim that paper was not invented by the Chinese does not count. But the Four Great Inventions are about papermaking. There are no archaeological discoveries that show that papermaking was not invented by the Chinese. Besides, the Egyptian papyrus is just a method adapted to local conditions. Can it be regarded as an invention? From the perspective of promoting human civilization, the Egyptians can use papyrus without making paper. Is it because the Egyptians' civilization is more mature and the Egyptians are smarter than the Chinese? Papyrus may only be produced in Egypt. In Europe, there is no such thing in China. Therefore, the use of straw paper is limited to the places where that kind of grass is produced and its surrounding areas. The invention and spread of papermaking made paper available to everyone. This is undoubtedly the contribution of the Chinese.
As for printing, it is closely related to the invention of paper. Without paper, what would you use for printing? Can workers in Germany print books on tortoise shells? The poster also said that Gutenberg's invention of lead letterpress printing is generally regarded internationally as the starting point of modern printing. Then you should pay attention to it, it is "modern" printing. The word modern cannot be ignored. When it comes to modern inventions, few have anything to do with us Chinese. But does this have anything to do with the four great inventions? You can advance the invention of paper by thousands of years and give the credit to the Egyptians. Can't you advance this even further? If printing was invented by the Germans, then papermaking could not have been invented by the Egyptians, because the Egyptians did not have modern machines.
So, I don’t agree with the poster’s denial of the Chinese people and ancient Chinese civilization. Are we tracing back to the origins or talking about the present? Are you talking about initial discoveries or fully mature technologies? If it is a completely mature technology, I will believe it if someone says that he invented paper three thousand years later. If we are talking about tracing back to the origin, the initial discovery and its significance, should we maintain an objective, rigorous, and realistic attitude? Could it be that China's five thousand years of civilization were concocted by Westerners to comfort the Chinese? I think our past glory does not need to be comforted by others, right? Our modern backwardness is a fact, but we should not be pessimistic because of it; Chinese people have a tendency to have good face and like to be praised and comforted, but there is no objective fact that they are touted because of face.
Not to mention gunpowder. The earliest gunpowder was actually the result of Taoist alchemists unintentionally inserting willows into trees.
The earliest compass is China’s Sinan; archaeological dating can prove that Sinan is the earliest compass. In fact, the invention of this thing is also related to the development of national strength and science and technology. Ancient China's shipbuilding technology was advanced and could build huge ocean-going ships. Doesn't ocean-going ships have to solve the problem of direction and positioning? Sinan came into being. Look at the poor ships used by Columbus and Magellan on their voyages, and then look at the ships Zheng He used on his voyages. History books say that the Wu State of the Three Kingdoms was able to build ships that could carry 80 horses. It was a problem for Magellan's ship to carry 80 people! This is the gap, a gap that cannot be ignored, and it is useless for you to doubt it.