Exploration & Travel
This Chinese invention helped sailors navigate without needing landmarks or celestial bodies.
What is the compass?
This lightweight and durable type of pottery, often called "china," was first developed in China.
What is porcelain?
This explosive invention changed warfare forever and was first discovered by Chinese alchemists.
What is gunpowder?
The Chinese were the first to invent this common form of currency, replacing coins.
What is paper money?
The Chinese used this process to prevent smallpox by exposing people to a weaker version of the disease.
What is inoculation?
The first compasses were made from this naturally magnetic mineral.
What is lodestone?
The Chinese were the first to invent this material for recording information, which remained a secret for 500 years.
What is paper?
Early Chinese flamethrowers combined gunpowder with this liquid.
What is oil?
This form of entertainment, still popular today, was created using woodblock printing on thick paper.
What are playing cards?
This substance, now used in cleaning products, was burned by the Chinese to disinfect after disease outbreaks.
What is a disinfectant?
This improvement in shipbuilding involved dividing ships into sections and sealing them to prevent flooding.
What are watertight compartments?
This printing method, developed in the 7th century, involved carving characters into wood and pressing them onto paper.
What is woodblock printing?
These weapons, thrown by hand, were among the first types of explosives used in battle.
What are grenades?
This timekeeping device, developed in the 8th century, used dripping water to turn a wheel and ring bells.
What is a mechanical clock?
Chinese doctors steamed this item belonging to sick people to prevent the spread of germs.
What are clothes?
This type of boat, powered by a treadmill and moving paddles, made river and lake travel much faster.
What is a paddlewheel boat?
This later printing innovation allowed characters to be rearranged and reused, making printing much faster.
What is movable type?
This two-stage weapon used a black powder fuel and was an early version of a modern missile.
What is a rocket?
These traders brought tea seeds from China to Japan, where tea cultivation became an industry.
Who are the Tang Dynasty merchants?
This modern medical advancement, which protects against diseases like the flu, was influenced by Chinese inoculation.
What is a vaccine?
This innovation in bridge design, completed in 618 C.E., used a smaller segment of a circle rather than a half-circle, making it stronger and requiring less material.
What is a segmental arch bridge?
This metal, created by adding air to molten cast iron, was stronger than iron and became vital to construction.
What is steel?
This war machine launched gunpowder-filled shells, confusing enemies and terrifying their horses.
What is a catapult?
The Chinese first made these types of prints using multiple blocks and different ink colors.
What are multi-colored woodblock prints?
The Chinese discovered that blowing air into molten iron caused a reaction that made this stronger material.
What is steel?