What are the far-reaching influences of the four great inventions of ancient China on the development of the world?

The four great inventions are a series of glorious footprints left by China's ancient ancestors to the world, and they are symbols of great contributions made by human civilization and progress.

1, the invention of papermaking: it provided economical and convenient writing materials for human beings and set off a revolution in human writing carriers;

2、? The invention of block printing greatly promoted the spread of culture;

3. The invention of the compass: it provided conditions for the navigation activities of European navigators;

4. Invention of gunpowder weapons: The use of gunpowder weapons changed the way of fighting, helped the European bourgeoisie destroy feudal fortresses and accelerated the historical process in Europe.

Extended data:

Historical evolution of gunpowder;

Gunpowder was invented by an ancient alchemist during the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China, and it has been 1000 years. The study of gunpowder began with the ancient Taoist alchemy. The ancients refined Dan medicine to live forever. The purpose and motive of alchemy are advanced, but its experimental method still has some advantages, which eventually led to the invention of gunpowder.

Although alchemists have mastered certain chemical methods, their direction is to seek elixir of life, and the invention of gunpowder is a by-product. An alchemist usually "crouches" sulfur, arsenic and other toxic stone medicines before use, and "crouches" means surrendering. The process of losing or reducing toxicity is called "reducing fire".

Sun Simiao, a famous doctor and Taoist priest in the early Tang Dynasty, wrote in the Law of Sulphur Cover in Dan Jing that sulfur and saltpeter should be ground into powder and put into a silver jar or a sand jar. Dig a hole, put a pot in the hole, level the hole and fill it all around. Light three honey locust seeds that have not been eaten by insects one by one, then put them into a pot and set off fireworks with sulfur and saltpeter.

When the smoke can't catch fire, stir-fry the charcoal until one-third of the charcoal is extinguished, then anneal it, wait until the mixture cools before taking it, and then subdue the fire.

Qing Xuzi, a famous Taoist priest in the middle Tang Dynasty, put forward a recipe for reducing fire in the Alum Method: "Sulfur is 22 liang, nitrate is 22 liang, and Aristolochia is half San Qian. That's the end. Mix it up. Dig a hole and put the medicine in the pot, even with the ground. Put a piece of cooked fire, marble is big, and when you put it inside, the smoke will gradually rise. " He used Aristolochia instead of Gleditsia sinensis in Sun Simiao's prescription. These two substances play a burning role instead of carbon.

All the recipes for latent fire contain carbon, saltpeter should be added to sulfur, and sulfur should be added to saltpeter. This shows that the alchemist intends to burn the drug to remove its virulence. Although the alchemist knew that the mixture of sulfur, nitrate and carbon would have a fierce reaction and took measures to control the reaction speed, the fire accident in the Dan room caused by drug fire still occurred frequently.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Four Inventions