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Silky touch， bright and beautiful
As we all know， China's four great inventions had made a great contribution to the development of the world civilization. But you know， how were they passed to the West via the Silk Road？
Culture carrier-
papermaking technique
The invention of paper was attributed to Cai Lun， an eunuch in the early years of the 2nd century AD， but paper was popular with the masses 200 years before introduced by Cai Lun. Merit of Cai Lun lied in collecting and reorganizing and promoting the use of papermaking technique. In 751 AD， Tang Dynasty has a fierce battle with Arab Empire， Tang force was defeated. The war provided an opportunity for the spread of papermaking technique. There were some paper makers among the captured sergeants， who took the papermaking technique to Arab. Later， papermaking technique continued to spread along the Silk Road westward and gradually spread throughout the world.
With inexpensive price， light weight and practicability， easiness to preservation and other advantages， so the paper substituted papyrus， board， clay matrix， sheepskin， silk， cotton and silk textile， bamboo slip， inscribed wooden tablet and other character-loading materials. Its invention and popularization played a huge role in preserving knowledge， and popularizing science and culture.
Mother of civilization-
printing
From the 8th to the 12th century， woodblock printing technique appeared in Persia， Egypt and other places through the introduction by Chinese craftsmen flowing to Central Asia and Arabian traveling merchants visiting China. In the 13th century， many European travelers came to China along the Silk Road， and brought this technique back to Europe. In the 15th century， Gutenburg， an European， printed a Bible with the printing technique. In 1466， the first printing press emerged in Italy so that the printing technique facilitating cultural dissemination quickly spread throughout Europe.
Printing in ancient China was one of the techniques gradually spreading along the Silk Road. In Known as the "mother of civilization"， printing technique changed the fact that only clergymen had the right to accept higher education in Europe， and laid the foundation for the Renaissance.
Innovation in weapons-
gunpowder
As early as in the 8th and 9th century， along with the knowledge of medicine and alchemy， saltpetre， one of the important components of gunpowder was spread to Arab from China. Gunpowder manufacturing method was spread to Arab by merchants， and to various European countries from Arab. In the 13th century， a lot of firearms were used when Mongolia had warred with Arab of Central Asia. During the war， both the firearms and the manufacturing methods were spread to Arab. Europeans gradually mastered the techniques to manufacture gunpowder and gunpowder weapons during the wars with the Arabs. According to historical records， Italians first mastered the secrets of firearms in 1326， France and the United Kingdom learned to manufacture firearms in 1338 and 1340， Germany got the technique in 1346. Firearm technique gradually spread throughout Europe， providing technical support for the Europeans to break the feudal system. Voyage assistant-
Compass
Unlike the other three great inventions， the compass was disseminated to the West via Maritime Silk Road. Sinan is an archaic compass with its upper part of the spoon shape and lower part of a flat disc-shape. Later， it was not like a spoon， instead it was like a needle and even floated on water， which was the core part of magnetic compass.
After being used in navigation， compass knowledge was gained by the Arabs in contact with the Chinese sailors and spread to Europe later. The use of Compass had created favorable conditions for ocean voyages. It was difficult to imagine people in the 15th and 16th centuries could successfully complete the ocean voyage of the Great Discoveries of Geography without compass.
Techniques to Improve Life
The four great inventions played a huge role in promoting the development of human civilization， and some techniques were closely linked with people's life.
Ingenious machine-
escapement mechanism
Since the ancient times， Chinese people attached great importance to the timers， so China opened a new era of development of clepsydra and dripping clock early. Clepsydra was not invented by Chinese， it came from Mesopotamia and Egypt. After learning and mastering the technique to manufacture the clepsydra， Chinese made the clepsydra into an instrument of certain precision. Mechanical clepsydra was an innovation based on the clepsydra.
There was an escapement mechanism in mechanical clepsydra which could rotate at a fixed pace with a rotating shaft and make one tooth passed while the gear train rotating， which is the core technology of all mechanical clocks. Mechanical clepsydra was first designed by Monk Yixing， a famous astronomer， and Liang Lingzan， an astronomical instrument maker in about 723. In the 11th century， Su Song， an astronomer， also used escapement mechanism in an important invention， water-driven astronomical clock tower. This instrument was an obervation instrument integrating armillary sphere for astronomical phenomena observation， celestial sphere for astronomical phenomena demonstration， clepsydra for time measurement and a mechanical device for time telling， actually， it was a small observatory. Escapement mechanism is still used in mechanical clocks today. Although there is no clear evidence showing that European escapement technique came from China， but this technique was truly used worldwide， and had an impact on people's daily life. Getting water from desert - Well digging
Well digging is a technique with profound beneficence. the Silk Road was densely covered by deserts， moisture drawing was an issue that must be considered. Glacier meltwater from Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains was one of the main nourishment sources in the Western Regions. However， it was not easy to collect the snow water because the water accumulated at the foot of the mountains would evaporate or seep into the ground in a short time. Since Han Dynasty sent troops to the Western Regions to develop agriculture， karez and well techniques spreading in mountains were used by soldiers demanding water in the Western Regions， and gradually spread to distant countries. It was recorded in Historical Records that Er Shi General， Li Guangli commanded the troops to attack Dayuan and besieged the city by the way of cutting of the water source. However， "Han people who knew how to dig a well were found in Dayuan" so that Dayuan people could insist on for a long time.
Combining agriculture and martial art -
Iron working
Iron working made many countries in the Western Regions stepping into the Iron Age directly. It is said that it were the Fergana people living in Uzbekistan that first leart the iron working from Chinese. Iron was spread to countries in the Western Regions， which played a role in promoting the social production and fighting capacity of armies. A large number of countries in the Western Regions benefited from the iron so that the local economy advanced.
Farsighted Scholarism
Ancient China had made remarkable achievements in terms of medicine， mathematics， etc. These achievements were inseparable from the unimpededness of the Silk Road and the frequent exchanges between China and foreign countries.
Bringing a patient back to life - Medicine
China has rich experience in the use of traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine with a good effect was called "good medicine from China" after it was taken to India， and was loved by Indians. It was about in Tang Dynasty， TCM system was introduced to Arab. Avicenna， "leader and prince of academia" had documented the pulse study of TCM system in his works Canon of Medicine， and cited a lot of description from The Pulse Classic by Wang Shuhe， a famous doctor in Jin Dynasty. Avicenna's Canon of Medicine was a main piece of medical works of Middle East and Western Europe from the 12th century to 17th century impacting the medical education of Arab and Europe for up to a century. Chinese medicine also pays special attention to the assimilation of foreign medicine science. Liu Yuxi， a famous poet had suffered from eye disease， and sought treatment from an Indian monk. He also wrote the poem To Brahman Monk Ophthalmologist which said that Liu Yuxi told the Brahman monk about the causes and the symptoms for his eye diseases， such as blurred vision， photophobia， visual hallucination， and fearing wind as well as mental deterioration， lack of physical strength， and other presenility symptoms， and requested the Brahman monk for treatment so as to remove his pain caused by eye diseases. This poem describes the poet's eye problems， as well as the expectation to foreign medical technology.
Graphics and figures-
Mathematics
Chinese people had already had a simple method of operation early， which was because China invented the decimal place value system at the earliest， laying a foundation for Chinese mathematics achieving leading achievements in many fields.
It was because of the advancement that led to spreading Chinese mathematics to foreign countries very early. For example， in the 6th century， the Indians created place value system and sand disc algorithm， which were similar to rod calculus. In addition， trace of Chinese mathematics could be found in fraction expression， four arithmetic operation， sector area， volume of a sphere， Pythagorean， value of pi， congruence of first degree， extraction of root， method of double differences， etc. Italian mathematician， Fibonacci had introduced the system of oriental mathematics in Liber Abaci written by him in 1020， from which we see that Chinese mathematics had been popular in the Arab and Europe at that time.
As we all know， China's four great inventions had made a great contribution to the development of the world civilization. But you know， how were they passed to the West via the Silk Road？
Culture carrier-
papermaking technique
The invention of paper was attributed to Cai Lun， an eunuch in the early years of the 2nd century AD， but paper was popular with the masses 200 years before introduced by Cai Lun. Merit of Cai Lun lied in collecting and reorganizing and promoting the use of papermaking technique. In 751 AD， Tang Dynasty has a fierce battle with Arab Empire， Tang force was defeated. The war provided an opportunity for the spread of papermaking technique. There were some paper makers among the captured sergeants， who took the papermaking technique to Arab. Later， papermaking technique continued to spread along the Silk Road westward and gradually spread throughout the world.
With inexpensive price， light weight and practicability， easiness to preservation and other advantages， so the paper substituted papyrus， board， clay matrix， sheepskin， silk， cotton and silk textile， bamboo slip， inscribed wooden tablet and other character-loading materials. Its invention and popularization played a huge role in preserving knowledge， and popularizing science and culture.
Mother of civilization-
printing
From the 8th to the 12th century， woodblock printing technique appeared in Persia， Egypt and other places through the introduction by Chinese craftsmen flowing to Central Asia and Arabian traveling merchants visiting China. In the 13th century， many European travelers came to China along the Silk Road， and brought this technique back to Europe. In the 15th century， Gutenburg， an European， printed a Bible with the printing technique. In 1466， the first printing press emerged in Italy so that the printing technique facilitating cultural dissemination quickly spread throughout Europe.
Printing in ancient China was one of the techniques gradually spreading along the Silk Road. In Known as the "mother of civilization"， printing technique changed the fact that only clergymen had the right to accept higher education in Europe， and laid the foundation for the Renaissance.
Innovation in weapons-
gunpowder
As early as in the 8th and 9th century， along with the knowledge of medicine and alchemy， saltpetre， one of the important components of gunpowder was spread to Arab from China. Gunpowder manufacturing method was spread to Arab by merchants， and to various European countries from Arab. In the 13th century， a lot of firearms were used when Mongolia had warred with Arab of Central Asia. During the war， both the firearms and the manufacturing methods were spread to Arab. Europeans gradually mastered the techniques to manufacture gunpowder and gunpowder weapons during the wars with the Arabs. According to historical records， Italians first mastered the secrets of firearms in 1326， France and the United Kingdom learned to manufacture firearms in 1338 and 1340， Germany got the technique in 1346. Firearm technique gradually spread throughout Europe， providing technical support for the Europeans to break the feudal system. Voyage assistant-
Compass
Unlike the other three great inventions， the compass was disseminated to the West via Maritime Silk Road. Sinan is an archaic compass with its upper part of the spoon shape and lower part of a flat disc-shape. Later， it was not like a spoon， instead it was like a needle and even floated on water， which was the core part of magnetic compass.
After being used in navigation， compass knowledge was gained by the Arabs in contact with the Chinese sailors and spread to Europe later. The use of Compass had created favorable conditions for ocean voyages. It was difficult to imagine people in the 15th and 16th centuries could successfully complete the ocean voyage of the Great Discoveries of Geography without compass.
Techniques to Improve Life
The four great inventions played a huge role in promoting the development of human civilization， and some techniques were closely linked with people's life.
Ingenious machine-
escapement mechanism
Since the ancient times， Chinese people attached great importance to the timers， so China opened a new era of development of clepsydra and dripping clock early. Clepsydra was not invented by Chinese， it came from Mesopotamia and Egypt. After learning and mastering the technique to manufacture the clepsydra， Chinese made the clepsydra into an instrument of certain precision. Mechanical clepsydra was an innovation based on the clepsydra.
There was an escapement mechanism in mechanical clepsydra which could rotate at a fixed pace with a rotating shaft and make one tooth passed while the gear train rotating， which is the core technology of all mechanical clocks. Mechanical clepsydra was first designed by Monk Yixing， a famous astronomer， and Liang Lingzan， an astronomical instrument maker in about 723. In the 11th century， Su Song， an astronomer， also used escapement mechanism in an important invention， water-driven astronomical clock tower. This instrument was an obervation instrument integrating armillary sphere for astronomical phenomena observation， celestial sphere for astronomical phenomena demonstration， clepsydra for time measurement and a mechanical device for time telling， actually， it was a small observatory. Escapement mechanism is still used in mechanical clocks today. Although there is no clear evidence showing that European escapement technique came from China， but this technique was truly used worldwide， and had an impact on people's daily life. Getting water from desert - Well digging
Well digging is a technique with profound beneficence. the Silk Road was densely covered by deserts， moisture drawing was an issue that must be considered. Glacier meltwater from Tianshan and Kunlun Mountains was one of the main nourishment sources in the Western Regions. However， it was not easy to collect the snow water because the water accumulated at the foot of the mountains would evaporate or seep into the ground in a short time. Since Han Dynasty sent troops to the Western Regions to develop agriculture， karez and well techniques spreading in mountains were used by soldiers demanding water in the Western Regions， and gradually spread to distant countries. It was recorded in Historical Records that Er Shi General， Li Guangli commanded the troops to attack Dayuan and besieged the city by the way of cutting of the water source. However， "Han people who knew how to dig a well were found in Dayuan" so that Dayuan people could insist on for a long time.
Combining agriculture and martial art -
Iron working
Iron working made many countries in the Western Regions stepping into the Iron Age directly. It is said that it were the Fergana people living in Uzbekistan that first leart the iron working from Chinese. Iron was spread to countries in the Western Regions， which played a role in promoting the social production and fighting capacity of armies. A large number of countries in the Western Regions benefited from the iron so that the local economy advanced.
Farsighted Scholarism
Ancient China had made remarkable achievements in terms of medicine， mathematics， etc. These achievements were inseparable from the unimpededness of the Silk Road and the frequent exchanges between China and foreign countries.
Bringing a patient back to life - Medicine
China has rich experience in the use of traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine with a good effect was called "good medicine from China" after it was taken to India， and was loved by Indians. It was about in Tang Dynasty， TCM system was introduced to Arab. Avicenna， "leader and prince of academia" had documented the pulse study of TCM system in his works Canon of Medicine， and cited a lot of description from The Pulse Classic by Wang Shuhe， a famous doctor in Jin Dynasty. Avicenna's Canon of Medicine was a main piece of medical works of Middle East and Western Europe from the 12th century to 17th century impacting the medical education of Arab and Europe for up to a century. Chinese medicine also pays special attention to the assimilation of foreign medicine science. Liu Yuxi， a famous poet had suffered from eye disease， and sought treatment from an Indian monk. He also wrote the poem To Brahman Monk Ophthalmologist which said that Liu Yuxi told the Brahman monk about the causes and the symptoms for his eye diseases， such as blurred vision， photophobia， visual hallucination， and fearing wind as well as mental deterioration， lack of physical strength， and other presenility symptoms， and requested the Brahman monk for treatment so as to remove his pain caused by eye diseases. This poem describes the poet's eye problems， as well as the expectation to foreign medical technology.
Graphics and figures-
Mathematics
Chinese people had already had a simple method of operation early， which was because China invented the decimal place value system at the earliest， laying a foundation for Chinese mathematics achieving leading achievements in many fields.
It was because of the advancement that led to spreading Chinese mathematics to foreign countries very early. For example， in the 6th century， the Indians created place value system and sand disc algorithm， which were similar to rod calculus. In addition， trace of Chinese mathematics could be found in fraction expression， four arithmetic operation， sector area， volume of a sphere， Pythagorean， value of pi， congruence of first degree， extraction of root， method of double differences， etc. Italian mathematician， Fibonacci had introduced the system of oriental mathematics in Liber Abaci written by him in 1020， from which we see that Chinese mathematics had been popular in the Arab and Europe at that time.