China mastered block printing in Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Diamond Sutra left by the Tang Dynasty is the earliest printed matter with exact date in the world (printed in 868). 165438+In the Song Dynasty in the middle of the 20th century, Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, which made printing widely popular. Engraving printing in China spread to Japan in the 8th century, to Egypt in the12nd century and to European travelers in the13rd century. From14th century to15th century, printing became popular in Europe. The earliest block printing with exact date in Europe was the Portrait of Saint Christopher in Nande (printed in 1423), which was about 600 years later than that in China. /kloc-around 0/450, influenced by Chinese movable type printing, Germans created movable type printing with European phonetic symbols to print books, which was 400 years later than Bi Sheng. After printing spread to Europe, it changed the situation that only monks could study and receive higher education, and provided important material conditions for the rapid development of science in Europe after the long night of the Middle Ages and the emergence of the Renaissance Movement.
Gunpowder was invented by China in the Tang Dynasty and was first used in military affairs. At the beginning of the 10 century, artillery and rockets appeared, and firearms were widely used in the war of the Song Dynasty. Mongols learned to make gunpowder and firearms from the battle with Song Jin, while Arabs learned to make firearms from the battle with Mongols. /kloc-In the late 3rd century, Europeans learned gunpowder knowledge from Arabic books./kloc-In the early 4th century, they learned how to make gunpowder and use firearms from the wars against Muslim countries. Firearms played a great role in the struggle of European urban residents against feudalism. Engels pointed out: "Firearms were the weapons of cities and emerging monarchies relying on cities against feudal nobles from the beginning. The stone walls of aristocratic castles that were impregnable before could not stand the cannon of the citizens; The citizen's gun shot through the knight's armor, and the aristocratic rule and the aristocratic cavalry in armor guaranteed each other. "
As early as the Warring States period, our people made the original compass-Sina. In the Song Dynasty, compasses were used for navigation. Arabs learned how to navigate with a compass from their association with merchant ships in China, and it spread to Europe in about12nd century. The application of compass in navigation led to Columbus's voyage to discover the new continent of America and Magellan's voyage around the world. This has greatly accelerated the development of the world economy and provided an indispensable prerequisite for the development of capitalism.
The four great inventions of ancient China greatly promoted the process of world history. Francis Bacon, the true ancestor of modern experimental science, once said, "If we want to observe the power, efficiency and results of new inventions, the most obvious examples are printing, gunpowder and compass ... No empire, religion or prominent figure in history can have a greater impact on human affairs than these three great inventions." Marx pointed out more incisively: "gunpowder, compass and printing-these are the three great inventions that indicate the arrival of bourgeois society." Gunpowder blew chivalry to pieces, compass opened the world market and established colonies, while printing became a tool of Protestantism, generally speaking, a means of scientific rejuvenation and the most powerful driving force to create the necessary premise for spiritual development. "The four great inventions were introduced to the West one after another before the emergence of European civilization, which became" a necessary prerequisite for the development of the bourgeoisie ".
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