...ANCIENT CHINESE CONTRIBUTIONS 1 Assignment 2: Ancient Chinese Contributions Thomas R. Felix Strayer University Humanities 111 Professor Aprile Castagna March 05, 2013 ANCIENT CHINESE CONTRIBUTIONS 2 The Ancient Chinese culture was a very successful culture that created many inventions and contributed to the advancement of not only the Chinese civilization but also to the civilization of the world. According to Henry Sayre, the Qin Dynasty, which was said to exist from 221BCE until 206 BCE, was the first empire in China to rise to dominance; however, the Han Dynasty was given credit for the most Ancient Chinese contributions and inventions (Sayre, 2012). The Han Dynasty existed from 206 BCE until 220 CE, and during the Han Dynasty contributions and inventions by the Ancient Chinese included: the wheelbarrow, seismograph, paper, compass, map, glazed pottery, hot air balloons, and silk. While the Ancient Chinese made many contributions and inventions for the world, the four most useful are the wheelbarrow, the seismograph, paper, and the map. Today the wheelbarrow is commonly used for farming, gardening, and construction work such as moving dirt, bricks, mulch. It is suitable for many jobs because it allows the weight of the contents to be evenly distributed between the wheel and the operator. For many of the same purposes...
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...well as the negative externalities of the development and also the problem related to higher population. I have also learned about Chinese culture, language, the interesting dynasties (kingdoms) and the Chinese people’s way of life. However, the most interesting thing I learned about china was contribution from ancient Chinese science and technological inventions to the world. Since there are a lot of ancient Chinese inventions, in this essay I would like to give information about some of the very interesting and useful ten ancient Chinese inventions that I believe we cannot imagine without them today. 1. Toilet Paper Toilet paper was one of the very important Chinese inventions that we cannot imagine living our life without. Toilet paper was used in China for the first time in history during 6th century AD. In 589 AD a famous scholar Yan Zhitui wrote about the use of toilet paper and the word spread throughout China and toilet paper became popular in China. 2. Ice Cream Ice cream, our favourite treat is another surprising invention in ancient China. It became a new invention 3000 years ago when rich Chinese families started to treat their guests to sweet juices mixed with snow or ice. Marco Polo brought it to Europe and it became popular in the world. 3. Paper Paper is one of the major contributions to spread development of human civilisation in the world. China made the first proper paper during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC- 9AD). However, Cai Lun of the Eastern Dynasty...
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...There are many contributions from Egypt that have affected civilization. Some contributions and inventions we still use today. The Egyptian concoctions that stood out and made a difference on development around the word were pyramids, hieroglyphics, and obelisks. Pyramids were one of the many of the important inventions that made an influence lifestyle everywhere. They were used when a pharaoh (or on some occasions the pharaohs queen) died as a gravestone. In addition, pyramids were designed with a pointed top and it’s limestone bricks formed as a stairway. They developed it that way to make it easier for the pharaoh to transfer or get to the afterlife. We don't use the same methods as they did back then, but they did inspire us to invent...
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...WHAT DO KUME KUNITAKE’S OBSERVATIONS OF THE WEST DURING HIS TRAVELS WITH THE IWAKURA EMBASSY REVEAL ABOUT JAPAN IN THE 1870S? In December 1871 the prominent Japanese minister Iwakura Tomomi led almost half of the new Meiji government (“the government”) on an embassy around the Western world. Travelling with the ‘Iwakura Embassy’ was Kume Kunitake, a Neo-Confucian scholar and historian. Employed as both Iwakura’s personal secretary and the Embassy’s recorder, Kume along with his assistant Sugiura Kozo (later Hatakeyama Yoshinari) were instructed to record what the Embassy witnessed in the West. The record they produced was to form the basis for Kume’s ‘True Account’ (‘Jikki’) of the Embassy’s ‘Journey of Observations’ (‘Kairan’). Clearly set aside from the Jikki’s narrative in indented sections are Kume’s ‘personal views and observations’ (“Kume’s observations”). Yet these are much more than mere observations. Indeed, before Kume could publish his work he required the approval of Iwakura. While this presumably encouraged Kume to toe the government line, it also gave Iwakura considerable influence over Kume. Considering that the Jikki was revised over ten times before it was approved, it seems that Iwakura fully exercised this influence. Indeed, as Kume’s observations often appear to digress from the main narrative it suggests that they were imposed into Jikki at a late stage of compilation, presumably during these revisions. This suggests that these observations were written...
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...Banking System If we traced back the history of banking system, it will goes back to 2000 BC in Assyria and Babylon where farmers were given ‘grain loan’ and a safe place to deposit or keep their extra grain. With the discovery of precious metal such as silver and gold, ancient people actually used these precious metal as the de facto ex change value when they traded among themselves. Some of the ancient civilisation include but not limited to the Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Chinese , Indian and Muslim. Usually house of worships or palaces were used as the repository for the ancient people to keep their extra wealth. These repository also provide ‘loan’ such as grain seed for farmers to plant and usually need to repay back with interest after the subsequent harvest season. Mediaeval Europe also saw the proliferation of banking system or banks. Country like Italy, in her rich cities such as Genoa, Venice and Florence, seen wealthy merchants set up ‘banks’ to facilitate its vibrant trading activities. Such bank included Medici Bank, established by Giovani Medici in 1397. The oldest bank in Italy, Monte Dei Paschi de Siena still operating with headquarter in Siena, Italy and it was formed way back in 1472. The emergence of modern banking system can be traced back to the 17th century of England. This is including what we always been told ie ‘fractional banking system’. During the 17th century, wealthy merchants will keep their precious metal such as gold and...
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...J&C&N: I: Our pleasure. The relationship between man and nature is one of the most vital relations human is currently handling. Humanity’s progresses are largely dependent on the resources our mother nature offers us. From ancient times, nature is human’s best friend and greatest foe. Human is suffering from natural disaster. Meanwhile, many of our daily essentials, such as water and food, are obtained from the nature. In my view, the relationship between man and nature has evolved from ages to ages. To examine the relation, I believe we should first inspect on the advancement of human understanding towards nature. The explanation towards natural phenomena starts from supernatural power. At ancient times, human understanding towards nature was limited, thus resulted in belief of deity. Ancient Greeks used different deity to explain astronomy and natural phenomenon, for instance, Zeus is the God of thunder, Apollo is the God of sun and light, while Poseidon is the God of ocean. Also, different Heroes and Heroine are involved in respective horoscopes. Greeks were not alone. Various primordial civilizations also reflected their incapability of understanding nature in creating deity and idols. J: It is indeed true. As a sinologist, I take the Chinese civilization as an example. The Classic of Mountains and Seas1 is an early classic dated around 4th century B.C. 1 山海經 Yam 2 in China, which recorded many myths and it reflects that supernatural power was common...
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...Civilization – A Definition What do ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform writing tablets, Egyptian pyramids of Giza, inscribed oracle bones from ancient Chinese divine rituals, and automobiles have in common? Each of these objects represents a bi-product of an ancient or modern civilization. However, many anthropologists, historians, theorists and sociologists alike disagree with regard to how the term civilization should be defined. According to sociologist Robert Park, “Civilization […] is the result of man’s effort to use the resources of his environment in order to change nature and, where possible, make it less raw, more comfortable and less difficult to endure” (Park, 132). He reasons that civilization should be measured by man’s degree of conquest over nature (133). Historian and author Felipe Fernández-Armesto describes civilization as both a “process of collective self-differentiation from a world characterized […] as barbaric or savage or primitive” and a stage reached when a particular society reaches its “climax” (Fernández-Armesto, 13). While peace activist Scott Nearing believed civilization to be the “most comprehensive, extensive and inclusive life pattern achieved by terrestrial humanity,” the philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx believed that the beginning of civilization symbolized the beginning of oppression (Nearing, 54). In the simplest sense, the Oxford English Dictionary defines the verb “to civilize” as “to bring out of a state of barbarism, to instruct...
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...HUM 1000: WORLD CIVILIZATIONS NOTES BY DR. KAKAI P.W THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA Definition of key terms As we begin this course, it is crucial to first discuss our understanding of the concept ‘civilization’. This is a comparative term which is usually applied in comparison to such words as ‘barbarian’ ‘savage’ and ‘primitive’. In classical antiquity the Europeans used the word ‘barbarian’ to refer to a foreigner who was regarded as inferior (Ogutu and Kenyanchui, An Introduction To African History, 1991 p33). Do you think this is still the way we use the word barbarian? The Latin speakers referred to hunters, food-gatherers as savage. In the 17th century this term ‘savage’ referred to a person without art, literacy, or society who lived in fear of existence and death. ‘Primitive’ on the other hand, in Latin meant ‘the first or original’. Europeans used these words interchangeably when referring to non-Europeans while the word civilization was preserved to describe historical developments of European people (ibid). Now the term civilization is no longer confined to the above development but also extends reference to non-European communities. Attributes of civilization includes observance to law, belonging to an organized society, having a society of literate people with advanced developments in urbanization, agriculture, commerce, arts and technology. The French thinkers of the 18th century referred to a person of the arts and literature...
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... A. Introduction: The invention of gunpowder was one of China’s four greatest inventions that made a significant contribution to Chinese culture. Gunpowder in Chinese is called “huo yau”, meaning flaming medicine. The use of gunpowder gave the Chinese a greater ability to protect them from enemies and to conquer and control others. Although fireworks today are used as entertainment, the Chinese used it to scare-off enemies in the time of war. Chinese firearms, fireworks and gunpowder were also popular items of trade along the Silk Road to Europe. As we can imagine this invention had a profound effect on human history and although gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, it gave rise to the powerful western world while it inevitably left China and the Eastern World behind. B. Description of the Chinese Culture (Brandy Miller) 1. Chinese Society: Understanding a people's culture exposes their normalness without reducing their individuality. There are many different realms of Chinese society. China is well known for its centuries of traditional values, customs and beliefs. These beliefs are deeply linked with the language, religions and collective values which have always been the center of traditional festivals, customs and everyday life of man as a collective in harmony with nature (Needham, J., 1986). Despite the strong Chinese cultural traditions, the last century has seen a great deal of social change in China. Most recently, increased involvement in the global...
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...In, Cities. (pp.51-67 & 310-311 ; Figures : 22-41). London : William Heinemenann. 5 WaJ; Greece and Rome An adequate and reliable food supply is the first priority of every -city - a priority handled so efficiently· in the modern world that we take it for granted. Ancient cities, contending with the vagaries of climate and problems of transport, were not so fortunate. Securing the food supply pushed cities into war and conquest, but also inspired significant advances in farming, transport and government. Sumer can claim a number of important firsts in world history - the first cities, the first irrigated agriculture, the first civilisations, the first written language - and the influence of these is with us still (not least in that every passing minute, every hour acknowledges the Sumerians' sexagesimal system of numeration), but there is one first that humanity might have preferred to do without: warfare. Warfare itself did not provoke the establishment of cities generally (see pp. II-I2) , and there is certainly nothing to suggest that warfare inspired the foundation of Sumer's earliest cities, but there is plenty of evidence indicating that, once established, cities and the fruits of civilisation became important factors in the development of military power. The story of Sumer persuasively suggests that the advent of organised warfare probably began as the growing populations and falling agricultural production described at the end ofthe last chapter combined to create...
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...separations of colors, we can see some running colors on the face and under the exotic mask. The camel has its head raised up and mouth opened as if the camel was giving voices. This sancai camel is kept in Idemitsu bijutsukan in Tokyo now. Sancai The most obvious character of this sancai camel is its colorful glazes. The yellow, brown and green colors combined together give us a vivid camel figure. Tang sancai was a very popular kind of ceramic in Tang dynasty. It made from white clay or yellowish losessic clay. Although Sancai means three-colored, the actual Tang sancai objects have more than three colors, such as blue or black. People always give Tang sancai a high value because multi-colored lead-glazed objects were not usual in Chinese tradition before Tang dynasty. Although about 1400 years ago in the Northern and Southern dynasty, the kind of handmade glazed wares were already created, it was not until Tang dynasty, the production and technology of colorful glazed wares reached their peaks. From the contemporary ceramic history point of view, the tang sancai is a milestone because sancai was the first time that more than three colors appeared on the ceramics. Tang sancai is viewed as a technique innovation and creation. The production process is quite complex. The tang sancai is low-melting glaze pottery produced by adding different metallic oxide in the glaze to present different colors. First of all, two clays are used in the production of Tang sancai. Producers...
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...------------------------------------------------- Constellation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the star grouping. For other uses, see Constellation (disambiguation). | | | | * Top: Baroque drawing of the constellation Orionfrom Johannes Hevelius' celestial catalogue * Bottom: Contemporary map of Orion from the IAUand photography of the night sky | In everyday usage, a constellation is a traditional or recognizable group of stars in the night sky, or the region of the sky containing them. In technical usage these meanings have been separated, with groupings of stars being called asterisms, and the word constellation being reserved for a specific area of the celestial sphere with boundaries laid down by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). These areas mostly had their origins in Western-traditional asterisms from which the constellations take their names. When astronomers say something is “in” a given constellation they mean it is within those official boundaries. There are 88 officially recognized constellations, covering the entire sky[1] which have grown from the 48 classical Greek constellations laid down by Ptolemy in the Almagest. Out of these 88 constellations, 12 compose the zodiac signs. Thus, any given point in a celestial coordinate system can unambiguously be assigned to a constellation. It is usual in astronomy to give the constellation in which a given object is found along with its coordinates in order to convey...
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...I. Introduction: Chinese cuisine is served anywhere , even in our own homes. Even at our simple gatherings we usually include Chinese cuisine in our entrails. Chinese cuisine is introduced in the Philippines as early as the 10th century. From appetizers to main curses like dim sums, noodles, meat dishes like sweet and sour, asado, roasted and many more. We Filipinos love to eat Chinese foods. Most Filipinos loved Chinese foods because Chinese influences them to their cuisine. Filipino cuisine is influenced principally by China, Spain, and the United States, integrated into the pre-colonial indigenous Filipino cooking practices. When restaurants were established in the 19th century, Chinese food became a staple of the pansiterias, with the food given Spanish names. The "comida China" Chinese food includes arroz caldo rice and chicken gruel, and morisqueta tostada fried rice. When the Spaniards came, the food influences they brought were from both Spain and Mexico, as it was through the vice-royalty of Mexico that the Philippines were governed.In the Philippines, trade with China started in the 11th century, as documents show, but it is conjectured that undocumented trade may have started even two centuries earlier. Trade pottery excavated in Laguna, for example, includes pieces dating to the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese trader supplied the silks sent to Mexico and Spain in the galleon trade. In return they took back products of field, forest - beeswax...
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...the country's name is "Muang Lao" or "Pathet Lao" both literally mean "Lao Country".[17]The French, who united the three Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in 1893, named the country as the plural of the dominant and most common ethnic group (in French, the final "s" at the end of a word is usually silent, thus it would be pronounced "Lao"). ------------------------------------------------- Early history ------------------------------------------------- In 2009 an ancient human skull was recovered from the Tam Pa Ling cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast Asia.[19] Archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers suggest a complex society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 BC, and iron tools were known from 700 BC. The proto-historic period is characterised by contact with Chinese and Indian civilisations. From the fourth to the eighth century, communities along the Mekong River began to form into townships called muang. ------------------------------------------------- Lan Xang ------------------------------------------------- Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants), founded in the 14th century, by...
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...Clash Of civilisation The Clash of Civilizations (COC) is a hypothesis that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world. It was proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in a 1992 lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Clash of Civilizations? in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man. Huntington later expanded his thesis in a 1996 book. Huntington began his thinking by surveying the diverse theories about the nature of global politics in the post-Cold War period. Some theorists and writers argued that human rights, liberal democracy, and capitalist free market economy had become the only remaining ideological alternative for nations in the post-Cold War world. Specifically, Francis Fukuyama argued that the world had reached the 'end of history' in a Hegelian sense. Huntington believed that while the age of ideology had ended, the world had only reverted to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict. In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural and religious lines. As an extension, he posits that the concept of different civilizations, as the highest rank of cultural identity, will become increasingly useful in analyzing the potential for conflict. In the 1993 Foreign Affairs article, Huntington writes: ...
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