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The Four Great Inventions of ancient China () are the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing. These inventions are celebrated in Chinese culture for their historical significance and as signs of ancient China's advanced science and technology and contribution to the world that had tremendous effects on human civilization and development by people (see below) These four discoveries had an enormous impact on the development of Chinese civilization and a far-ranging global impact. According to English philosopher Francis Bacon, writing in Novum Organum, Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries." ( - Adapted from the 1863 translation) Karl Marx also commented that Gunpowder, the compass, and the printing press were the three great inventions which ushered in bourgeois society. Gunpowder blew up the knightly class, the compass discovered the world market and founded the colonies, and the printing press was the instrument of Protestantism and the regeneration of science in general; the most powerful lever for creating the intellectual prerequisites. Economic Manuscripts of 1861-63, ''Division of Labour and Mechanical Workshop. Tool and Machinery'' Although neither mentioned papermaking specifically, it can be seen as a prerequisite to the development and widespread use of print. Much of the early Western work in the history of science in China was done by Joseph Needham. Among the scientific accomplishments of China were early seismological detectors, matches, paper, dry docks, sliding calipers, the double-action piston pump, cast iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic compass, the relief map, the propeller, the crossbow, gunpowder and printing. Paper, printing, the compass, and gunpowder are celebrated in Chinese culture as the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. Chinese astronomers were also among the first to record observations of a supernova. This page draws heavily on the Chinese Wikipedia page , retrieved 30 March 2005.
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