Category: Chinese Technology

In 1986, an ancient bridge site, with 112 timber bridge piles covering a field over 300m long, was unearthed in Shaanxi Province. Using carbon-14 dating, the piles were found to be about 2200 years old. Combining this factor with other evidence, including the discovery in the nearby area of more than 100 artifacts made from bronze, iron or ceramic materials with the […]

It is a consensus view that silk fabric was invented by Chinese, but the opinions are divided as to since when Chinese started to produce silk. Some researchers believe it began since the age of Fuxi (伏羲), which was during the Paleolithic age, and others consider it must be during the time when Yellow Emperor reigned, which was the period of […]

Chinese Engineers Have Built Driverless Rice Transplanters A driverless rice transplanter is at work in a paddy field in China. Rice transplanting from nursery to field is one of the most labour-intensive and physically demanding farmworks in China, which requires the workers to bend their body to reach the wetland during the entire process. The driverless auto-transplanters can surely free […]

Infrastructure is one of the foundations for the economic development of any nation, while roads and bridges are among the most important infrastructure. Below are some bridges constructed in recent decades in China. Beipanjiang Bridge, the world’s tallest bridge that links two mountainous provinces – Guizhou and Yunnan – in southern China. A bridge in Xianju, Zhejiang Province in east […]

Chinese Royal Bathrooms 2,300 Years Ago Chinese archaeologists have recently excavated 3 royal bathrooms dating back to the Warring States Period (475 BC – 221 BC) in outskirts of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, where terracotta warriors were unearthed. The walls and floors of the bathrooms were decorated with ceramic tiles, and the wet areas were equipped with drainage holes and sewage […]

The use of map features heavily in Chinese mythology and real historical events. The Legend of Chinese Maps The earliest tale about the map is related to legendary Great Yu, a hydraulic engineer and the found of Xia Dynasty. Allegedly, his success in the flood control projects more than 4,000 years ago owned to a detailed map carved on a […]

As the birthplace of paper and printing, ancient China developed the whole range of bookbinding techniques, from Policy Briefing (简策) during pre-paper age, Scroll (卷轴) with paper and silk, Sutra (经折), Butterfly (蝴蝶), Amalgamation (和合), Back-cover (包背), Wire-bound (线装) to Dragon Scale (龙鳞). Among all bookbinding styles, Dragon Scale is one of the most fascinating. The final product of the […]

Toothbrushes These are the handles of toothbrushes used by ancient Chinese 1,000 years ago during the Song Dynasty (960 -1279). The handles are made of tiger bones while the brushes were produced from horse-tail hairs. Apart from animal bones, horns, bamboo and wood were also common materials for toothbrush handles in ancient China. This is part of a 4×10 metre […]

This underground mansion in Horse Village, of Shanxi Province, is a tomb dating back to the Song Dynasty about 800 years ago. The burial chamber is heavily decorated with carved bricks. The bricks were carved into the shapes of wooden brackets and tiled roofs. The brick sculptures not only emulate timber brackets, roofs, windows and front gate but as well as […]

In the middle of 2017, Chinese engineers have completed a near-space flight test for a drone that has reached 20-100 km above ground. The UFO (Unmanned Flying Object) performs both like aircraft and satellite. The solar-powered drone can fly non-stop for months or even years and is expected to mainly perform disaster relief and anti-terrorist tasks. More details at: Chinadaily.com.cn […]

A 4,500-Year-Old Black Ceramic Wine Cup A 4,500-year-old ultra-thin “egg-shell” black ceramic wine cup, unearthed from Rizhao, Shandong province. Tang Dynasty (618-907) Porcelain The heyday of glazed ceramics was the Tang Dynasty between the 7the and the 10th centuries. The articles were usually coated with three colours, such as green, yellow and white, or blue, red and brown, etc., which […]