Classical Asian Inventions

The earliest known evidence of collapsible umbrellas comes from the Luoyang site in China, and is dated to about 550 B.C. Archaeologists have found Zhou Dynasty era casts of bronze socketed hinges with locking slides, which probably were used in umbrellas and parasols.

The crossbow makes its appearance in the historical record in Sun Tzu's famous book, "The Art of War," which was written sometime in sixth century B.C. It may have actually been invented some 500 years earlier. By the time of the early Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.), Chinese engineers had created a repeating crossbow, which could fire as many as 10 bolts in 15 seconds.

Humans have probably used still water as a mirror since self-awareness began in the mists of prehistory. Later, shined pieces of obsidian or plates of metal became popular reflectors. However, the first modern mirrors, made of glass backed with metal leaf, were invented in Lebanon around 400 B.C. Since the Lebanese invented glass, it seems fitting that they also created the first mirrors. According to Roman historian Pliny, the first mirrors were manufactured at Sidon, and consisted of a sheet of glass backed by lead, and later gold, silver, or copper leaf.

The earliest ice creams were not much like our modern-day summer treat. Around 400 B.C., some brilliant but anonymous Persian decided to mix snow from the mountains with some honey and fruit, for a sweet and cooling treat. Thus, ice... honey was born. The "cream" probably did not enter in to ice cream until the 1600s, in Europe.

In 105 A.D., a court eunuch named Tsai Lun reported the invention of papermaking to Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty. As a result, Tsai Lun is often credited with the actual invention of paper, although it seems likely that the technique was discovered hundreds of years earlier. The first Chinese paper was made from hemp and other plant fibers, soaked and then spread over a screen to dry. From China, this technology spread to Korea, Japan, Tibet, Central Asia, and then into the Middle East and eventually Europe.

It seems surprising, now that every gardener has one out in the toolshed, but the wheelbarrow started out as top-secret military equipment. The original Chinese design had a single (rather unstable) wheel right in the center of the barrow. The Chinese army used them to transport heavy loads of ammunition, food, and other military materials. Since then, the placement of the wheel has been moved forward a bit, and the wheelbarrow is often stabilized by the addition of "feet" so that the user can set it down upright. Fundamentally, though, this secret weapon of the Han Chinese army has rolled through history pretty much unaltered!

China has always been prone to earthquakes. We still can't predict earthquakes with any accuracy, but in 132 A.D., the Chinese inventor Zhang Heng made the first advance in detecting and measuring earthquakes as they happen. His invention, the seismoscope, notified the emperor's court that an earthquake had taken place, and indicated the direction of the epicenter. This would allow court messengers to set out in that direction to assess damage, rather than having to wait for reports to come in from survivors in the earthquake zone.

The abacus, a calculating device made up of rows of beads, was probably invented prior to 190 A.D. However, that is the date of a book by Xu Yue, the Chinese official who first documented the use of this calculation machine. Since the abacus is cheap, does not require batteries or an electric plug, and is highly portable, many merchants in developing countries still use them today. In addition, experienced abacus users are faster at addition and subtraction than pocket-calculator users! (The abacus fares less well at finding cosines or calculating compound interest, however.)

Horses were domesticated as far back as 4,000 B.C., probably in Central Asia. However, for thousands of years riders rode bareback, and used only a rope harness and bit to direct the animals. Around 200 A.D., the consummate horsemen (and women) of Central Asia developed the leather saddle. The Chinese, meanwhile, created a metal stirrup for ease of mounting and dismounting from a steed. When combined, these two inventions allowed Central Asian and other riders to shoot arrows and drive lances from horseback, significantly impacting both hunting techniques and warfare.

The numbering system used today in the western world was first developed around 500 A.D. by the Indian mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhata I. His system was improved upon around 600 by Arab mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, who introduced the "positional zero" -- that is, zeros used to indicate multiples of 10. This system soon replaced the cumbersome Latin system of Roman numerals for most applications. Once scholars could easily distinguish between 1, 100, and 10,000, modern math and science advanced by leaps and bounds.