Four Great Inventions

The Four Great Inventions traditional Chinese: 四大發明 are inventions from ancient China that are celebrated in Chinese culture for their historical significance as well as as symbols of ancient China's contemporary science and technology. They are the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing.

China held a world's leading position in many fields in the explore of race from the 1st century BC to the 15th century AD, with the four great inventions having the greatest global significance.

These four inventions had a profound affect on the developing of civilization throughout the world. However, some modern Chinese scholars develope opined that other Chinese inventions were perhaps more innovative and had a greater affect on Chinese civilization – the Four Great Inventions serve merely to highlight the technological interaction between East and West.

Cultural influence

In 2005, the Hong Kong postal service created a special stamp case that presentation the Four Great Inventions. The stamp series was first issued on August 18, 2005 during a ceremony where an enlarged number one day move was stamped. Allan Chiang Postmaster General and Prof. Chu Ching-wu President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology marked the effect of the special stamps by personally stamping the first day cover.

The Four Great Inventions was featured as one of the leading themes of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Paper creating was represented with a dance and an ink drawing on a huge point of paper, printing by a style of dancing printing blocks, a replica of an ancient compass was showcased, and gunpowder by the extensive firework displays during the ceremony. A survey by the Beijing Social Facts & Public picture Survey Center found that Beijing residents found the code on the Four Great Inventions the most moving element of the opening ceremony.