Four Great Inventions
Read this article to learn about the origins of China's great inventions, which include the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. After reading about China's role in inventing each of these, feel free to search for articles about each specific invention for more history of the use and development of these tools.
Gunpowder
Hand cannon from the Yuan dynasty, circa 1300s (decade).
Originally, gunpowder was used to make fireworks for festivals and major events. It was later utilized as an explosive substance in cannons, fire-arrows, and other military weapons. During the Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368), gunpower was in high demand due to numerous battles and the development of mass industry.
Gunpowder was invented in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality. By the time the Song Dynasty treatise, Wujing Zongyao (武经总要), was written by Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide in 1044, the various Chinese formulas for gunpowder held levels of nitrate in the range of 27% to 50%. By the end of the 12th century, Chinese formulas of gunpowder had a level of nitrate capable of bursting through cast iron metal containers, in the form of the earliest hollow, gunpowder-filled grenade bombs.
In 1280, the bomb store of the large gunpowder arsenal at Weiyang accidentally caught fire, which produced such a large explosion that a team of inspectors at the site a week later deduced that 100 guards had been killed instantly, with wooden beams and pillars blown sky high and landing at a distance of over 10 li (~2 mi or ~3 km) away from the explosion.
By the time of Hanzo Yu and his Huolongjing (which describes military applications of gunpowder in great detail) in the mid-14th century, the explosive potential of gunpowder was perfected, as the level of nitrate in gunpowder formulas had risen to a range of 12% to 91%, with at least 6 different formulas in use that are considered to have maximum explosive potential for gunpowder. By that time, the Chinese had invented how to create explosive round shot by packing their hollow shells with this nitrate-enhanced gunpowder. An excavated trove of early Ming land mines showed that corned gunpowder was present in China by 1370. There is evidence suggesting that corned powder may have been used in East Asia as early as the thirteenth century.