Along with paper came the method of block printing.This technique involved carving the text in reverse to stand out an a block of wood. It took very long to carve the blocks for each page. The block was painted with ink and pressed onto paper to create a printed page.
The Chinese invented paper around A.D. 100.
Printing and paper money
The innovation of movable type made it easier and cheaper to print blocks.
Government regulations, literature, and Confucianism and Buddhism are so much simpler now.
Sorry, coins are too bulky to move around, take an IOU.
Ugh, fine!
With the growing population, the demand for coins grew. 6 million were minted per year.
Printing and paper money continued
Around 1100, the first government-backed currency was issued.
Alchemists discovered gunpowder when trying to turn worthless metals into gold
TOO LATE HAHAHA! YOUR SO SCREWED NOW!!
Gunpowder, the Magnetic Compass, and Porcelain
Use gunpowder to beef up the army. Keep it secret, we want to maintain the upper hand if we are forced to battle.
*The USA is obsessed with gun violence
Compasses were a sliver of magnetized iron either in water or hanging on a silk thread.
It was not until the 1100s were people using compasses for navigation
Gunpowder, the Magnetic Compass, and Porcelain continued
Porcelain was very valuable as it was strong, light, sometimes see-through, and its ingredients were secret
My precious!
The compass was only used for celebratory means only until A.D. 100 when they started using them for navigation.
Summary
Porcelain was used to make kitchenware, vases and more it was very valuable as very few knew how to make it.
Wow, these three sound like winners! These will probably will spark new ideas, wont they?
Gunpowder was used to beef up chinas armies and make weapons and fireworks.