Long recognized in the West for its natural and man-made monuments, for its silks and its satins and for its delectable cuisine, ancient Chinese culture is credited with inventions and discoveries which continue to influence our world today as they did at their inception.

For the better part of fifteen hundred years, the Chinese civilization has given birth to developments in navigation, spiritual balance, mathematics and natural prevention and diagnosis; since it was this culture that was responsible for the invention and the discovery of such things as porcelain, paper, fishing reels, church bells, rudders, solar wind, the circulation of blood in the human body, the suspension bridge, the technique for drilling for natural gas, the iron plough, the seed drill, the mechanical clock, the seismograph, planting and hoeing techniques and the compass.

A brief glimpse of ancient Chinese inventions, discoveries, feats, and accomplishments include:

When China Mapped the Skies Astronomy truly is an ancient science in China, mankind's first record of an eclipse of the Sun was made in China in 2136 BC. Chinese astrologers had sophisticated observatory buildings soon thereafter.		When China Ruled the Seas Chinese junks were built in the Song Dynasty between 960-1270. Ancient China built huge armadas of junks over 400 feet long and 150 feet wide filled with 27,000 crew members escorted by smaller junks, like floating cities sailed they known world.		Ancient China and the Land China is as varied as it is vast, from subarctic regions to tropical lowlands, from fertile plains to barren deserts. Originating along the Yellow River Valley in the Neolithic Age, by 7000 BCE Chinese were farming millet, developing irrigation and agrarian techniques.		Mind, Body, and Soul Modern western medicine talks about the cells, while ancient Chinese medicine talks about chi. Wellness is the mind, body, and soul linked together as a whole in harmony with our thoughts, the spirits, and the universe.
Ancient Chinese Inventions Perhaps no other ancient culture has contributed more to the empirical and theoretical knowledge of the physical world and the advancement of human progress than the Chinese. Their inventions include some that we take for granted today.		Engineering and Technology in Ancient China Many of the scientific methods and measurements, instruments, machinery, designs and gadgets date from millennia in Ancient China, before they were even thought of or used in the Western world.		Science and Mathematics in Ancient China Chinese were using written numbers and scientific thought by the Shang Dynasty in 500 BC. The influence of mathematics was taught in schools with a textbook called the Nine Chapters written as early as the Han Dynasty in 200 AD.		Social and Domestic Advances in Ancient China Of the five relationships in Confucianism, three were determined by kinship and family ties. Traditionally, ancient China was family centered, not oriented toward God or the State, thus promoting filial piety to enhance family life and society.