5 ms·

...where are all the great Chinese inventions? the great literature? philosophy? math? science? Aside from gun powder and a few others, it all came from the we

...where are all the great Chinese inventions? the great literature? philosophy? math? science? Aside from gun powder and a few others, it all came from the west in the last thousand years.

fakedang 6y ago
Chinese discoveries were more suited to their local needs and geographies, just as the Western ones were unique themselves. Besides, Chinese decline began way back, from the Yuan era, with a brief rise during the Ming Era, then stagnation again during the Manchurian period. For some Chinese inventions: the meritocratic bureaucracy, which inspired the civil services in the UK, India and many other countries. Or the seismograph, block printing (which enabled a much higher literate population than the West in its time), their variant on paper, and tons of water-powered "appliances". China might have been very different had the Ming not stagnated badly, and the Jurchens not invited to exploit the chaos.
onlyrealcuzzo 6y ago
What are you considering the "West"? Prior to 1600, almost nothing of importance came out of Europe. For the last 400 years, Europe and the US have dominated technologically. Maybe you mean the last few hundred years? I think this is what the parent comment was getting at. For most of history, what we now consider "China" had -- by far -- the largest population. To think that nothing much came from there is a bit naive.
tim333 6y ago
Inventions: Paper, printing, banknotes, bombs, dental amalgam, rockets, drilling rigs, natural gas as fuel, oil refining, smallpox inoculations, land mines, grenades, seismometers and some other stuff. Admittedly mostly a while ago. There's an article here that >It is now reliably estimated that more than 60% of all the knowledge existing in the world today originated in China, a fact swept under the carpet by the West. https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2020/03/01/history-of-chinese-inventions-the-present-and-the-future-recent-chinese-state-of-the-art-innovations https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2020/03/01/history-of-chi... And more recently social credit systems, anti ship ballistic missiles, tik tok, maybe covid.

...where are all the great Chinese inventions? the great literature? philosophy? math? science? Aside from gun powder and a few others, it all came from the west in the last thousand years.

fakedang 6y ago

Chinese discoveries were more suited to their local needs and geographies, just as the Western ones were unique themselves. Besides, Chinese decline began way back, from the Yuan era, with a brief rise during the Ming Era, then stagnation again during the Manchurian period. For some Chinese inventions: the meritocratic bureaucracy, which inspired the civil services in the UK, India and many other countries. Or the seismograph, block printing (which enabled a much higher literate population than the West in its time), their variant on paper, and tons of water-powered "appliances". China might have been very different had the Ming not stagnated badly, and the Jurchens not invited to exploit the chaos.

onlyrealcuzzo 6y ago

What are you considering the "West"? Prior to 1600, almost nothing of importance came out of Europe. For the last 400 years, Europe and the US have dominated technologically. Maybe you mean the last few hundred years? I think this is what the parent comment was getting at. For most of history, what we now consider "China" had -- by far -- the largest population. To think that nothing much came from there is a bit naive.

tim333 6y ago

Inventions: Paper, printing, banknotes, bombs, dental amalgam, rockets, drilling rigs, natural gas as fuel, oil refining, smallpox inoculations, land mines, grenades, seismometers and some other stuff. Admittedly mostly a while ago. There's an article here that >It is now reliably estimated that more than 60% of all the knowledge existing in the world today originated in China, a fact swept under the carpet by the West. https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2020/03/01/history-of-chinese-inventions-the-present-and-the-future-recent-chinese-state-of-the-art-innovations https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2020/03/01/history-of-chi... And more recently social credit systems, anti ship ballistic missiles, tik tok, maybe covid.