Wednesday, February 5, 2014

My contribution to International Week: China in your everyday life.

I have planned the telling from the standpoint of how China has impacted their individual lives. The story as follows with pictures and references to handouts.

Everyday life
ANCIENT CHINA DISCOVERY
Time
Time of Western development

What do you do when you wake up?
1.       You look at your goldfish

Goldfish

bred from Carp with rare colors.
618-906,
Tang Dynasty

During Song Dyansty only Imperial families could own goldfish.
1611 brought to Portugal
2.       check the time
Clocks
First Mechanical 725 (Tang Dynasty)

First water clock ?4000BC (China & India)

First Astonomical clock 1088
Mechanical 1176 France.
The Salisbury clock 1386 still works.

Water clock, Babylon & Egypt 15th CenturyBC

Astronomical clock 1336
3.       brush your teeth

Bristle Toothbrush
618-906
Tang Dynasty
Europe, 1690 is the earliest recorded date
4.       for whatever reason use toilet paper

Toilet Paper
589, Sui Dynasty
Recorded in poetry
1857, New York
5.       get dressed ... in silk!

Silk

Sericulture is silk production/farming from silkworms.
3000 BC
Age of ancient scraps of silk.

Chinese legend says silk discovered around 2300BC by a princess
400BC silk reached the west.
300AD Japan learned the secret.
552AD Byzantine Empire learns secret of sericulture when 2 monks sneak out silkworm eggs.
6.       heat up your tea with matches
Tea
1500BC
Tea as medicine.

3rd Century AD
Tea as a drink
1285, Marco Polo wrote of Chinese Tea Taxes.

1557 Portugal establishes Macau and tea spreads to West.
http://dragon-well-tea.com/files/2010/06/dragon-well-tea-benefits-2.jpg
7.       ( matches)
Matches
577AD
Invented by ladies trying to cook while under siege
1826 England
Invents friction match.
http://thepreparedninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Matches-on-fire245-300x199.jpg
8.       you ride to school on your horse
If you ride in your carriage you’ll need:
Horse Harness,

Ox-harnesses were used on horses but this choked them and made it inefficient. The horse harness was 4X more effective.

300BC



Europe 600AD
http://www.brlsi.org/sites/all/files/site/images/15%20horse%20harnesses.jpg
a) Ox harness chokes   b) Chinese horse harness
     horse.
c) Modern Harness             
9.       Otherwise if you ride your horse you’ll need:
Stirrups
Considered as important as the wheel and printing press and gunpowder, the stirrup transformed warfare
322
6th or 7th century Europe
http://www.toysrus.com/graphics/media/trus/Aplusplus/2013/111313/20344826/Barbie%20Her%20Sisters%20in%20A%20Pony%20Train%20Ride%20Horse%20Playset_20344826_01.jpg     http://www.tackroominc.com/images/Sprenger4System.jpg
10.    if it’s raining you’ll need

Umbrella
300BC
Europe 17th century.
http://www.chinawhisper.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ancient-china-umbrella.png
11.    snow?
Snow crystals
observed as hexagonal which is a significant discovery.  Observation was very important to the study of nature and the Universe
135BC
Becomes a regular part of literature and science.
Europe 1591
12.    If it’s early you might see some stars
Astronomy, star charting, celestial spheres, and armillary spheres.
China was an early expert in astronomy, developing complex and sensitive tools, inventing armillary spheres and celestial globes. 
79-139AD Han Dynasty catalogued 2500 stars.  Tang Dynasty most advanced star chart of 1350 stars.

Armillary sphere was invented in the 4th Century BC

1515 was the first European star chart and in  1693 they’d only catalogued 1564 stars.

Armillary sphere in the west was invented by Eratosthenes, 276 –194 BC
http://2.imimg.com/data2/NU/WE/MY-5446205/armillary-sphere-globe-250x250.jpg
13.    school starts with:
Bell
2000 BC
5th Century Italy where Benedictine monks learned hot to cast iron and create bells.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/86/271585727_64981580cd_z.jpg?zz=1
14.    Writing assignment?
Paper
One of what China calls “the Four Great Inventions”
China invented books, wrapping paper, envelopes, paper cup, paper napkins, toilet paper, and Paper Money
2BC
751  Arabs

11th Century, Europe
1400 Germany

13th Century India

Independently: Mayan 5th Century
Paper was different from other mediums for writing in that it had a uniform surface, was flexible, and quite durable. (Papyrus for example could not be folded and its uneven surface made its use inconsistent and it deteriorated rapidly outside of dry climates).
Paper became a powerful medium for recording information, expressing ideas, and sharing these things.
Paper & Printing gave rise to the Rennaisance.
15.    Read:
Princess? Cinderella.

Herioc warrior? Art of War the most famous military text of all time.
Cinderella




Sun Tzu’s Art of War
war is a necessary evil that must be avoided whenever possible
850-860AD





(Art of War
6th -5thCentury BC)
1634 Italy.

1697 Perrault’s Little Glass Slipper


(Art of War translated to French in 1772 )
http://www.japaneseprints.net/images/jpg2501.jpg
16.    The book --
Printing
books, wrapping paper, envelopes, paper cup, paper napkins, and toilet paper - Paper Money
2nd Century, Buddhism helped the spread of printing

11th Century China Ceramic movable type, 13th Century Koreans invented metal moving type
c.1300 europe
(1455 Gutenberg Bible)

Printing changed the world.  It is one of the greatest discoveries of all mankind, like the wheel and fire.
It enabled the sharing of knowledge easily so everyone could have the opportunity to read and learn.
In 1455 with the Gutenberg bible, high quality and cheap prints spread and helped start the Renaissance.
If you study math:
17.    Negative Numbers,
Negative Numbers
179AD
Europe 1545
   3 – 5 =  -2
18.    Decimal System (Decimal fractions)
Decimal Fractions, the foundation of the decimal system.
13th Century BC
Europe 1530

   for example:.   or   
19.    pi (best version until 15th century)

pi
5th CenturyAD
Not improved until
15th Century India & Persia
20.    Eat lunch? How about Noodles or Pasta
Noodles / Pasta
And
Stir Fry
2000BC
(possibly as far back as 4,000 BC)
1154 Sicily spaghetti.
(Probably learned from the Libyans)

1st CenturyBC Rome (Lasagna pasta)
21.    You’ll need a plate: Porcelain/Fine China
Fine Porcelain /China

2nd-4th Century
Reached Europe in 18th Century.
 $9.5Million bowl.
     $18Million vase (20th or late 19th Century)
22.    Paper Money, Gold Standard.


Paper Money
came about because of Paper and Printing and lots of Gold & silver.

1120’s, true money under Song Dynasty, when the government backed it. At first it was regional and limited to 3-years.  Soon it was nationalized (1264-1274).  1273 The Yuan dynasty (Mongol empire) made money without time limits and backed by gold or silver. 1694,
1273
Money backed by the government, and gold and silver (to fight inflation)
1855 Bank of England

1862 USA
23.    Playing Cards, Dominoes, Mahjong, & Hacky Sack
Playing Cards
618-906,
Tang Dynasty
1334 Spain
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/qLySBmlkXJzdi48EEi8hZRNS-MM6I2giyoANUgggW6jjAleI1MehFUi9Gqw4iQSjDlT5GaNxyGg5S9x5KyTTSULuqaoD86nR6ycYZPWQT4_Jj9EoQbdwqPNe2g

Dominoes
960-1279,
Song Dynasty
18th Century Italy
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS7wtQBCpP5JbNgNvzy926LZQ6GptWwyA6yE-9ScjiEltsLxWld-A

Mahjong
500BC (by Confucius) or
1850 by soldiers during Taiping Rebellion, or
1870 by Shanghai nobles.
1895 America
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/july/images/12863-mahjong_news.jpg

Hacky Sack
1AD
1972 America
http://www.thecolor.com/images/Hacky-Sack.gif
24.    Kites
Kites
1000BC
16th-17th Century Portugal
http://0.tqn.com/d/webclipart/1/0/e/C/5/lots-of-kids-flying-kites.jpg
25.    Ping Pong

not a Chinese invention

Named from an 1884 song by Hacre.
1901 introduced to China.

1930’s Edgar Snow comments on the popularity of Ping Pong in China.
1885
(invented in England) but China men have won 60% of all international competitions, and women all but 2.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080812/0013729e4a9d0a0b115907.jpg
26.    Merit System
Merit System

Tests decide placement and job
2nd Century BC
17th Century India & England
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/files/2012/12/china.jpg

How did Chinese inventions go west? Trade and War.
The Mongol dynasty encompassed most of Asia, the middle east and Europe from Vietnam, to Korea, to Iran, to Poland, and Hungary, down to Iran.
Baghdad, Moscow, Kiev and Cracow were some western cities under the empire. (Calendar handout - attached)

The Chinese Zodiac calender is used by most of Asia and was used by Bulgaria, Romanians, and Huns. It is also when the West learned of firecrackers and guns.

Some Chinese inventions were secret, others were difficult to understand, and others in plain sight or sound.
Bells inspired people who hear them.
The Chinese understanding of the compass was easy to understand and very useful.

One famous person, Marco Polo, was one of the first traders to write about his travels.  Because he wrote about China, more people learned of it.  No one even remembers that his father went to China before him. 
Though he did not bring pasta to Italy, Marco Polo did inspire Christopher Columbus. He went to China 800 years ago and he is still famous.  A Thousand years from now, people will still remember his name.

Paper and Silk by contrast were imperial secrets and China maintained a monopoly for on paper for almost 800 years, and on silk for at least 3 thousand years.
Paper - Muslims captured 2 papermakers in a war and learned it from them. 
Silk was made from silkworm cocoons. The Romans though the Chinese made silk from tree leaves. 300BC Japanese kidnapped 4 silkfarmers and some eggs. Then in 552, some monks snuck silkworms out of china.

Money was not adopted by other countries for almost 600 years because it requires a very organized government to manage and the technology is not easy either since you dont want forgeries. so you need to understand paper and printing.  early chinese money was printed in 6 colors with imperial seals, and the paper had bits of color to make it hard to copy.

Porcelain is a very difficult technology that even if you know what to do, it is very hard to do.  Many civilizations knew how to make pottery but none could replicate the technology to make fine china until recently.

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