from China: A Teaching Workbook,
Asia for Educators, Columbia University

Dates in the "China" column indicate an approximate date of origin for the item or invention; dates in "The West" column indicate the approximate time when the item or invention was received in the West.

silk, ca. 1300 BCE	• 1300 BCE •	[received in the West, 552-54 CE]
folding umbrella (?)	• 300 BCE •	[received in the West, 1600s]
lodestone, 240 BCE	• 200 BCE •
shadow figures (?)	• 100 BCE •	[received in the West, after 1700]
	BE/BCE
lacquer	• 100 CE •	[received in the West, 1730]
		peach and apricot [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated]
paper, 105 CE		[received in the West, 1150]
tea, 264-273 CE	• 200 CE •	[received in the West, 1600s]
Word for porcelain first used	• 300 CE •	[produced in the West, 1709]
sedanchair	• 400 CE •	[received in the West, 1600s]
kite, 549	• 500 CE •	[received in the West, 1589]
		silk, 552-554 [in China, ca. 1300 BCE]
	• 600 CE •
playing cards	• 700 CE •	[received in the West, 1377]
dominoes
gunpowder (?)		[received in the West, 1330]
porcelain described, 851	• 800 CE •	[produced in the West, 1709]
oldest printed book, 868		[Bible printed in the West, 1456]
The Song Dynasty, 960-1279	• 900 •
movable type, 1041-1049	• 1000 •	[block printing in the West, 1423]
compass		[received in the West, 1190]
zinc used in coins, 1094-1098		[described in the West, 1500s; industrially produced, 1740]
		orange [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated]
	• 1100 •	paper, 1150 [in China, 105 CE]
explosives, 1161		[gunpowder and cannon in the West, 1330]
		compass, 1190 [in China, 1000s]
	• 1200 •
	• 1300 •	gunpowder and cannon, 1330 [in China, 700s]
		playing cards, 1377 [in China, 700s]
		lemon [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated]
	• 1400 •	block printing, 1423 [movable type in China, 1041-1049]
		Gutenberg's Bible, 1456 [China's first printed book, 868]
chaulmoogra oil and ephedrine described, 1552-1578	• 1500 •	[received in the West, after 1700s]
		zinc described [used in coins in China, 1094-1098]
		kite, 1589 [in China, 549 CE]
The use of the following also originated in China in early times, but cannot be accurately dated: peach, apricot, orange, lemon, pomelo, chrysanthemum, tea rose, camellia, azalea, China aster, gingko, "German silver," wallpaper, goldfish.	• 1600 •	sedanchair [in China, 400s CE]
		tea [in China, 264-273 CE]
		folding umbrella [in China, in the 300s BCE]
		wallpaper manufactured, 1688
	• 1700 •	porcelain, 1709 [in China, word first used, 300s CE; first described, 851 CE]
		lacquer produced, 1730 [in China, in the 100s CE]
		zinc in industrial production, 1740
		"German silver" production, 1750
		chrysanthemum, tea rose, camellia, azalea, China aster, grapefruit
		shadow figures [in China, in the 100s BCE]
		gingko, tung oil, soy bean
		ephedrine and chaulmoogra oil [described in China, 1552-1578]

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China: A Teaching Workbook | afe.easia.columbia.edu