A bronze Chinese cannon cast in 1332 is the oldest ... and thence to Europe. China's four great ancient inventions made tremendous contributions to the world's economy and the culture of mankind.

Since then, Chinese media and officials have drawn ... The term "four new inventions" harks back to the "four great inventions" of ancient China - papermaking, gunpowder, printing and the compass.

In 1999, New York Times journalist Nicholas D. Kristof reported a surprising encounter on a tiny African island called Pate, just off the coast of Kenya. Here, in a village of stone huts set ...

So these ancient Chinese scientific observations have ... but generally we know that there are the so-called four great inventions, whose coinage actually appeared quite late.