16th century

Tourists visit the Jichang Garden in early spring in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 1, 2024. The Jichang Garden in Wuxi is a classical Chinese garden built in the 16th century, best known for its elegant design and tranquil atmosphere. ( tasteallchina /Mao Jun) Tourists visit the Jichang Garden in early spring in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 1, 2024. The Jichang Garden in Wuxi is a classical Chinese garden built in the 16th century, best known for its elegant design and tranquil atmosphere. ( tasteallchina /Mao Jun) Tourists visit the Jichang Garden in early spring in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 1, 2024. The Jichang Garden in Wuxi is a classical Chinese garden built in the 16th century, best known for its elegant design and tranquil atmosphere. ( tasteallchina /Mao Jun) Tourists visit the Jichang Garden in early spring in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 1, 2024. The Jichang Garden in Wuxi is a classical Chinese garden built in the 16th century, best known for its elegant design and tranquil atmosphere. ( tasteallchina /Mao Jun) Tourists visit the Jichang Garden in early spring in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 1, 2024. The Jichang Garden…

Why is tea called tea? Actually, there are two main ways to refer to tea across the world, namely “tea” or “chai”. Tea originated from China about 4500 years ago. There were records documenting the medicinal use of the tea plant as early as the Shang dynasty (1500 BC). About the word “tea”: it's a beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis. At the beginning of its colonial period in the 16th century, Portugal was the first country to bring the habit of tea drinking to Europe. At the time, the Portuguese were involved in trade with Central China and Guangdong. The local word for tea there is “cha”, so the Portuguese adopted this way of calling it all across its other colonies, such as South America etc. Likewise, the word “chai” also entered Russia and the Arabic countries by way of foreign trading. At the end of 16th century during the Qing dynasty, China and Japan had declared a strict ban on maritime travel. Back when Zheng Chenggong (better known in the West by his Hokkien honorific Koxinga or Coxinga) hadn’t taken the island of Taiwan yet, it was full of…

Historians of science have overlooked China in their research. Thus, China's contribution to science and technology, evidenced in a number of technical solutions, has gone unnoticed. Ancient China was a world scientific and technological center before the 16th century. In China, iron and steel metallurgy, paper, the mechanical watch, the transmission belt, the conversion of rotary motion into rectilinear motion, the movable type printing press, gunpowder, the stern rudder, watertight compartments, the armored hull of ships, propeller power, the windmill, the seismograph, gears, etc... the list could be endless. movable type printing press Successes of Technology and Science in Ancient China Four Great Chinese Inventions Metallurgy and Casting of Iron Utensils Copper Production and Bronze Ware Casting Exploration and Use of Petroleum Coal Discovery and Mining Oenological Industry Sericulture Astral Catalogs and Astronomical Atlases Solar and Lunar Eclipse Observation Meridian Measurement Zhang Heng and His Seismograph Guo Shoujing and the "Shoushi Li" Calendar Decimal and Binary Systems Zu Chongzhi and the Value of π(Pi) Equal Temperament of 12 Notes Ingenious Inventions of Ancient China There are even records of solar eclipses inscribed on bones or turtle shells from over 3,300 years ago. In Kao Gong Ji (Archives of Industrial Techniques…