Invention Of The Song, Tang, And Ming Dynasties

Throughout all dynasties technology has majorly advanced and caused hurdling development throughout the Song, Tang, and Ming dynasties. The Tang dynasty (618-906) cherished a golden Age of innovation and success in science and technology culminating into the Song dynasty (960-1279). The broad exchange of goods and information through the Tang dynasty, with a high value placed on observation and examination, defined the Song and set the footing for vigorous scientific innovation. From these strong and advanced dynasties, the Ming was propelled forward in more creation and innovation setting a successful path forward for more to come. The scientific and technological advances made throughout the Tang, Song and Ming period utilized significant

The Tang Dynasty was a creative time period and had one of the most influential inventions in the world, gunpowder. The Chinese did not use gunpowder for guns but to invent rockets and fireworks. This was founded by an alchemist who “mixed 75 parts of saltpeter, 10 parts of sulfur, and 15 parts of charcoal.” This mixture did not contain life-threatening properties, but exploded when exposed to an open flame and went off with a flash which led to the discovery of gunpowder and the impact it would have on humankind. Furthermore, the Tang Dynasty developed an early air cooling system in 747. This began when the emperor had a cool hall constructed in the imperial palace. The device (air conditioner) that was used, is commonly known as Tang-Yulin which had “fan wheels that were powered by water and functioned like an air conditioner. The cooling system also included high rising jet-streams of clean mountain water.” This invention was for a higher class because it was more expensive, also, it allowed people to be more comfortable, and do more in such a hot area of the world. Though this was the first dynasty that started technology other ideas sparked from previous dynasties as well as new dynasties to come to take some of the inventions made by the Tang dynasty into consideration to elaborate onto

One of the most important inventions of their time was a movable printer. A movable type enhanced a “widespread use of woodblock methods of printing thousands of documents and volumes of written literature, consumed eagerly by an increasingly literate public.” The advancement of printing had a big impact on education and the scholar-official class. Because more books could be made faster as well as more produced, printed books were cheaper compared to handwritten copies. The enrichment of widespread printing in the Song period allowed a rise in social mobility and the expansion in education which increased over time. The movable type invented by Bi Sheng was exceeded by the use of woodblock printing because of the limitations that Chinese character writing systems had. But movable type printing continued to be used and was improved in later periods. It was soon put into place that a faster typesetting process, which improved “Bi's baked-clay movable type character set” with a wooden one, and experimented with a tin metal movable type. “The wealthy printing patron Hua Sui of the Ming Dynasty established China's first metal movable type (using bronze) in 1490. In 1638, the Beijing Gazette switched their printing process from woodblock to movable type printing.” Over time, large printing businesses began to higher movable type