Ancient China Gunpowder Essay

Ancient China known to be one of the world's oldest civilizations to exist, is the land of inventions, mighty emperors, and the continuous fighting for power. China is located in the eastern part of Asia, and started with the Shang dynasty and ended drastically with the Qin dynasty. China was unified all under one rule in 221 B.C. by the Qin. Ancient China is where gunpowder was invented, was where the Silk Road starts, and where the Battle of Changping was fought. To begin with, the discovery of gunpowder. Gunpowder was discovered in 142 A.D. when Chinese alchemists were attempting to make an elixir of life for their emperor, but went completely wrong and instead made the exact opposite, gunpowder. Gunpowder in which the literary translation

Inventions such as silk, paper, printing, and gunpowder traveled on the road. Likewise the different ideas of religion spread, like Christianity from pilgrims and monks from Rome, Islam from the Middle East, and Buddhism spread from India to China. Trade on the Silk Road had periods of peace especially during the Han dynasty, the Tang dynasty, and Yuan dynasty. Lastly the Battle of Changping. This battle was a battle between the state of Qin and the state of Zhao in 260 BCE. Zhao Kuo commanded an army of about 400,000 soldiers. The Zhao were supposed to confront the Qin on the battlefield, but attacked their camp instead attempting a surprise attack. The Qin responded with 550,000 soldiers with a cannae like maneuver, just like what Hannibal did to almost wipe out the Roman army. The Qin withdrew at the center, then with a body of 25,000 calvary, and 5,000 light calveries with bows stayed behind to spring a trap. With the enemy trapped, the Qin launched a counterattack. The Zhao army was split, and dug in for a siege, but surrendered after 46 days. Bai Qi ordered the captured men to be executed. Over 450,000 Zhao soldiers were killed during and after this battle. This battle marked the definite