中国的四大发明 The Four Great Inventions
1.指南针
指南针的发明是我国劳动人民，在长期的实践中对物体磁性认识的结果.
In the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo described the floating compass, suspended in water, a technique which minimized the effect of motion on the instrument. This enabled the compass to be used for sea navigation for the first time. The invention of the compass promoted maritime undertakings, and its use soon spread to the Arab world, and thence to Europe
2.火药
是用硝石、硫黄和木炭这三种物质混和制成的，而当时人们都把这三种东西作为治病的药物，所以取名“火药”，意思是“着火的药”。
The invention of gunpowder was no doubt one of the most significant achievements of the Middle Ages in China. The correct prescription for making gunpowder with nitre, sulphur and carbon was probably discovered in the ninth century. In fact, in his book, Ge Hong in the third century records the procedures for making a kind of mixture that could be ignited. After the Tang Dynasty (618-907), things took a much faster course as gunpowder was already used in simple hand-grenades which were thrown by a catapult. In 1126, Li Gang, a local official, recorded how he ordered the defenders of the city of Kaifeng to "fire cannons" at the invading Nuzhen tribal people, inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders.
3.造纸术
东汉和帝元兴元年(公元105年)，蔡伦在总结前人制造丝织晶的经验的基础上，发明了用树皮、破渔网、破布、麻头等作原料，制造成了适合书写的植物纤维纸，才使纸成为普遍使用的书写材料。被称为“蔡侯纸”。
China was the first country in the world to make proper paper. Paper made during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-16 AD) has been found in Gansu Province, Xi'an and other places in Shaanxi Province as well as Xinjiang. A further development of paper is credited to Cai Lun of the Eastern Han (25-220). He used plant fiber such as tree bark, bits of rope, rags and worn-out fishing nets as raw materials. In 105, Cai presented the first batch of paper made under his supervision to the Han emperor, who was so delighted that he named the material "Marquis Cai's paper". Eastern Han Dynasty paper found in Wuwei, Gansu, in 1974 carried words which were still clearly decipherable. Thin, soft, and with a smooth finish and tight texture, this paper is the most refined and oldest paper discovered to date
4.印刷术
开始于隋朝的雕版印刷，经宋仁宗时的毕升发展、完善，产生了活字印刷，并由蒙古人传至了欧洲，所以后人称毕升为印刷术的始祖。中国的印刷术是人类近代文明的先导，为知识的广泛传播、交流创造了条件。
On the basis of printing using carved blocks in the Tang Dynasty, Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty invented movable type printing in the 1040s, which ushered in a major revolution in the history of printing.
Bi's printing consisted of four processes: making the types, composing the text, printing and retrieving the movable types. According to Dream Stream Essays, Bi Sheng carved individual characters on squares of sticky clay, then baked them make clay type pieces. When composing a text, he put a large iron frame on a piece of iron board and arranged the words within the frame. While one plate was being printed, another plate could be composed. After printing, the movable types were taken away and stored for future use. Movable type printing has a very important position in the history of printing, for all later printing methods such as wooden type, copper type and lead type printing invariably developed on the basis of movable clay types. Bi Sheng created movable type printing more than four hundred years earlier than it was invented in Europe.
关于中外餐桌礼仪的书可以参考 网络资源：
http://english.china.com/zh_cn/tourism/tips/11020851/20070312/13984171.html http://www.chinats.com/beijing/beijing39.htm http://www.nychinatown.com/chinese_table_manners(1).htm
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