Read about 11 Interesting Facts About Chinese History

1. Toilet Paper is a Chinese Invention

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Image: Teaching Nomad


Toilet paper was invented in China in the 6th Century AD By the late 14th century, 10 million packages of toilet paper were being manufactured each year, each containing 1000 to 10,000 sheets each. Emperors would order this paper in two by three foot sheets (modern sheets are 6 square inches).

2.  China is called the Middle Kingdom

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Image: Teaching Nomad


The first use of the modern word “China” in the West was in 1555, from the Persian Cin. This word was derived from the Chinese Qín, after the First Emperor Qin Shi of the Qin Dynasty, who first unified China in The Chinese in contrast refer to their country as the Middle Kingdom (中国) historically regarding their country as “central,” with other civilization on the periphery.

3. Chinese thought the carp resembled a dragon

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Image: Teaching Nomad


The carp is a symbol of strength and perseverance in China and the scales and whiskers of the fish make it resemble a dragon, the greatest symbol of power in China. Now it finally makes sense why Magikarp evolves into Gyrados!

4. Chopsticks are a 3000 year old invention.

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Image: Teaching Nomad


The oldest surviving pair of chopsticks dates back to 1200 BCE (the Shang Dynasty), but evidence suggests they were used as early as the Xia dynasty (2070 – 1600 BCE). As the Chinese population grew, people had to conserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so that it could cook faster. The earliest chopsticks were used as cooking-not eating-utensils. People would use chopsticks to cook, stir the fire and serve and seize pieces of food.

5. The current Chinese flag was selected out of a total of 2992 entries.

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China’s national flag was adopted in September 1949 as a result of a flag design competition that received a total of 2992 entries. The design features one large star, with four minor stars in a semicirccle set off towards the fly (the side farthest from the flag The red in the flag symbolizes revolution. The large star symbolizes communism and the little stars represent the Chinese people. The five stars and their relationship represent the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party.

6. The Chinese Lunar calendar is the oldest calendar in the world.

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Image: Teaching Nomad


China has the world’s oldest calendar. The Chinese calendar is a lunar calendar which arranges the year, month and day number upon the astronomical date. The Chinese calendar is not the official calendar in China, but it is used for traditional activities in China and overseas Chinese communities. It originated in 2600 B.C. and has 12 zodiac signs. There are 12 or 13 months in a year. The years with 12 months are common years, there are 353, 354 or 355 days in the common year. The years with 13 months are leap years, there are 383, 384 or 385 days in the leap year. February 19, 2015 will mark the first day of the year 4713 on the Chinese lunar calendar.

7. China was the first country to use paper money.

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Image: Teaching Nomad


The Chinese were the first in the world to use paper money, during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century. Before the use of paper money, the Chinese used circular coins with a rectangular hole in the middle. This way, several coins could be strung As the country’s economy flourished, merchants found that their strings of coins became too heavy to be carried around. To solve this, coins were often left with a trustworthy person, and the merchant was given a slip of paper recording how much money he had with that person. A copper shortage in 960 caused the emperor the issue generally circulating notes that was used alongside copper coins.

8. Ping Pong is not a Chinese invention.

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Image: Teaching Nomad


However, the game originated in Britain during the 1880s as an after-dinner parlor game by the upper class. Initially a row of books was stood up along the center of the table as a net, and two more books served as rackets and were used to continuously hit a golf-ball from one end of the table to the other. The game was introduced in China via western settlements in 1901 and the Chinese have dominated the World championships since it entered for the first time in 1953.

9. Football is a Chinese invention.

 

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Image: Teaching Nomad


On the other hand, soccer (football) -the most popular sport in the world-was invented in China over two thousand years ago. According to FIFA, the earliest form of soccer was in fact a military exercise in the third and second centuries BCE in China. The game (cuju or “kick ball”) consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with hair and feathers through a small opening. Learn more aboutsoccer training here.

10. In China, dragons are auspicious

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Image: Teaching Nomad


While the dragon is typically seen as an evil creature in Western culture, it holds first place among the four greatest creatures in Chinese mythology, including the phoenix, tiger, and tortoise. The Chinese dragon is an auspicious creature. In the ancient times, the even today, as a magical creature beloved by the people, it still represents wealth, wisdom, success, power and good fortune.

11. The Chinese invented crossbows

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Image: Teaching Nomad


The use of crossbows in European warfare became popular after the Normans defeated the English in the Battle of Hastings (1066 CE). However, the Chinese invented the crossbow around the 5th century BCE, fifteen centuries earlier! China is also credited with inventing the repeating crossbow, capable of firing 10 bolts in 15 seconds at around 200 CE, and gunpowder in the 11th Century CE.

Source: Teaching Nomad