The Remarkable Innovations of Ancient China

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[@SegwayBossk]

It's crazy to think about how the first enemies must have felt when encountering those gunpowder weapons

[@KendlickLama]

Nothing, they’ve been shot hundrets of meters/Yards before

[@danielduncan6806]

To them it likely appeared to be magic, or sorcery.

[@celter.45acp98]

They were mongols so probably thought " i gotta get me one of those"

[@tsartomato]

not very impressive first gunpowder warfare is just flashbangs loud but not deadly you need a ton of pressure first and great mettalurgy

[@mikitz]

I'm sure the Aztecs found gunpowder weapons even more interesting, since the Spanish guns actually killed them in droves instead of just making a loud bang.

[@SparkBerry]

The world to China: "Why do you keep copying our stuff?" China: " Say what?"

[@ChristianDoretti]

China is nothing compared to the things the Western world has created...

[@ChristianDoretti]

@troy krentzs Things like electricity gave the world another stage of evolution. What's your point then?

[@ChristianDoretti]

@troy krentzs Using their heads lol, how will you communicate with no electricity?, why are you using a phone?, why are you using KZbin according to your logic?

[@Arag0n]

@@ChristianDoretti can we just celebrate that different parts of humanity through history have helped bring all humanity forward? Stop trying to feed your own sense of superiority.

[@ChristianDoretti]

@@Arag0n Stfu, nobody asked for your opinion bro

[@cannedmusic]

...when gunpowder burst onto the scene (and mentally, most of us automatically went bah dum bump bumm)

[@Slakx310]

Exactly hahahaha

[@Sideprojects]

BA DA BUM BUM TSHSHSHHSHSHS

[@moonlightalkemist]

@@Sideprojects you're up early today. I'm still up trying to catch up on all the new videos so far this week! Well done, Sir.

[@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475]

That Seismometer! What an elegant piece of engineering!

[@stevenscalco5598]

it was stunning.

[@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475]

@@stevenscalco5598 And to pioneer the concept too. Founded a Major science branch, and engineered a direction indicator that looks like artwork. Exceptional.

[@Patricia-zq5ug]

I saw one of those at the Ontario Science Centre years ago, during an exhibit of the arts & sciences of China. It was a crossover piece: a scientific instrument that looked like a work of art.

[@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475]

@@Patricia-zq5ug Thanks for the tip. May check that out someday. It's such an elegant machine. We've somewhat lost that idea of art in engineering and architecture. It's become so utilitarian/ cost cutting.

[@theuglykwan]

I like how they didn't stop with functional but made it stylistic with the dragons and the toads.

[@zupermaus9276]

The printing press (movable type) was invented by Bi Sheng in 1038, nearly 400 years before Gutenberg. Moveable type was again 'invented' in Korea in 1234 (a language that wasn't pictogrammatic like Chinese). It's considered one of the Four Great Inventions of China. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi_Sheng

[@matthewmorse2380]

If you haven’t done Silk Road history yet, I’d be interested on one of your channels.

[@toastedorange9106]

I believe he has actually! I'm not sure it's on this channel tho fam

[@gmoney4980]

I believe it's on Geographics

[@TheDalhuck]

This has to be a BB episode. Sprinkle some cocaine in the basement, and get Danny and Sam to work!

[@mikefabbi5127]

I clicked on a show about the silk road once but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Dark web drug trade.

[@dragonxx444]

I love seeing your old vids from 4 years ago in contrast to today. Amazing evolution in storytelling. I bet you could easily become a narrator for mainstream documentaries.

[@danielduncan6806]

Simon is a fantastic Orator.

[@Sideprojects]

Thank you :)

[@moonlightalkemist]

Not sure that would be an upgrade for Mr. Whistler. Honestly I think he probably reaches more people with more diverse commentary through his plethora of channels. And he is a job creator versus just a voice of a single subject documentary. 100% agree on the evolution in storytelling!

[@jaspersmith5748]

David Attenborough on cocai.....I mean, a young DA.

[@Battledongus]

The beard too. Look how smooth and oiled it is with his new beard oil. and the tech evolution!

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

12:25 Damn, The Ming Dynasty was a couple thousand years older than I originally thought.

[@terryarmbruster7986]

It's those darn kung fu movies on the wutang collection channel!!! 🤓👍

[@iciajay6891]

China is one of the continuous society in hunan history. I studied Anthropology. So much we have know us owed to the legacy of there civilian.

[@andyginterblues2961]

My favorite was the Tang dynasty, which gave us that wonderful citrus flavored, powdered soft drink. I will let myself out now.

[@roweng.4245]

No; he had a slip-up there.

[@philhewett1601]

If you are looking for another innovation from China investigate high fired ceramics. High firing kilns (cone 10/1315 C 2400F) were developed well before the common era. Europe did not have any high fired ceramic traditions prior to 14th to 15th centuries save, perhaps save for salt glazing in what is now Germany and even that did not reach the high temperatures achieved in the Orient. The Chinese had developed porcelain by the 13th century. Europe was only able to begin producing porcelain in the 18th century and that only happened when a Jesuit priest, through industrial espionage, acquired the formula from a Chinese pottery. All Western high fire techniques ultimately derive from the Far East.

[@dr.m.hfuhruhurr84]

Outstanding work (as usual) Mr. W. This stuff could get addictive! Stay well! ✌️😷👍

[@Travlinmo]

Could?

[@jfu5222]

The Chinese, not Gutenberg, were also the inventors of movable type and the printing press.

[@ToddRickey]

Good work as always Simon. Ancient civilizations are a good topic, enjoyable. In recent decades, many very ancient (12,000 years old) archaeological sites are uncovered, revealing ornately-carved megalthic circles. Perhaps you encountered or even made presentations on at least one of them, Göbeklitepe in Southern Anatolia, primarily. There are a very good number of sites there that have preliminary work done. This area was the northernmost section of the Fertile Cresent, and is a most likely site for the origins of agriculture.

[@Touay.]

the ironically named 'great leap forward', was such a tragedy, not only the tens of millions murdered by Maos supporters, but for the cultural loss.

[@johnathonherring2583]

Can you do a vid on the Biltmore Estate? Maybe more of a Geographics, but I'd love to see it.

[@hylacinerea970]

imagine how crazy it must’ve felt to live through these periods of extreme technological advancements

[@Kyle-qd2sy]

Just imagining some ancient Chinese bureaucrat going through all of his paperwork or rather his bamboo work, finishing up after a long day then turning around and seeing a panda eating all of his records

[@YangSunWoo]

@Heinous Anus Wrong country. Back to history videos you go!

[@davidchang600]

The Chinese invented paper. So it would have been paper work.

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Interesting and worthwhile video.

[@j.t.erasmus7486]

Hi Simon - Thanks for another great video. I never miss one. Gun powder everyone expected, but suspension bridges! I did not see that one coming. A suggestion for a future video: Bank Vaults of the world: Like Fort Knox, Bank of England Gold Vault, Svalbard Global Seed Vault Etc. Which are the biggest and safest in existence. Greetings from South Africa

[@Chris-hx3om]

All your videos are interesting!

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

Simon's curiosity has enriched the world. His video topics are fascinating. Intelligently presented, with a splash of entertainment.

[@michaelralte8195]

Was expecting the Compass to be there too

[@sidneysun5217]

i'm surprised the magnetic compass isn't part of this video, invented around 200 BC and resembles a spoon

[@MH-fb5kr]

The utilization of paper for currency has to rank at the top.

[@dwchen1]

The improvement of Simon's storytelling skill is just a matter of time when the phone was ringing and told that a dude or gal on the other side was from BBC documentary division.

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@ryank3281]

Additionally, printing press, crossbow and magnetic compass.

[@TheRedEagle1993]

Simon man i can hear you all day long , i love your videos and Chanel’s . I am from Albania and i really want to see a video for it about anything ( crime politics communism corruption war you name it ) make a video about Albania no one has made so if its possible make one thank you

[@remedytee]

Please do one about the opium wars or the decline of the British empire

[@MrWhitecloudasia]

Hey Simon love your work. - this made me think about how many things have been invented in that tiny country of ours - New Zealand. From the referee whistle or the jet boat to bungy jumping - recently Zorb Balls! you might be amazed at the long list......could be a fun video

[@juistoscrazygames137]

All those a cool BUT they invented General Tso's chicken!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

[@larryscott3982]

I like the use of A.D. and B.C. instead of C.E. and B.C.E.

[@SREDISKRAD]

Can you imagine negotiations on buying the steel mill. "How shall we proceed with land negotiations?" "No, I want the building, we have the land and (un)skilled workers I just want the building."

[@Sideprojects]

BOX IT UP

[@DelilahDraken]

That is actually pretty much how it goes.

[@bobbiusshadow6985]

Unskilled workers? Nah, we just buy the skilled workers at the same time.

[@SREDISKRAD]

@@bobbiusshadow6985 you have sweatshops that pay people in dollars a month over there XD

[@andyginterblues2961]

Kind of like a garage sale where they are selling the actual garage. I never knew about this, the dismantling and relocating of entire steel mills. I was a member of the USW, my grandfather worked for Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna (Buffalo) N.Y. U.S. in a mill where the steel was made using those huge "pitchers". They are called Bessemer Converters. Those mills operated 24/7, 365 days a year, until the mills shut down and put half of the city out of work. During the coldest days of winter, the temperature inside the mills was always in the 90's F. Murder to work in.

[@Mullet-ZubazPants]

6:44 The Chinese invented printing too. The oldest printed book in existence is "The Diamond Sutra", a Tang Dynasty printed book. It's housed in the British Library. The Chinese also invented movable type hundreds of years before Gutenberg. And Gutenberg may not have even been the first European to print in movable type. Many Dutch believe their countryman Laurens Janszoon Coster was the first. But Gutenberg printed the bible

[@robertkerr4199]

A better question... Which would you prefer to write on, paper, or the skins of your enemies?

[@Sideprojects]

SKINS SKINS SKINS!!

[@christinebenson518]

@carddamom Allegedly keeps people in his basement chained to radiators with a sentient heater in charge...allegedly. Got to cover the legal bases...allegedly.

[@mikitz]

So basically the alternatives are paper and parchment. Paper is cheaper.

[@Battledongus]

@@christinebenson518 original OGBB refrance

[@zenmaster24]

what is the name of the music that comes on when the chapter 4 title card is shown? 9:14

[@TheGrinningViking]

I love how British people always need to explain the actual meaning of slag so as not to confuse or offend other Brits 😂

[@Sideprojects]

lol, and here I was thinking slag was international.

[@somethingelse4424]

@Sideprojects It's amusing that you might need to be careful about "slag" but can use the c-word quite causally and even as a term of endearment. Whereas in the US that would earn us social pariah status. I'm not even comfortable typing it in censored form with asterisks.

[@cantsay]

Please look into current septic disposal technologies such as the Oscar system or Biobarrier. Truly ingenious.

[@Yomezio]

man im loving binging your videos but damn every videos volume is different i keep waking my fiance up lmao

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

The root of the word "firearm" clicked for me when Simon said it.. exactly when Simon said it clicked for him as well. How cool!

[@dawnemami3089]

Can you do one on the Elephant Butte Dam in New Mexico, USA and it’s history

[@mikeday5776]

One of my jobs as a purchase manager for an American corp’s European arm, back in the eighties, you could plot a graph of the fall in the price of steel, all tide up with long term contracts. Once steel and or iron became too cheap, a factory would “burn down” reducing the supply and increasingly the price via demand. Just an interesting side note.

[@deanfrankel4977]

The bizarre man-made landscape of the Malakoff diggings might make an interesting segment.

[@tommyzty1089]

4:45 fyi "Cai Lun" is pronounced as "Tsai Lun", but still great vid!

[@MrDDiRusso]

Gunpowder doesn't kill people, bullets do.

[@dankthegank4315]

“No for the 100th time that’s not pepper, it’s salt Peter.”

[@ernestolombardo5811]

Nobody: Simon: Blast furnaces in China in the 1st century A.D.!

[@johnsimons1748]

Please do Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector

[@johntakolander8613]

What about printing?

[@AnyoneCanSee]

"Gun powered burst onto the scene?" "Exploded onto the scene surely." I know this isn't business blaze but you can't allow a pun like that to sail past.

[@Genesh12]

Makes me think of the terra cotta warriors in Xian, China. Saw in a documentary that the swords are made of a 14 metal steel alloy that wasn't discovered in the West until the 1930's. Still razor sharp and have to be held with tungstun gloves or else the hands of the scientists holding them would be cut off.

[@TheBigblacknegro]

BIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG SIMON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Laurence Janszoon Koster invented the printing press actually, in te city of Haarlem, Netherlands..

[@shookings]

Okay Simon, I got one that will keep you busy for a good long time. I know your viewer base is mostly American, so how about "5 little known facts (historical or modern) about" every state? There's a good start. But why stop there? Do a whole other series on every European country! And then every country in the world.

[@georgeallen7101]

So not Abraham Derby ? Where did they mine the ore for iron ?

[@dislikecounter5191]

I guess papyrus isn't paper but it's quite a bit older Wonder how much heads up the seismagraph actually gave. If it's far enough to not feel quickly it's probably not gonna damage much where you are

[@andyginterblues2961]

Simon- Possibly you have already done an episode on how bodies are identified when WWll plane crash sites are discovered years later...there's a book titled "A Missing Plane" by Susan Sheehan which details the process. The crashed military plane in question (the subject of the book) was discovered in the mountains of Borneo by natives hunting exotic birds to sell, and contained the remains of my uncle Frank Ginter, along with many others. Check it out.

[@SMEGTACULAR]

Dude how many shows do you do??????

[@handsomeblackmuscle9845]

*Chinese looking for the elexir of life, discover gunpowder* Man who discovered gunpowder: Umm.. I still want to look for the elexir of life, but I also want to end my enemies lives early.

[@theuglykwan]

He probably thought he'd add their remaining lifespan to his to balance the scales.

[@charlesxavier4409]

the only remarkable thing about ancient china is they worked all day in the fields with pitchforks and shovels and never invented the spoon and fork.

[@MartyInLa]

So, the Chinese beat the Egyptians in the invention of paper? So much for the papyrus growing along the Nile.

[@lizdierdorf]

video suggestion: The Bauhaus School of Arts in Germany

[@taskdon769]

Cai Lun paper wasn't really a popular choice of writing material until much later due the the cost of crafting. Seimometer was a sort of legend, the one that currently on display is a replica from the historical records. However if you are going to take everything at face value from Chinese historical records then quite a lot stuffs are also originated from China. So...

[@tomballardarts2453]

The Egyptians claim their papyrus paper is older.

[@phranerphamily]

I've been living in China for the last 2 years and they are very proud of their accomplishments and are happy to show them off not sure it would have been the same 2000 years ago 😂

[@peterwarner553]

I'm more interested in why they stopped technological innovation for centuries.

[@DavidMaurand]

invention is often the mother of necessity

[@roweng.4245]

12:28 "the Ming Dynasty (1344 to 1668 BC)" - the Ming Dynasty was most emphatically not "BC"

[@pottsniffgrond8488]

Such ingenuity! Don't forget human righ... oh wait 👀

[@jakehensley823]

I’d love to see a side projects video about the houses Brad Pitt’s org built in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

[@mcribbedherpleasure668]

I’ll catch you up. They were built cheap, residents did not properly maintain them, and they are all falling apart... They fit in perfectly with the rest of New Orleans lol

[@Black_Sun_Dark_Star]

Song Dynasty, not Sung.

[@ZomgRAWR93]

*CCP wants to know your location*

[@jaspersmith5748]

Fairly certain they already know

[@james8449100]

My bog role is made from bambo

[@jameshammons2354]

Explained that comment

[@matthoward7645]

Ye my ex literally has like 20 diff bamboo products that toilet paper is rough af though

[@michaelmurphy2786]

I've always been disappointed, ever since I was a child, that firearms turned out to not be fire arms.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:35 - Chapter 1 - Gunpowder 4:20 - Chapter 2 - Paper 7:00 - Chapter 3 - Seismometer 9:20 - Chapter 4 - Blast furnace 11:40 - Chapter 5 - Suspension bridges

[@ashproof]

Today I found out looks different. Lol

[@greeceuranusputin]

Can there be gunpowder when there aren't any guns yet?

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

Should Kung Pao chicken be on this list 🤣👍

[@eduardobaptistaolimon2296]

i loved it

[@Lozzie74]

Tea?

[@donbrashsux]

Can you do the worlds oldest sporting trophy The America’s Cup

[@dankthegank4315]

I never knew rat was such a valuable material.

[@stuartlumi6210]

You've mentioned Li Bing, but you missed the greatest hydraulic engineering of ancient China. The Du Jiang Yan water conservancy system, which was designed and built by Li Bing, and kept using today. That maybe is the only ancient project around the world that still working.

[@TestingPyros]

Black powder is only considered stable when compared to nitroglycerin! ;)

[@meklavier4664]

watching simon pronouncing chinese name is so funny.

[@Mobius_1218]

Too lazy to look through the comments but did anyone else notice a certain symbol at 5:44 on someone's chest

[@medikate899]

The domestication of French amgora rabbits! No, wait!! Hear me out!!! It involves such dramatic elements as natural genetic mutations, monastic selective breeding experiments, Napoleon's invasion of Turkey, the diminutive emperor's brilliant plan for a sustainable French economy featuring exclusive products and cottage industries, and eventual smuggling and development of the English angora!! (Side note, if you ever need a pick-me-up, Google "English angora by Betty Chu.") You could even touch on the controversial (and viscerally disturbing) PETA video that devastated the home-raised angora wool industry (at least, here in America) It is so horrific most people don't stop to notice the several obvious reasons it is most likely staged and/or severely out of context. (Read about it all you like but, please, don't watch it. You can never unsee it. I enjoy things like your Casual Criminalist channel!! But this video is beyond darkly fascinating and is just plain awful.) In short, utilitarian, historical, controversial, and just plain adorable, the story of the development of angora rabbits is more interesting than you'd think!

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

Pfft!! China has been filling Walmart Returns buggies since 2000 BC. {-_-} xD

[@dturts8309]

damn they were smart cookies

[@dannyg8032]

The Battle of Talas was not fought by the Chinese and Turks, but by the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Empire which was Arabo-Persian. Maybe they had some turkoman warriors included in their troops, but it wasn't a turkish army. The commander of the Abbasid army was Abu Muslim, the Persian mawali leader of the Khorasan rebellion which ended the Umayyad Caliphate and replaced it with the Abassid one. Next time do better with the documentation. The Abbasid Empire wasn't "some turks".

[@dwchen1]

Compass Simon?

[@TheSevenUpMan]

I'm not 100% positive on this, but didn't the Chinese also invent cement?

[@stuart6478]

the powder but not the bullet

[@paddybpaddyb9940]

Invention number 6; Spring rolls

[@Unknowngfyjoh]

Why have you not accepted my challenge to a game of Raid Shadow Legends?! You can't run!

[@1337fraggzb00N]

Paper: what about Papyrus? It was invented about 3000 B.C.

[@adamblanchard8789]

Wow, Simon is pretty hyped up.for this side project. Must be the cocaine...ALLEGEDLY!

[@lalalakachow316]

i hope i can grow a beard like yours one day

[@corpsman1980]

The best way to grow a beard is to resolve that you are not going to shave for three months. If you don't have one in that time. Put it off a few years and try again

[@badluck5647]

No chopsticks?

[@dianecripps204]

Sorry, Ming dynasty was CE, not BCE.

[@vanpenguin22]

You forgot Covid!