中國人最先發明的十大物品(下)

sbow

5.弩弓

Is any picture of medieval Europe complete without the gallant crossbowman, defending his city's walls from invaders? Well, chivalrous romantics have the Chinese to thank for that image! The crossbow was invented during a chaotic and violent era called the Warring States period, which began around 480 B.C. and ended in 221 B.C. with the creation of the first Chinese empire.

如果一幅中世紀歐洲的畫作中沒有持箭引弓、抵禦外敵的弩手形象，這畫豈能算完整？說到這裏，有武俠情懷的浪漫派畫家得感謝中國人，是中國人讓他們的畫中有了如此氣勢磅礴的場面。弩弓發明於戰國時代，那是公元前480年至公元前221年，當時各國混戰不休，直至中國歷史上第一個大一統的帝國誕生，混亂方纔結束。

Crossbows were valued thanks to their ease of use and the fact that one did not have to rely on having a strong archer to use the weapon properly. The Chinese even took it a step further around A.D. 200, when a military strategist called Zhuge Liang created a "Repeating" crossbow; one of humanity's early attempts at creating an automatic weapon.

弩弓的價值主要在於其易用性，即使弓箭手不夠強壯也能很好地使用。公元200年左右，中國人又改進了弩弓，當時一位名叫諸葛亮的軍事家發明了連弩，這是人類在發明自動武器方面所做的早期嘗試。

ass

4.磁羅盤

While this is certainly not an invention we use every day, like the toothbrush, the first magnetic compasses were invented in China during the Han Dynasty. They used magnetite ore to create a sort of spiked bowl looking thing that always pointed north.

漢代時中國最先發明瞭磁羅盤，雖然羅盤不像牙刷一樣日常。古人利用磁鐵礦石製造了狀如勺子的東西，使它總是指向北方。

While initially, they used this invention to divine proper times for burials and other rituals, they would soon discover its use in navigating across the globe, both on land and water. By the time the Tang Dynasty rolled around, they had refined the compass into a more familiar, iron needle based tool.

最初人們利用磁羅盤來推算進行祭祀或其他典禮的最佳時間。但很快，他們就會發現磁羅盤在全球導航中的巨大作用，無論陸地海上，它都很靠譜。唐朝以後，人們改進了磁羅盤，改勺爲針，使之成爲我們熟悉的樣子。

hbrush

3.牙刷

While things called chew-sticks were prevalent in the world's other ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt, the first familiar, bristle toothbrush was invented by the Chinese.

當一種叫做潔牙口香藤的東西還在美索不達米亞和埃及等古文明中流行時，中國人就率先發明瞭與現代牙刷相類似的豬鬃牙刷。

These useful tools first appeared in the 1400s in China, made from (not-so-kosher) bristles from the back of pig's necks and attached to bamboo (or ivory if you were fancy) sticks. Whereas chew-sticks were meant more for knocking bits of food from between teeth and freshening your breath (these sticks were often from fragrant trees), the bristle brush was explicitly for scrubbing teeth with the hopes of further preventing tooth decay. It's a shame some people still seem to struggle with using this important invention.

十五世紀時，牙刷首先在中國出現，這種工具是將豬後頸的鬃毛固定在竹子或象牙上製成的。儘管口香藤更有利於對清潔牙齒間的食物殘渣和清新口氣（因爲這些枝條多取自於香木），但鬃毛刷的卻能深層刷洗牙齒，進一步預防蛀牙。可惜的是，竟然有人抗拒使用這麼有價值的發明。

owder

2.火藥

Here is another important weapon that Europeans love! By A.D. 300, Chinese scientists were putting down on paper that certain ingredients, including sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, when mixed together and ignited, would produce sparks and even explosions. This would rapidly develop into a tool both for ceremony and for war, with some of the first inventions based around this explosive powder being colorful fireworks.

這是歐洲人大愛的另一種重要武器！公元300年，中國術士就記錄了製造火藥的配料：硫磺、木炭和硝石，把它們混合後點燃，就會產生火花甚至發生爆炸。很快，人們便用火藥發明了五彩繽紛的煙花，用於慶典和戰爭中。

By A.D. 900, the Chinese would be using this powder to fire balls of iron at city walls and propel rudimentary rockets at tightly massed formations of enemies. This is in contrast to the West, which only began describing gunpowder around A.D. 1200. Likely as a result of hearing of the technology during the Crusades, when Europeans would have their first glimpses into the world of the East.

到了公元900年，中國人利用火藥在城牆上發射鐵球和原始火箭以打擊敵軍。相比之下，西方直到公元1200年左右纔有對火藥的描述。歐洲人在十字軍東征時首次窺見了東方世界，可能就是那時他們對這項技術纔有所耳聞。

les

1.麪條

While Italians have long claimed that they were the ones who invented the noodle, evidence that archeologists have found in China, suggests otherwise. In 2005, a sealed, preserved bowl of yellow noodles was found in Lajia, in northwestern China, underneath ten feet (3 m) of dirt.

儘管意大利人一直宣稱是他們發明了麪條，但是從考古學家在中國發現的證據來看，事實並非如此。2005年，中國西北部的喇家遺址中出土了一碗保存完好的黃色麪條。這碗麪條被埋在10英尺（3米）厚的泥土下面，

This bowl of noodles is estimated to have been buried about 4000 years ago, while the kinds of grain used in this type of noodle had been cultivated in China for at least the last 7000 years. That means that while 4000-year-old noodles seem to be the oldest we have found definitive proof of, it is highly possible that the ancient Chinese were preparing this dish for far longer.

估計已經有4000年曆史了，而製作這種麪條所用的穀物至少已在中國耕種了7000年。這就是說，雖然我們發現的確切證據能證明麪條有4000年的歷史，但是極有可能古人們早在這之前就會製作麪條了。

While the Italians may have come up with this type of food on their own, it seems like the Chinese are winning the argument about who it was that made the first steamy, delicious bowl of noodles.

雖然意大利人的麪條可能也是原創，但要說誰最先製作出第一碗熱氣騰騰、美味無比的麪條，那還得是中國人。