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China's Ancient Inventions Recorded at Dunhuang Grottoes
Frescoes and other cultural objects unearthed from China's Magao Grottoes provide evidence that China led the world in scientific and technological development before modern science appeared in the West at the end of 18th century.
The honeycomb of caves known as the Mogao Grottoes, in Dunhuang city of Gansu Province in the northwest, are etched into the steep cliff at the foot of Mingsha Mountain. Inside the caves are tens of thousands of ancient documents, Buddhist sutras and murals dating back to the 4th through 11th centuries.
The art of printing, which has helped to advance human civilization, is known to have originated in China. The ingenuity of the ancient Chinese is apparent at Dunhuang.
In the period from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.) to the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-550), China had developed relatively complete systems of mathematics, astronomy, medical science, agriculture, metallurgy, textile, chemistry, architecture and communications. Sino-overseas scientific and cultural exchanges through the Silk Road in succeeding Tang and Song dynasties brought China into a flourishing age, he added.
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