Abigail Hora
1/3/11
Per. 5
Asia
China: Engineering an Empire-Summary
In the historical documentary, “Engineering an Empire-China”, on the History Channel, the video explored the _____, _____, and _____ of China. ______. ______. ______. ______. ______. Also ______. The second topic ______. ______. ______. ______. Also ______. Third, ______. ______. ______. ______. I thought the video…….. I am still curious about…… Or, I would like to learn more about…….., etc.
In “Engineering an Empire-China”, a historical documentary, on the History Channel, it explored the achievements, mysteries, and inventions of China. Some of the achievements of the Chinese are the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canal, the largest fleet of ships, the largest and most advanced tomb (Ching Wan Lee was the one who made this possible; he wanted it to be built ever since he was 13.), and many great palaces. The idea to build the Great Wall of China was thought of by Yin Zang, an emperor of China; the Grand Canal was Yang Di’s, another emperor, idea! The palaces that the Chinese constructed were made before the pyramids of Egypt were even made. Zheng He, a man who was kidnapped, castrated, and brought to the emperor’s son as a gift, soon rose to the rank of Chief Lieutenant to the emperor himself. Zheng He was the person who came up with the idea of a large fleet of ships; he wanted to explore the seas, making this the biggest engineering challenge the Chinese had ever faced. Zheng He ordered 337 ocean-going ships and 188 flat-bottom transporters for his fleet. One of the main mysteries of China is the terracotta army. The terracotta army was used as a guard for Ching Wan Lee’s epic tomb. The terracotta skull would open a gateway to all archaeology. The terracotta army also wore special cleats to help them run in the mud. Some of the inventions of China are: fireworks, papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, printing (both woodblock and moveable type), etc. There are many more, including mathematics, astronomy, mechanisms, etc. Many things we have today were invented by ancient China. The people who were building the Great Wall of China also kind of invented something similar to cement. They mixed sticky rice and burnt lime together to create a kind of cement, which is actually stronger than today’s normal cement; we don’t use this kind of mixture today. The Chinese are known for many more accomplishments from the past, they have survived throughout the past, and they are still surviving today.