中国古代的四大发明包括造纸术、指南针、火药、印刷术，它们对中国古代的政治、经济、文化的发展产生了巨大的推动作用，经各种途径传至西方各国，对世界文明发展史产生了巨大的影响力。
There are four great inventions in Chinese history. What are they? They are the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing technology. Since ancient times, they have made people’s lives easier around the world with a great many of other inventions.
中国历史上有四大发明。它们是什么？它们是指南针、火药、造纸术、印刷术。自古以来，它们通过许多其他发明使世界各地的人们的生活更加轻松。
Compass
指南针
Before the compass was invented, people had to look at the sun, moon, and stars to look for directions. The ancient Chinese also used magnetic (磁的) rocks to decide north and south. This way was later included into the invention of the compass.
在指南针发明之前，人们必须看太阳、月亮和星星来寻找方向。古代中国人也用磁石来决定南北。这种方式后来被包括在指南针的发明中。
Gunpowder
火药
The Chinese first used gunpowder to make explosives (炸药) used by the military in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Chinese invented cannons (大炮) made of cast iron, cast iron landmines (地雷), and rockets, and gunpowder was used to make bamboo fireworks in the Song Dynasty.
中国人在五代十国时期首次使用火药制造军队使用的炸药。中国人发明了由铸铁制成的大炮,铸铁地雷和火箭,火药在宋代被用来制作竹制烟花。
Paper
造纸术
The first type of paper was made of hemp, rag, and fishing net. This coarse paper was created in the Western Han Dynasty but it was too hard to write on so it wasn’t widely used. Cai Lun, a eunuch (太监) in the Eastern Han Dynasty court, invented a fine, white paper made of bark, hemp, cloth, and fishing net that could easily be written on.
第一种纸是由大麻、破布和渔网制成的。这种粗纸是西汉时期制作的，但很难书写，所以没有被广泛使用。东汉宫廷的太监蔡伦发明了一种用树皮，麻，布和渔网制成的精美的白纸，书写变得容易。
Woodblock Printing
印刷术
During the Tang Dynasty, ancient Chinese people, who made beautiful things by hand, came up with a creative way to largely produce printed works. There came the first type of woodblock printing. It put human civilization forward.
在唐朝，中国古代人用手工制作美丽的东西，想出了一种创造性的方法来大量生产印刷品。第一种木版印刷术问世了。它推动了人类文明的发展。
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