Gun powder, which originated in China in the 9th century, was accidentally discovered by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir that would grant immortality to humans. A passage in a Chinese alchemist text, believed to be written in the mid-800s, was the first to document the use of gun powder. The passage stated, “… some have heated together sulfur, realgar, and saltpeter with honey; smoke and flames result, so that their hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down (Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol.31).” Merchants travelling on the Silk Road transported samples and information about gun powder to the Arabs during the 10th century. The complete formula for gunpowder was recorded by Roger Bacon, a European alchemist, by the late 13th century (Gunpowder, Explosives and the State By Brenda J. Buchanan, page51-52). The technology has been constantly improved by alchemists, inventors, and scientists from various nations ever since. Gunpowder was a key component in the creation of fire arms and canons in the 1300s, the invention of the internal combustion engine in the 17th century, and is the ancestor of almost all modern weapons.
Part C: Evaluation of Sources
Two of the sources used were The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, and Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: History of the Explosive that Changed the World by Jack Kelly.
The author of The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World, Amir D. Aczel is a professor at Bentley College and has published many well-known and bestselling scientific and mathematics books (The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, back cover). Being a professor and a scientific writer, this author focuses on interpreting solid and diverse primary and secondary evidence in a clear way. The book examines different opinions, investigates both sides of the history of the compass, and determines which one is more scientific and believable. The book provided charts, facts with details and a reference list to ensure its clarity and accuracy. However, possibly due to the author’s scientific focus, his evidence at times contains too many nonessential details for the argument.
Written by an experienced history author, the book, Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: History of the Explosive that Changed the World, provides easy-to-understand language and sharp arguments. The author highlights the opinions and arguments of critics and counters them with facts, each being examined in depth. Many primary sources from history were used by the author to support his findings and ideas. However, the author’s argument is sometimes one-sided, and can be somewhat biased. The book does not seem to fully examine and explore the arguments of the opposite position.
Part D: Analysis
During the 12th century, the lands north and east of India were unknown to European voyagers. The Silk Road was the only route that made the transporting of goods and technology possible between Europe and China. Historians have differing opinions and theories regarding how the compass and gunpowder may or may not have been transported along the Silk Road.
Some historians believe that it was impossible for the compass to get to Europe before the 12th century. They argue that the Muslim’s closure of all the land and sea routes of the Silk Road to China from the West prevented the transportation of any technologies, products, and ideas to happen (The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, page 112). Subsequently, during the series of Crusades, Christians invaded the Muslim Nations, separating the East and the West even more (The Crusades by Paul Halsall). During this chaotic period, it was nearly impossible for long distance trading from China to Europe to continue. These facts have led some historians to believe that the compass could not have gotten to Europe before the 12th century. In 1206, the Mongolian Khan or leader, Karakorum, was elected and eventually conquered much of Asia and Western Europe. This allowed one of Europe’s most famous adventurers, Marco Polo, to travel to China, and bring back numerous new products, ideas and stories. It is said that the compass was amongst these products (The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, page113). However, the theory that Marco Polo introduced the compass to Europe cannot be correct, since the first European documentation of the compass appeared in the writings of Alexander Neckam, an English scholar and teacher, in 1187. He wrote, “The sailors, moreover, as they sail over the sea, when in cloudy whether they can no longer profit by the light, or when the world is wrapped in the darkness of the shades of night, and they are ignorant to what part of the horizon the prow is directed, place the needle over the magnet, which is whirled round in a circle, until, when the motion cease; the point of it looks to the North (Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation by Alan Gurney, Prologue).” The date of this passage is almost seventy years before Marco Polo was born, proving that someone before Marco Polo brought the compass to Europe during or before the 12th century.
Many historians believe that “the compass might have traveled to Europe from China by the hand of some earlier unknown travelers, much less publish an account of them in a famous book (The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, page 114).” There were European adventurers and traders who traveled to China on the Silk Road before Marco Polo. However, they may not have had the opportunity to publish books to popularize their stories. So it is generally believed that the compass came to Europe after the 12th century, making it seem possible that Marco Polo brought the compass to Europe. However, solid evidence clearly shows that someone else introduced the compass to Europe during or before the 12th century with the aid of the Silk Road.
Another theory is that the Europeans invented the compass independently. However, evidence shows that the first Arab writer to mention the compass, Bailak, described the compass as shaped like an iron fish floating on water. This is identical to the compass described in the Chinese documents around 1116 as well as those used by French navigators during the reign of Saint Louis (1226-1270) (The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, page 120). It is highly unlikely that three different nations with absolutely unique cultures would develop an instrument that is so similar in shape, function, and mechanism unless the instrument was transported from one nation to another.
Gunpowder, another great invention in the human history, also created much controversy amongst historians and philosophers. Although the first known Chinese formula for gunpowder was recorded in 1044, some historians argue that, “there is no trustworthy evidence to prove that the Chinese invented gunpowder” and transported the technology to the West by the Silk Road. Instead, they say Europeans invented gunpowder independently (Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: History of the Explosive that Changed the World by Jack Kelly, page 20). However, solid facts can prove this theory false.
Gunpowder was known to the Europeans in the mid-13th century, and there is no evidence of Europeans knowing about gunpowder before it was known in China. When it was first invented in China, gunpowder was weak. Gradual evolution and improvements to the invention were documented in China. Unlike the Chinese, Europeans had not previously documented the existence and the evolution of gunpowder before the 13th century. Fifty years later, Europeans were using cannons in warfare (Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: History of the Explosive that Changed the World by Jack Kelly, page 21). Fifty years is too little time for a new invention to become this developed, indicating that the developed version of gunpowder was transported to Europe, and very likely by merchants, missionaries and traders on the Silk Road.
As previously mentioned, the Muslims closed all Silk Road routes to China. However, the Arabs managed to sail to China on the Silk Road sea routes until 878 when the Chinese ports were closed (The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World by Amir D. Aczel, page 112). The series of Crusades between the two nations could have introduced the Europeans to gunpowder. When the Mongolians were invading the West in the 1200s, they used gunpowder and other eastern weapons unknown in the West. After the Mongolians conquered the land, merchants, missionaries and adventurers were drawn to the Mongolian territory. Gunpowder must have been brought to Europe by these travelers. The evidence shows that it is most likely that gunpowder was transported along the Silk Road to the Arabs or Mongolians, and the Europeans acquired the technology from one of these two nations.
Part E: Conclusion
Many theories have been suggested regarding how the Europeans gained knowledge of the compass and gunpowder. Some have more conclusive evidence than others. Upon investigation, little evidence supports the theory of Europeans inventing the compass and gunpowder independently. Other theories all involve the Silk Road as a major and indispensable route for the two world changing inventions to reach Europe. Despite the controversy, the Silk Road was pivotal to the transportation of these two technologies. Without its routes, transportation of ideas, products and technologies could not have happened between the East and the West during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Part F: List of Sources
Works Cited
Primary Sources:
“Dream Pool Essays” by Shen Kua, 4th century BCE, from A Story of Exploration and Innovation
Classified Essentials of the Mysterious Tao of the True Origin of Things by Si Yuan Zheng, 850, from Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol.31
De Naturis Rerum by Alexander Neckham, 1187, from Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation
Secondary sources:
Alan Gurney, Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation , 2004
Kenneth Ledford and Catherine Epstein, Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol.31, 2008
Brenda J. Buchanan, Gunpowder, Explosives and the State, 2006
Amir D. Aczel, The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention That Changed the World, 2001
Jack Kelly, Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: History of the Explosive that Changed the World, 2004
Paul Halsall, The Crusades, 2006, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1k.html
Works Consulted
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade, and Transformation, 2007
Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis, Along the Silk Road, 2002
GlobeScope, Silk Road Odyssey, 2006
“Silk Road Chronology”, 2000, http://www.silk-road.com/artl/chrono.shtml
“The Gun-Gunpowder”, 1992, http://www.riv.co.nz/rnza/hist/gun/gunpdr.htm
Sylvia Peterson, “Marco Polo”, 2008, http://www.thehudsonschool.org/renassiance%20folder/Marco%20Polo.htm