Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Lawrence W Reed
“Sinologists speak of the ‘Four Great Inventions’ of China. The infamous ‘one-child policy’ is not one of them; that is a political contrivance of more recent times and is producing a demographic catastrophe (see The Ultimate Central Planning Nightmare). The Four Great Inventions are the compass, paper, printing, and gunpowder. They date to ancient times, and their impact worldwide has been massive and largely, if not overwhelmingly, beneficial. In the early 17th century, the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon credited modern Europe’s emergence to the adoption of three of them.” (09/10/25)
https://fee.org/articles/classical-chinas-gifts-to-the-world/