5.弩弓
Is any picture of medieval Europe complete without the gallant crossbowman, defending his city's walls from invaders? Well, chivalrous romantics have the Chinese to thank for that image! The crossbow was invented during a chaotic and violent era called the Warring States period, which began around 480 B.C. and ended in 221 B.C. with the creation of the first Chinese empire.
如果一幅中世纪欧洲的画作中没有持箭引弓、抵御外敌的弩手形象，这画岂能算完整？说到这里，有武侠情怀的浪漫派画家得感谢中国人，是中国人让他们的画中有了如此气势磅礴的场面。弩弓发明于战国时代，那是公元前480年至公元前221年，当时各国混战不休，直至中国历史上第一个大一统的帝国诞生，混乱方才结束。
Crossbows were valued thanks to their ease of use and the fact that one did not have to rely on having a strong archer to use the weapon properly. The Chinese even took it a step further around A.D. 200, when a military strategist called Zhuge Liang created a "Repeating" crossbow; one of humanity's early attempts at creating an automatic weapon.
弩弓的价值主要在于其易用性，即使弓箭手不够强壮也能很好地使用。公元200年左右，中国人又改进了弩弓，当时一位名叫诸葛亮的军事家发明了连弩，这是人类在发明自动武器方面所做的早期尝试。
4.磁罗盘
While this is certainly not an invention we use every day, like the toothbrush, the first magnetic compasses were invented in China during the Han Dynasty. They used magnetite ore to create a sort of spiked bowl looking thing that always pointed north.
汉代时中国最先发明了磁罗盘，虽然罗盘不像牙刷一样日常。古人利用磁铁矿石制造了状如勺子的东西，使它总是指向北方。
While initially, they used this invention to divine proper times for burials and other rituals, they would soon discover its use in navigating across the globe, both on land and water. By the time the Tang Dynasty rolled around, they had refined the compass into a more familiar, iron needle based tool.
最初人们利用磁罗盘来推算进行祭祀或其他典礼的最佳时间。但很快，他们就会发现磁罗盘在全球导航中的巨大作用，无论陆地海上，它都很靠谱。唐朝以后，人们改进了磁罗盘，改勺为针，使之成为我们熟悉的样子。
3.牙刷
While things called chew-sticks were prevalent in the world's other ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt, the first familiar, bristle toothbrush was invented by the Chinese.
当一种叫做洁牙口香藤的东西还在美索不达米亚和埃及等古文明中流行时，中国人就率先发明了与现代牙刷相类似的猪鬃牙刷。
These useful tools first appeared in the 1400s in China, made from (not-so-kosher) bristles from the back of pig's necks and attached to bamboo (or ivory if you were fancy) sticks. Whereas chew-sticks were meant more for knocking bits of food from between teeth and freshening your breath (these sticks were often from fragrant trees), the bristle brush was explicitly for scrubbing teeth with the hopes of further preventing tooth decay. It's a shame some people still seem to struggle with using this important invention.
十五世纪时，牙刷首先在中国出现，这种工具是将猪后颈的鬃毛固定在竹子或象牙上制成的。尽管口香藤更有利于对清洁牙齿间的食物残渣和清新口气（因为这些枝条多取自于香木），但鬃毛刷的却能深层刷洗牙齿，进一步预防蛀牙。可惜的是，竟然有人抗拒使用这么有价值的发明。
2.火药
Here is another important weapon that Europeans love! By A.D. 300, Chinese scientists were putting down on paper that certain ingredients, including sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, when mixed together and ignited, would produce sparks and even explosions. This would rapidly develop into a tool both for ceremony and for war, with some of the first inventions based around this explosive powder being colorful fireworks.
这是欧洲人大爱的另一种重要武器！公元300年，中国术士就记录了制造火药的配料：硫磺、木炭和硝石，把它们混合后点燃，就会产生火花甚至发生爆炸。很快，人们便用火药发明了五彩缤纷的烟花，用于庆典和战争中。
By A.D. 900, the Chinese would be using this powder to fire balls of iron at city walls and propel rudimentary rockets at tightly massed formations of enemies. This is in contrast to the West, which only began describing gunpowder around A.D. 1200. Likely as a result of hearing of the technology during the Crusades, when Europeans would have their first glimpses into the world of the East.
到了公元900年，中国人利用火药在城墙上发射铁球和原始火箭以打击敌军。相比之下，西方直到公元1200年左右才有对火药的描述。欧洲人在十字军东征时首次窥见了东方世界，可能就是那时他们对这项技术才有所耳闻。
1.面条
While Italians have long claimed that they were the ones who invented the noodle, evidence that archeologists have found in China, suggests otherwise. In 2005, a sealed, preserved bowl of yellow noodles was found in Lajia, in northwestern China, underneath ten feet (3 m) of dirt.
尽管意大利人一直宣称是他们发明了面条，但是从考古学家在中国发现的证据来看，事实并非如此。2005年，中国西北部的喇家遗址中出土了一碗保存完好的黄色面条。这碗面条被埋在10英尺（3米）厚的泥土下面，
This bowl of noodles is estimated to have been buried about 4000 years ago, while the kinds of grain used in this type of noodle had been cultivated in China for at least the last 7000 years. That means that while 4000-year-old noodles seem to be the oldest we have found definitive proof of, it is highly possible that the ancient Chinese were preparing this dish for far longer.
估计已经有4000年历史了，而制作这种面条所用的谷物至少已在中国耕种了7000年。这就是说，虽然我们发现的确切证据能证明面条有4000年的历史，但是极有可能古人们早在这之前就会制作面条了。
While the Italians may have come up with this type of food on their own, it seems like the Chinese are winning the argument about who it was that made the first steamy, delicious bowl of noodles.
虽然意大利人的面条可能也是原创，但要说谁最先制作出第一碗热气腾腾、美味无比的面条，那还得是中国人。
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