The Qianlong Emperor orders the creation of the Siku Quanshu
The Siku Quanshu ended up surpassing the Ming dynasty’s 1403 Yongle Encyclopedia in size, which was China’s largest encyclopedia prior to the creation of the Siku Quanshu.
China
Pu Songling completes Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, one of the great pieces of Chinese literature
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio or Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Pu Songling comprising close to five hundred “marvel tales” in the zhiguai and chuanqi styles which serve to implicitly criticise societal issues then.
Macau enters its golden age of trade
Macau’s golden age coincided with the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King Philip II of Spain was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China.
The A-Ma Temple is completed in Macau
The A-Ma Temple is a temple to the Chinese sea-goddess Mazu located in São Lourenço, Macau, China. Built in 1488, the temple is one of the oldest in Macau and thought to be the settlement’s namesake.
Marco Polo publishes his tales of his journey to China
The Travels of Marco Polo, is a 13th-century travelogue describing Polo’s travels through Asia between 1271 and 1295, and his experiences at the court of Kublai Khan.
The Chinese of the Song Dynasty invent the fishing reel
A fishing reel is a cylindrical device attached to a fishing rod used in winding and stowing line.
The Chinese of the Song Dynasty invent the fire lance
The fire lance was a very early gunpowder weapon that appeared in 10th century China during the Jin-Song Wars.
The Chinese of the Song Dynasty invent dry docks
A dry dock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform.
Early versions of the Bessemer process for producing steel are invented in East Asia
Economic historian Robert Hartwell writes that the Chinese of the Song Dynasty innovated a “partial decarbonization” method of repeated forging of cast iron under a cold blast.
Bi Sheng of China's Song Dynasty invents movable type
The world’s first movable type printing press technology for printing paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around C.E. 1040 in China during the Northern Song Dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng.