--- title: Ancient China: paper, silk, the Silk Road and Confucius — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Ancient China: paper, silk, the Silk Road and Confucius», a lesson of the history course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Look around a classroom: paper in your exercise book, a compass in the science cupboard, fireworks on New Year's n --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/) / Ancient China: paper, silk, the Silk R… # Ancient China: paper, silk, the Silk Road and Confucius Lesson 10 of the history course of Mova's primary school: 18 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/0/) — Look around a classroom: paper in your exercise book, a compass in the science cupboard, fireworks on New Year's night, printed books on the shelf. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/1/) — Each of these began in China. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/2/) — The Chinese learned to make silk from silkworm cocoons and kept the method secret for centuries, so rich people from Rome to Persia paid a fortune for it. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/3/) — Silk, spices and ideas travelled along the Silk Road, which was not one road but a web of routes across deserts and mountains, walked by camel caravans resting at oasis towns. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/4/) — About 2,500 years ago the teacher Confucius taught kindness, honesty and respect for parents and teachers, and that rulers should set a good example. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/5/) — His saying "do not do to others what you would not want done to you" is still known everywhere. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/6/) — Cai Lun, an official of the Han court, improved papermaking about 1,900 years ago, using tree bark, old rags and fishing nets. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/7/) — The Chinese learned to make silk from the cocoons of silkworms that eat mulberry leaves, and kept the method secret for centuries. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/8/) — The Silk Road was not one road but a web of trade routes across deserts and mountains between China, Central Asia, Persia and the Mediterranean. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/9/) — Along the Silk Road travelled not only goods but also ideas, religions and inventions. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/10/) — Traders travelled in caravans of camels, which can go a long time without drinking, across the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts, resting in oasis towns. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/11/) — Confucius was a teacher who lived about 2,500 years ago and taught that people should be kind and honest, respect their parents and teachers, and that rulers should set a good example. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/12/) — A famous saying of Confucius is: do not do to others what you would not want done to you. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/13/) — The Chinese discovered that a magnetised needle points north and later used compasses for sailing. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/14/) — Chinese alchemists discovered gunpowder, probably while looking for a medicine for long life; it was first used for fireworks and later in weapons. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/15/) — The Chinese printed books with carved wooden blocks over 1,100 years ago; the Diamond Sutra of 868 is the oldest dated printed book. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/16/) — Bi Sheng later made movable type of clay, so Gutenberg did not invent printing but a fast way of printing with metal letters in Europe. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/17/) — About 600 years ago the admiral Zheng He sailed huge Chinese ships to India, Arabia and East Africa, and brought back gifts including a giraffe. - ← previous: [Ancient China: dynasties, the First Emperor and the Great Wall](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/) - next →: [Ancient Greece: city-states, Athens and Sparta](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/11-ancient-greece-city-states-athens-and-sparta/) - ↑ back to [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/)