There were many scientists in the Han dynasty, among the most famous was Zhang Heng . He invented the first device to keep track of the Sun, Moon and stars and made important contributions to astronomy.Driven by water power, it was a major invention at that time. He also invented the first seismograph. It had nine bronze dragons each facing a different direction that each held a ball in the mouth and eight bronze toads beneath it to catch any ball that fell, indicating an earthquake. Besides Zhang Heng, there was also an official named Cai Lun who invented paper, before that, words had been written on bamboo strips.
Literature and Writing
Literature and writing flourished in the Han dynasty. New types of poetry called fu and yue fu were introduced. Many famous pieces were composed. A very important book named Shi Ji was written. It was a compilation of History from the Yellow Emperor all the way to the reign of Han Wudi, making it the longest compilation of history ever achieved in China. The writing system made a significant improvement, first changing to Li Shu at the beginning of the Han dynasty and finally to the Kai Shu we use today.
