参考翻译
Papermaking, gunpowder, printing and compass are the Four Great Inventions of ancient China that have exerted a great and far-reaching impact on the entire world. The invention of paper greatly contributed to the spread and development of civilization. The birth of gunpowder was quite accidental. It was invented inadvertently by alchemists while attempting to make an elixir. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder was used in military affairs, and was spread to all over the world in the 13th century. On the basis of printing in the Tang Dynasty, BiSheng in the Northern Song Dynasty invented the movable-type printing, which lauched a great revolution in the history of printing.Natural magnets were made into the first direction-finding compass by ancient Chinese people, which greatly improved a ship's ability to navigate over long distances.