One of history's great civilisations
Ancient China shaped the world for thousands of years, and this word search gathers it. You'll be tracking down the mighty EMPEROR, the ruling DYNASTY, the long WALL that guarded the land, and the silent TERRACOTTA WARRIOR army buried to protect a king.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the list, so the grid changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a Hard-mode journey once the diagonals and backwards words appear.
Inventions, ideas and everyday life
Ancient China gave the world some of its cleverest ideas, and the words are here. There's PAPER and the magnetic COMPASS, GUNPOWDER and fine SILK, the wise teacher CONFUCIUS and the soaring PAGODA and TEMPLE. You'll also spot a bright LANTERN, a paper KITE, smooth green JADE, a cup of TEA, a sailing JUNK, BAMBOO groves and a wandering PANDA — all part of life along the great RIVER.
The Four Great Inventions
Historians often credit Ancient China with the 'Four Great Inventions' that changed the whole world — and three of them are hiding in this grid. PAPER let knowledge be written and shared cheaply; the magnetic COMPASS let sailors find their way far out of sight of land; and GUNPOWDER, first mixed by alchemists hunting for a potion of long life, ended up reshaping warfare everywhere. (The fourth was printing.) The Chinese also kept SILK-making a closely guarded secret for centuries, since the SILK Road trade made the EMPIRE fabulously rich.
The scale of their building still astonishes. The Great WALL was extended by DYNASTY after dynasty until it stretched thousands of miles — far too long to ever be one continuous wall — and the first emperor was buried with a TERRACOTTA army of around 8,000 life-sized WARRIOR figures, each with a different face, only rediscovered by well-diggers in 1974. Add the teachings of CONFUCIUS, whose ideas about respect and good behaviour still echo across the world, and you can see why Ancient China is such a rich history topic.
Great for an Ancient China topic
It pairs perfectly with a history topic on early civilisations, Chinese inventions and the Silk Road — Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use our Make Your Own tool to build a grid from your own Ancient China words.
Frequently asked questions
What's in the Ancient China word search?
Key words from Ancient China — the emperor and dynasties, the Great Wall and terracotta army, plus inventions like paper, the compass and gunpowder, and everyday things like silk, tea, jade and dragons. Each puzzle uses a fresh mix.
Which Chinese inventions are included?
Several — PAPER, the COMPASS and GUNPOWDER — alongside the EMPEROR, the Great WALL, the TERRACOTTA army and SILK.
Is it good for a history topic?
Great fit — Ancient China is a popular history unit. Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words.