Chinese Compass
Transcript: What was the significance and influence of the compass? Chinese Compass Who invented the compass? The first compass was invented in Ancient China, during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD and they developed it in order to help with the Feng Shui practice. This practice involved aligning one’s self and others with the earth. The Ancient Chinese used the compass to help direct them towards a life of balance and oneness with the earth. It was used in military navigation by 1040 to 1044 and for maritime navigation by 1111 to 1117, during the Song Dynasty. People usually built early compasses using lodestone, a special form of the mineral magnetite that, as a natural permanent magnet, aligns itself with the Earth’s magnetic field. exhibits north-south polarity. Fashioned into the shape of a spoon or ladle, the lodestone sat upon a flat, square-shaped plate made of bronze, which served as a representation of Earth. In the center of the plate, was a large circle representing the Heavens appeared in which the lodestone was placed. This circle represented the Heavens. The lodestone spoon itself symbolized the constellation the Great Bear (also called Ursa Major), which contains the collection of stars known as the Big Dipper. Because of the properties of lodestone, the handle of the spoon always pointed towards the south. People used the Chinese compass as a navigational aid. Zheng He from the Yunnan province of China was the first person recorded to have used the Chinese compass as a navigational aid. He used it in his voyage between 1405 and 1433. Later, after a thousand years, Europeans and West Asians learned about the compass. William Gilbert then published a paper on magnetism, which is the main component of the compass. Navigators also use the compass to locate the magnetic North Pole. Then, in 1825, British inventor William Sturgeon invented a compass using the concept of electromagnetism. What did the compass look like? Video zhǐnánzhēn By David Kiley and Scott Burk Chinese Compass