There is disagreement as to exactly when the compass was invented.

These are
noteworthy Chinese literary references in evidence for its antiquity:

 The magnetic compass was first invented as a device for divination as early as
the Chinese Han Dynasty (since about 206 BC). The compass was used in Song Dynasty China
by the military for navigational orienteering by 1040–44, and was used for maritime navigation
by 1111 to 1117.

 The earliest Chinese literature reference to magnetism lies in the 4th century BC writings
of Wang Xu (鬼谷子): "The lodestone attracts iron."[31] The book also notes that the people of the
state of Zheng always knew their position by means of a "south-pointer"; some authors suggest
that this refers to early use of the compass.[1][32]

 The first mention of a spoon, speculated to be a lodestone, observed pointing in a cardinal

direction is a Chinese work composed between 70 and 80 AD (Lunheng), which records that
"But when the south pointing spoon is thrown upon the ground, it comes to rest pointing at the
south." Within the text, the author Wang Chong describes the spoon as a phenomenon that he
has personally observed.[34] Although the passage does not explicitly mention magnetism,
[35]
according to Chen-Cheng Yih, the "device described by Wang Chong has been widely
considered to be the earliest form of the magnetic compass."[26]

 The first clear account of magnetic declination occurs in the Kuan Shih Ti Li Chih Meng ("Mr.
Kuan's Geomantic Instructor"), dating to 880.[36] Another text, the Chiu Thien Hsuan Nu Chhing
Nang Hai Chio Ching ("Blue Bag Sea Angle Manual") from around the same period, also has an
implicit description of magnetic declination. It has been argued that this knowledge of declination
requires the use of the compass.[36]

 A reference to a magnetized needle as a "mysterious needle" appears in 923–926 in

the Chung Hua Ku Chin Chu text written by Ma Kao. The same passage is also attributed to the
4th-century AD writer Tshui Pao, although it is postulated that the former text is more authentic.
The shape of the needle is compared to that of a tadpole, and may indicate the transition
between "lodestone spoons" and "iron needles." [37]

 The earliest reference to a specific magnetic direction finder device for land navigation is
recorded in a Song Dynasty book dated to 1040–44. There is a description of an iron "south-
pointing fish" floating in a bowl of water, aligning itself to the south. The device is recommended
as a means of orientation "in the obscurity of the night." The Wujing Zongyao (武經總要,
"Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques") stated: "When troops encountered
gloomy weather or dark nights, and the directions of space could not be distinguished...they
made use of the [mechanical] south-pointing carriage, or the south-pointing fish."[28] This was
achieved by heating of metal (especially if steel), known today as thermoremanence, and would
have been capable of producing a weak state of magnetization. [28] While the Chinese achieved
magnetic remanence and induction by this time, in both Europe and Asia the phenomenon was
attributed to the supernatural and occult, until about 1600 when William Gilbert published his De
Magnete.[38]

 The first incontestable reference to a magnetized needle in Chinese literature appears in

1088.[29] The Dream Pool Essays, written by the Song Dynasty polymath scientist Shen Kuo,
contained a detailed description of how geomancers magnetized a needle by rubbing its tip with
lodestone, and hung the magnetic needle with one single strain of silk with a bit of wax attached
 to the center of the needle. Shen Kuo pointed out that a needle prepared this way sometimes
pointed south, sometimes north.

 The earliest explicit recorded use of a magnetic compass for maritime navigation is found
in Zhu Yu's book Pingchow Table Talks (萍洲可談; Pingzhou Ketan) and dates from 1111 to
1117: The ship's pilots are acquainted with the configuration of the coasts; at night they steer by
the stars , and in the daytime by the sun. In dark weather they look at the south pointing needle.
[30]

WHY IS IT INVENTED
HISTORY
WHO INVENTED
SITUATION DURING THE TIME OF INVENTION
Original Chinese Compass Design
The Ancient Chinese compass was made from iron oxide, a mineral ore. Iron oxide is also
known as lodestone and magneta.

The most popular style of the first Chinese compass used a lodestone (which automatically
points to the south) and a bronze plate. The lodestone was carved into the shape of a spoon.
The spoon was placed on a flat plate of bronze. As the bronze plate was moved, the lodestone
spun around and came to a stop in a north-to-south orientation with the handle pointing to the
south. The “magnetized” lodestone aligned itself with the Earth’s magnetic field. This style of
compass was called a “south-pointer”. The bronze plate was also marked with constellations,
cardinal points, and other symbols important to the Ancient Chinese.

Another style of compass was made by placing an iron needle that had been rubbed with a
lodestone on a piece of wood and floating the wood in a bowl of water. The water allowed the
wood to move or spin around until the iron oxide needle was pointing south.

How the Chinese Compasses was used

The original use of Ancient Chinese compasses was for maintaining harmony and prosperity
with one’s environment and for telling the future.

If your home or business was placed in the right direction, then you would have a good life
including good health and much wealth. Today, we know this practice as feng shui.
If you wanted to know the best time and location to get married or to have a burial, then the
fortune tellers would use a fortune telling board that included a lodestone to give you the
information you needed.

Additionally, the Ancient Chinese used the compass for navigation – to find their way home
when traveling. The use of the compass for travel also gave the advantage of being able to
travel no matter the weather condition. If clouds or fog masked the sun or the stars, you could
still travel because the compass would point you in the right direction.

Comparing Ancient Chinese Compasses and Modern Compasses

There is one major difference between the Ancient Chinese compass and the compasses of
today – pointing to the south (Ancient Chinese) versus pointing to the north (today’s
compasses).

It doesn’t matter whether a lodestone pointing to the south is better or worse than a magnet
pointing to the north. As long as the person using the compass knows what type of material the
compass is made from, they can travel in whatever direction is best for them knowing that their
compass will point them in the right direction – north or south, east or west.

Chinese Compass Navigation

One of the first recordings of using a compass for navigation was during the Northern Song
dynasty (960 CE – 1126 CE). These compasses were made by floating a magnetized needle in
water. The needle could move freely in the water and point to the earth’s magnetic poles no
matter the movement from the ship or boat.

The first compass was used not to point people in the

right direction literally, but figuratively.

Knowing what direction you are facing is a very valuable piece of

information. This is especially true if you are traveling: because
you can use the information to help find your way or guide your
safe return. There’s nothing much worse than getting hopelessly
lost in the woods or successfully exploring a new frontier, only to
find that you have no idea how to make it back home. Such
problems were much more common before the invention of the
compass, an instrument that indicates direction. Before the
compass, people had to rely on landmarks, constellations, or
other visual means to help steer them in the right direction. This,
of course, caused difficulties under less than ideal
circumstances, such as a cloudy night or a dense fog.
The first compasses, however, like the one appearing here, were
not designed for navigation. Appearing in China around the 4th
century BC, primitive compasses showed people the way not
literally, but figuratively, helping them order and harmonize their
environments and lives. served as designators of direction that
the Chinese primarily used to order and harmonize their
environments and lives. Today many westerners are familiar with
this kind of use of direction as part of feng shui, an ancient
Chinese practice that has evolved into a decorating trend. The
earliest mention of a compass and its use appears in The Book of
the Devil Valley Master. Its author notes that in addition to its
main purpose, the compass, or “south pointer” as the Chinese
called it, could be carried with jade hunters to prevent them from
getting lost during their journeys.
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.
In addition to its basic components, early compasses of this type
featured a number of markings. Chinese characters appeared on
the brass plate to mark the eight main directions (north, south,
east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest).
Additional signs marked finer directional gradations and linked
directions to symbols found in the classic Chinese philosophical
text I Ching.
Another type of early compass exhibited an entirely different
design. The Chinese also determined direction with a device
consisting of a wooden fish containing a magnetized needle
placed in a bowl filled with water. Both the fish- and spoon-type
compasses paved the way for more precise instruments that
allowed explorers to accurately navigate the seas, effectively
changing the course of history.

Facts and History of the Compass

HistoryOfCompass.com is place where you can read all about invention
of the compass including its history, inventors, making
process, types, interesting facts and other information.

Compass History
People knew about magnet and how it affected iron 600 years before it
was used for the first time as a compass. Even then it was not used for
navigation but for geomancy. 900 years later it was used in astronomy
and for orientation and for same purposes is used still.

Compass Facts
Compasses differ according to purpose, complexity, materials and some
solutions that were used to solve some problems that could appear
during their use. They also changed during the history, from the moment
they were invented.

Compass Making
A simple as it is, there is a skill in how to use compass, especially when it
is used with other tools and instruments, and knowledge in how it works.
As compass was perfected, its use became more complex.

Brief History
Compass is an instrument for navigation and orientation. It has a
magnetic needle or a card that can rotate freely, and if positioned
horizontally it will align itself with the magnetic field of the Earth and
point Magnetic North-South. The First compass was invented in China
during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD,
(we don’t know precisely when). At first, it was used for divination,
fortune-telling and geomancy, for finding precious gems and in Feng
Shui but in time people discovered that it can be used for navigation and
orientation. People knew about magnetite even before then, but it took
centuries for it to get at least some purpose.

Earliest compasses were made of lodestone, a particular form of the

mineral magnetite. The first compass was a lump of lodestone that was
tied to a rope and left to hang freely. Other were also made from
lodestone but were shaped like a spoon or a ladle whose handle was
made to point south. Somewhere made to work when left on the ground
while other had a plate on which it stood and which had sides of the
world marked on it. China military used a compass for navigational
orienteering in the 11th century and for naval orienteering in 12th.
Compasses were then made of magnetized iron instead of lodestone and
were so called “south pointing fish” which was a magnetized iron fish
that floated in a bowl of water and pointed south. Later was invented a
turtle the compass, which was a type of dry compass. Its main part was a
wooden turtle which had lodestone in it which was fixed with wax and
had a needle sticking out. Wooden turtle balanced on a bamboo needle,
which allowed it to rotate freely and the needle pointed north.
In the 12th century compass appeared in Europe. Both types of
compass appeared: a floating compass for astronomical purposes and a
dry compass for seafaring. It improved sailing which, until then, relied on
orientation by the sun or by stars and was limited to sea travel between
October and April. Now ships could sail throughout the whole year.

Islamic world imported compass during the 13th century and used it for
the same purposes as the rest of the world: astronomy and seafaring.
They also invented a type of the compass for use in prayers. They made a
dry compass for use as a "Qibla (Kabba) indicator" to find the direction
to Mecca for their daily prayers.

Compass is still used today but in its improved forms, made from
modern materials.

 The first compass used on boats and that had no liquid that would
hold it in a horizontal position was a dry compass. Its main part was
a standard magnetic compass which was placed in the three ring
gimbal that held compass horizontal position during the rough sea.

 Magnetic compass does not point to a geographic pole (so called

true pole), but to the magnetic pole. That is why some correction
must be done before determining of the true North.

 Western and Arab compass has 32 defined points on its rose-of-

winds. Eastern has 24 and 48 points.

 Older roses-of-winds didn’t have marked sides of the world but the
names of the winds.

Geomancy literally means ‘divining the earth’, and through earth

divination or dowsing we can communicate with our environment on a
truly profound level. Through dowsing, we can detect the best place to dig
a bore to obtain clean water for drinking or agriculture, gain insight into
why plant life and animals behave or grow in certain ways (based on the
earth energies that surround them), and detect harmful or beneficial
geopathic earth emanations.

Geomancy and Feng Shui[edit]

The compass was invented in China during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st
century AD, where it was called the "south-governor" (sīnán 司南).[2] The magnetic compass was not,
at first, used for navigation, but for geomancy and fortune-telling by the Chinese. The
earliest Chinese magnetic compasses were possibly used to order and harmonize buildings in
accordance with the geomantic principles of feng shui. These early compasses were made
with lodestone, a form of the mineral magnetite that is a naturally occurring magnet and aligns itself
with the Earth’s magnetic field.[6] People in ancient China discovered that if a lodestone was
suspended so it could turn freely, it would always point toward the magnetic poles. Early compasses
were used to choose areas suitable for building houses, growing crops, and to search for rare gems.
Compasses were later adapted for navigation during the Song Dynasty in the 11th century.[1]
Based on Krotser and Coe's discovery of an Olmec hematite artifact in Mesoamerica, radiocarbon
dated to 1400–1000 BC, astronomer John Carlson has hypothesized that the Olmec might have
used the geomagnetic lodestone earlier than 1000 BC for geomancy, a method of divination, which if
proven true, predates the Chinese use of magnetism for feng shui by a millennium.[11] Carlson
speculates that the Olmecs used similar artifacts as a directional device for astronomical
or geomantic purposes but does not suggest navigational usage. The artifact is part of a
polished hematite bar with a groove at one end, possibly used for sighting. Carlson's claims have
been disputed by other scientific researchers, who have suggested that the artifact is actually a
constituent piece of a decorative ornament and not a purposely built compass. [12] Several other
hematite or magnetite artifacts have been found at pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Mexico
and Guatemala.[13][14]

Early navigational compass[edit]

A number of early cultures used lodestones, suspended so they could turn, as magnetic compasses
for navigation. Early mechanical compasses are referenced in written records of the Chinese, who
began using it for navigation sometime between the 9th and 11th century, "some time before 1050,
possibly as early as 850."[15][6] At present, according to Kreutz, scholarly consensus is that the
Chinese invention used in navigation pre-dates the first European mention of a compass by 150
years.[16] The first recorded appearance of the use of the compass in Europe (1190) [17] is earlier than
in the Muslim world (1232),[18][19] as a description of a magnetized needle and its use among sailors
occurs in Alexander Neckam's De naturis rerum (On the Natures of Things), written in 1190.[17][20]
However, there are questions over diffusion. Some historians suggest that the Arabs introduced the
compass from China to Europe.[21][22] Some suggested the compass was transmitted from China to
Europe and the Muslim world via the Indian Ocean,[23] or was brought by the crusaders to Europe
from China.[24] However, some scholars proposed an independent European invention of the
compass[25]

The first item on our list of ancient Chinese inventions is the compass. It’s
one of the 四大发明 sì the 4 great Chinese inventions, but people tend to
forget about it.
Long before European navigators roamed the seas, the Chinese invented the
compass How was this navigational instrument invented? The compass was
created around the Qin Dynasty era (255 BC – 206 BC), but not for the
reasons you’d expect. Long before it was used for navigation, the compass
was actually used by fortune tellers on their boards to make predictions.
Interesting use of the compass, don’t you think? The first compasses were
made of a spoon-shaped lodestone, a natural magnetic stone that naturally
indicates the South. Later on, the Chinese improved on their first compass to
create the magnetic needle compass during the 8th century AD, used on
water.

The next Chinese invention on our list has changed the world forever and still
very much used nowadays. In fact, it’s essential to buy new things. Can you
guess what it is?