Evolution of compass

During the Warring States period, people invented the predecessor of the compass-Sina;

During the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sina's spoon-shaped magnet was changed to a magnetic needle;

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, people invented the water compass on the basis of Sina.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the guide fish appeared.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the drought compass appeared.

In Yuan Dynasty, water compass and drought compass were introduced to the west.

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the drought compass improved by the West was introduced into China, and a combination of Chinese and western drought compasses appeared.

Compass, called Sina in ancient times, is mainly composed of magnetic needles installed on the shaft. Under the action of natural geomagnetic field, the magnetic needle can rotate freely and keep in the tangential direction of magnetic meridian. The north pole of the magnetic needle points to the geographical south pole, and this property can be used to identify the direction.

It is often used in navigation, geodesy, tourism and military affairs. The invention of the compass with physical direction indication has three parts, namely Sina, compass and magnetic needle, all of which belong to the invention of China.

According to ancient mine records, it first appeared in the Cishan area during the Warring States Period. Compass is the result of China ancient working people's understanding of magnet magnetism in long-term practice. As one of four great inventions of ancient china, its invention has played an inestimable role in the development of human science, technology and civilization. In ancient China, the compass was first used for rituals, etiquette, military affairs and divination, and to determine the orientation when looking at geomantic omen.

Compass, also known as compass, is mainly composed of magnetic needles installed on the shaft. Under the action of natural geomagnetic field, the magnetic needle can rotate freely and keep in the tangent direction of magnetic meridian, and the north pole of the magnetic needle points to the geographical north pole, so the direction can be distinguished by this property. It is often used in navigation, geodesy, tourism and military affairs. The invention of the compass with physical direction indication consists of three parts, namely Sina, compass and magnetic needle, all of which belong to the invention of China. According to ancient mine records, it first appeared in the Cishan area during the Warring States Period.

Compass is the result of China ancient working people's understanding of the magnetism of objects in long-term practice. As one of four great inventions of ancient china, its invention has played an inestimable role in the development of human science, technology and civilization. In ancient China, the compass was first used for rituals, etiquette, military affairs and divination, and to determine the orientation when looking at geomantic omen.

Compass, papermaking, printing and gunpowder are world-famous inventions of China in ancient times, and they are great contributions of the Chinese nation to world civilization. The compass is a simple tool to indicate the direction. Its main structure is composed of a flexible magnetic needle and a dial marked with orientation. The magnetic needle is influenced by geomagnetism. Can be kept on the magnetic meridian plane, using this property, we can identify the direction.

In A.D. 1086, Shen Kuo, a famous scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty, recorded in "Talk about Meng Xi" that there were four different needle gauges at that time, namely, the water float method, the thread hanging method, the nail method and the bowl lip method. At this time, artificial magnets can be made. "Meng Qianbu is better than Tan Yaoyi" contains: "Sharpening a knife with a magnet does not mistake the woodcutter". 1 1 At the end of the century, China began to use compasses in navigation.

He Zhu, a Song Dynasty man, described the use of compasses on ships from 1099 to 1 102. In 1 123, Xu Jing went to Korea. After returning home, he described the process of the voyage, saying that he could not stay in the ocean during the day, but should pay attention to the starry sky at night and move on. If it gets dark, he can determine the north-south direction with a guiding floating needle. In A.D. 1274, Wu's Dream in the Southern Song Dynasty recorded: "When the storm comes, it will be dark, only follow the needle board."

In the Southern Song Dynasty, magnetic needles were assembled into a whole with instruments in different directions. This new instrument is called dial, or ground screw, and some are called meridian dial, fixed dial needle, warp dial and compass. The Yuan Dynasty also created vertical guide tools-guide turtles and guide fish. Zhang Xie's "Examining Things and Examining Ships" records that in the Ming Dynasty, sailing on the sea "was guided by a compass alone, or used alone, or referred to two rooms, according to its direction."

As early as the third century BC, there were literature records about magnetic needles in China. China's compass spread to Arab countries and Europe in the12nd century, which greatly promoted the world navigation and the development of the whole human society.