Chinese Compass History: Invention, Dynasty and Navigation

Used in Ancient China as early as the Qin dynasty (221 BCE – 207 BCE) or before, Chinese compasses
were invented for more than just helping people find their way when traveling. Compasses were
originally developed for aligning buildings with directions (north, south, east or west), and as a tool
used in fortune telling

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.
Junk (ship)

Junk is a type of ancient Chinese sailing ship that is still in use today. Junks were used as seagoing
vessels as early as the 2nd century AD and developed rapidly during the Song dynasty (960–1279).
They evolved in the later dynasties and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages.
They were found, and in lesser numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India, but
primarily in China. Found more broadly today is a growing number of modern recreational junk-
rigged sailboats. The term may stem from the Chinese chuán or zhōu the old word for a sailing
vessel. Junk entered the English language in the 17th century through the Portuguese junco from the
Javanese or Malay jong.

Construction

1) Sails

Junk sails have full-length battens which keep the sail flatter than ideal in all wind conditions.
Consequently, their ability to sail close to the wind is poorer than other fore-and-aft rigs.

2) Hull

Classic junks were built of softwoods (although after the 17th century of teak in Guangdong) with
the outside shape built first. Then multiple internal compartment/bulkheads accessed by separate
hatches and ladders, reminiscent of the interior structure of bamboo, were built in. Traditionally, the
hull has a horseshoe-shaped stern supporting a high poop deck. The bottom is flat in a river junk
with no keel (similar to a sampan), so that the boat relies on a daggerboard, leeboard or very large
rudder to prevent the boat from slipping sideways in the water.

3) Leeboards and centerboards

Leeboards and centerboards, used to stabilize the junk and to improve its capability to sail upwind,
are documented from a 759 AD book by Li Chuan. The innovation was adopted by Portuguese and
Dutch ships around 1570. Junks often employ a daggerboard that is forward on the hull which allows
the center section of the hull to be free of the daggerboard trunk allowing larger cargo
compartments. Because the daggerboard is located so far forward, the junk must use a balanced
rudder to counteract the imbalance of lateral resistance

4) Steering

Junks employed stern-mounted rudders centuries before their adoption in the West for the simple
reason that Western hull forms, with their pointed sterns, obviated a centreline steering system
until technical developments in Scandinavia created the first, iron mounted, pintle and gudgeon
'barn door' western examples in the early 12th century CE. It was an innovation which permitted the
steering of large ships and due to its design allowed height adjustment according to the depth of the
water and to avoid serious damage should the junk ground