The Compass, Time, Measurement and Junks
The compass is one of the four great inventions of ancient China and the example pictured above is an early version from the Han dynasty. Records of the use of lodestones in China for feng shui, also called Chinese geomancy, to align locations in harmony with nature, go all the way back to the 3rd century BC (Warring States period). The devices are simple and are comprised of two parts: a lodestone, which is a naturally magnetized mineral called magnetite, in the shape of a spoon, and a flat bronze plate. Both the bottom of the lodestone and the top of the bronze plate are highly polished so as to reduce the friction between them and to allow the spoon to freely rotate and align with earths magnetic forces and point north-south. This is a similar model of an ancient compass that also used a magnetized metal scoop on a bronze plate called a Si nan (or south pointer) from the Han dynasty. Ancient Chinese geomancers would shape pieces of lodestone into spoon shapes and us...
