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| Quiz #470 Results |
| Answer to Quiz #470- March 22, 2015 |
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| TinEye Alert You can find this photo on TinEye.com, but the quiz will be a lot more fun if you solve the puzzle on your own. |
| Chinese Compass www.computersmiths.com/chineseinvention/compass.htm |
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How Our Readers Solved the Puzzle |
| My first impression on looking at the device was that it was Chinese of origin because of the characters. Second thing that I noticed was that signs from the I Ching were incorporated on the "board". This indicated to me that it might have something to do with fortune telling. Googled images for Chinese fortune telling devices. On scrolling thru images saw similar device. Went to a page which described it as a compass. Googled for Chinese compass. "Smith College Museum of Ancient Inventions: Compass" at Smith College site, My first impression on looking at the device was that it was Chinese of origin because of the characters. Second thing that I noticed was that signs from the I Ching were incorporated on the "board." This indicated to me that it might have something to do with fortune telling. Googled images for Chinese fortune telling devices. On scrolling thru images saw similar device. Went to a page which described it as a compass. Googled for Chinese compass. "Smith College Museum of Ancient Inventions: Compass" at Smith College site, smith.edu, had an excellent description of the compass from which I obtained the answers. It had an excellent description of the compass from which I obtained the answers. Tony Knapp ***** Yikes, I really had to think on this one. I got tangled for some time in the notion of "spoon" or "ladle". But eventually I saw that that made no sense with the essentially flat plate. Given that this seemed to be a Chinese devise, I figured that it was no accident that the spoon rested with its handle elevated from the plate, so it might be balanced in order to pivot. Thus, eventually, I saw two options: spin the spoon or spin the plate. Spinning the spoon could make it some kind of a game or Ouija board sort of thing. Spinning the plate might make sense if the spoon stayed stationary, but friction would probably drag it around with the plate. Unless could the spoon be magnetic? I Googled ancient Chinese compass, and voila! This short description belies the days I spent on the mental process. I really thought I was sunk. Peter Norton ***** I was too smart for my own good and decided to use a Chinese drawing translator (used in a previous quiz). None of them worked, either they were too ancient or I'm a terrible drawer. So, after checking also Japanese (just in case) and having had the same total lack of progress, I went to just simply google "ancient Chinese plate" and one photo of the compass appeared. Took it from there. The Smithsonian foundation has all the answers in order. Ida Sanchez |
Earliest records show a spoon shaped
compass made of lodestone or magnetite
ore, referred to as a "South-pointer"
dating back to sometime during the Han
Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 2nd
century CE). The spoon-shaped
instrument was placed on a cast bronze
plate called a "heaven-plate" or diviner's
compass made of lodestone or magnetite
ore, referred to as a "South-pointer"
dating back to sometime during the Han
Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 2nd
century CE). The spoon-shaped
instrument was placed on a cast bronze
plate called a "heaven-plate" or diviner's
I Bet You Didn't Know the Chinese Invented... www.chinawhisper.com/top-20 |
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Movable Type Printing |
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board that had the eight trigrams (Pa Gua) of the I Ching, as well as the 24 directions
(based on the constellations), and the 28 lunar mansions (based on the constellations
dividing the Equator) . Often, the Big Dipper (Great Bear) was drawn within the center
disc. The square symbolized earth and the circular disc symbolized heaven. Upon these
were inscribed the azimuthal points relating to the constellations. Its primary use was
that of geomancy (prognostication) to determine the best location and time for such
things as burials. In a culture that placed extreme importance on reverence for
ancestors, this remained an important tool well into the 19th century. Even in modern
times there are those who use this divination concepts of Feng Shui (literally, of wind
and water) for locating buildings or fortuitous times and locations for almost any
enterprise. There is a story that the first Chin emperor used the divining board and
compass in court to affirm his right to the throne. Primarily, the compass was used for
geomancy for a long time before it was used for navigation
Ancient Chinese alchemists realized that the magnetite ore would point towards a
magnetic north. Their understanding was not total, since they thought that there were
north pointers and south pointers. "The lodestone follows a maternal principle. The
needle is struck out from the iron (originally a stone) and the nature of mother and son
is that each influences the other, and they communicate together. The nature of the
needle is to return to its original completeness. As its body is very light and straight, it
must indicate straight lines. It responds to the chhi by orientation, being central to the
earth and deviating in various directions. To the south it points to the Hsuan-Yuan
constellation, hence to the hsiu Hsing and therefore to the hsiu Hsu in the north, along
the axis Ting-Kuei. The yearly differences follow the elliptic, and all such phenomena
can be understood." (from Master Kuan's Geomantic Instructor), 8th century CE
Some speculate that in 101 BCE Chinese ships reached the east coast of India for the
first time with help from the navigational compass pioneered by the Chinese. They had
discovered the orientating effect of magnetite, or lodestone as early as the 4th century
BCE.
The figure above shows a working model of the first instrument known to be a
compass. The spoon or ladle is of magnetic lodestone, and the plate is of bronze (non
conducting metal). The circular center represents Heaven, and the square plate
represents Earth. The handle of the spoon representing the Great Bear, points south.
The plate bears Chinese characters which denote the eight main directions of north,
northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, and symbols from the I
Ching oracle books which were correlated with directions. Separately marked are the
finer gradations of twenty-four compass points, and along the outermost edge are the
twenty-eight lunar character representations. Rather than navigation, these simple
direction pointers were likely used for geomancy or Fung Shui, the technique of
aligning buildings according to forces of nature.
(based on the constellations), and the 28 lunar mansions (based on the constellations
dividing the Equator) . Often, the Big Dipper (Great Bear) was drawn within the center
disc. The square symbolized earth and the circular disc symbolized heaven. Upon these
were inscribed the azimuthal points relating to the constellations. Its primary use was
that of geomancy (prognostication) to determine the best location and time for such
things as burials. In a culture that placed extreme importance on reverence for
ancestors, this remained an important tool well into the 19th century. Even in modern
times there are those who use this divination concepts of Feng Shui (literally, of wind
and water) for locating buildings or fortuitous times and locations for almost any
enterprise. There is a story that the first Chin emperor used the divining board and
compass in court to affirm his right to the throne. Primarily, the compass was used for
geomancy for a long time before it was used for navigation
Ancient Chinese alchemists realized that the magnetite ore would point towards a
magnetic north. Their understanding was not total, since they thought that there were
north pointers and south pointers. "The lodestone follows a maternal principle. The
needle is struck out from the iron (originally a stone) and the nature of mother and son
is that each influences the other, and they communicate together. The nature of the
needle is to return to its original completeness. As its body is very light and straight, it
must indicate straight lines. It responds to the chhi by orientation, being central to the
earth and deviating in various directions. To the south it points to the Hsuan-Yuan
constellation, hence to the hsiu Hsing and therefore to the hsiu Hsu in the north, along
the axis Ting-Kuei. The yearly differences follow the elliptic, and all such phenomena
can be understood." (from Master Kuan's Geomantic Instructor), 8th century CE
Some speculate that in 101 BCE Chinese ships reached the east coast of India for the
first time with help from the navigational compass pioneered by the Chinese. They had
discovered the orientating effect of magnetite, or lodestone as early as the 4th century
BCE.
The figure above shows a working model of the first instrument known to be a
compass. The spoon or ladle is of magnetic lodestone, and the plate is of bronze (non
conducting metal). The circular center represents Heaven, and the square plate
represents Earth. The handle of the spoon representing the Great Bear, points south.
The plate bears Chinese characters which denote the eight main directions of north,
northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, and symbols from the I
Ching oracle books which were correlated with directions. Separately marked are the
finer gradations of twenty-four compass points, and along the outermost edge are the
twenty-eight lunar character representations. Rather than navigation, these simple
direction pointers were likely used for geomancy or Fung Shui, the technique of
aligning buildings according to forces of nature.
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placed upon a pointed shaft (dry compass) or suspended from a silk thread.
Consequently, they were much more useful for navigation purposes since they were
now much more portable (and smaller).
Consequently, they were much more useful for navigation purposes since they were
now much more portable (and smaller).
The bowl of water with edge markings (below) shows a
simple mariner's compass, with with a floating magnetized
needle pointing north and south.By the time of the T'ang
dynasty (7-8th century CE) , Chinese scholars had devised a
way to magnetize iron needles, by rubbing them with
magnetite, and then suspending them in water (early 11th
century). They also had observed that needles cooled from
red heat and held in the north-south orientation (the earth's
axis) would become magnetic. These more refined needle
compasses could then be floated in water (wet compass),
simple mariner's compass, with with a floating magnetized
needle pointing north and south.By the time of the T'ang
dynasty (7-8th century CE) , Chinese scholars had devised a
way to magnetize iron needles, by rubbing them with
magnetite, and then suspending them in water (early 11th
century). They also had observed that needles cooled from
red heat and held in the north-south orientation (the earth's
axis) would become magnetic. These more refined needle
compasses could then be floated in water (wet compass),
A further refinement in the box compass (to the right) is from about
1200 CE, and is much more suitable for navigation. It retains
markings of the heaven's plate around its circumference, in a
simplified form. Compass markings generally had an inner circle with
the eight trigrams and an outer circle with 24 directions based on
azimuth points.
| From the Quizmaster General's Own Collection |
I bought this Chinese compass in the Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong in 1987. It
consists of a compass flanked by two sundials that can be propped up at various
angles. The points of the sundials can be folded against their surfaces. The possible
angles of the sundials are determined by slots labeled with the names of various cities in
China.
consists of a compass flanked by two sundials that can be propped up at various
angles. The points of the sundials can be folded against their surfaces. The possible
angles of the sundials are determined by slots labeled with the names of various cities in
China.
| On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China to "proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas." When the fleet returned home in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. The great ships were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost in the long, self-imposed isolation that followed was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America seventy years before Columbus and had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. And they colonized America before the Europeans, transplanting the principal economic crops that have since fed and clothed the world. |
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| 1421, The Year China Discovered America smile.amazon.com/1421-Year-China-Discovered-America... |
The Compass |
The Compass |
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