What's the use of that antique-the one with the spoon on it?

SiNa is an instrument used to identify the direction in ancient China, and it was invented by the working people in ancient China who realized the magnetism of objects in their long-term practice. According to ancient mine records, it first appeared in the Cishan area of Hebei Province during the Warring States Period. According to the speculation of modern archaeologists, a spoon-shaped object made of natural magnetite was placed on a smooth plate with directions engraved on it. Using the function of magnetic conductivity can distinguish the direction, which is the ancestor of the compass used now. But there are no archaeological objects. Now metaphor is the criterion of action; Guide correctly.

Chinese name

compass

Foreign name

compass

Inventing country

China

wood tissue

natural magnet

Time of appearance

Zhao in the Warring States Period

brief introduction

According to the traditional view, Sina was the earliest guiding device to indicate the north-south direction invented by working people in China during the Han Dynasty and even the Warring States Period in China, not a compass. According to ancient mine records, it first appeared in the area of Cishan (now Cishan, Handan City, Hebei Province) in the Warring States Period. Sina's invention is the result of the long-term practice of working people in ancient China to understand the magnetism of objects. Due to productive labor, people came into contact with magnetite and began to understand its magnetism. People first discovered the property that magnets attract iron, and later discovered the directivity of magnets. After many experiments and studies, a practical compass was finally invented. The earliest compass was made of natural magnets, which shows that the working people in ancient China discovered the attraction of natural magnets and their iron very early. According to ancient records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the productive forces developed greatly, especially agricultural production, which promoted the development of mining and smelting industries. In the long-term production practice, people know magnets from iron ore. The earliest compass was Sina.

Historical origin

According to March 1982 Guangming Daily, Cishan (in present-day Wu 'an, Handan City, Hebei Province) is the birthplace of the compass, one of the four great inventions in China. According to ancient mine records, Geography of Ming Dynasty said: "There is a magnetic mountain in the southwest of Wu 'an County, Cizhou, which produces magnetite. "The Ming Yi Award also said:" There is a magnetic mountain in the southwest of Wu 'an County, Cizhou, which produces magnetite. " "Ancient Mine Records" also records the theory of "Ming Yi Governance": Cishan, 30 miles southwest of the county seat, is a primary mine, hence the name Zhou. Cishan, the hometown of compass.

One of them mentioned that Sina's classic is Guiguzi's Ten Chapters: "Therefore, Zheng people take jade and Sina's car, and they are not confused." Guiguzi was born in Guzi Village, Linzhang County, Handan City, Hebei Province. The story of Guiguzi's residence and Zheng people taking jade recorded in the article is also in Handan Cultural District.

Shen Kuo's "Meng Qian Bi Tan" in the Northern Song Dynasty recorded the compass in detail: "Fang Jia can lead the way by grinding the needle with a magnet." According to historical records, in 1074, Shen Kuo visited Hebei West Road (administrative system) and once visited Cishan (now Wu 'an, Handan City).

Li Shuanqing said that Wu 'an was called Cizhou in ancient times, and Cihai explained Cizhou as follows: Cizhou was established in the 10th year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (AD 590) and changed to Cizhou in Tang Dynasty. There is a magnet mountain in the northwest of the state, which produces magnets. The state is named after the magnet distribution center. Li Shuanqing said that the Cishan mentioned here is now the Cishan in Wu 'an.

The things about compass recorded in ancient books and the authors of ancient books are located in Zhao Yan Cultural District centered on Guhan. The ancient guide pins in China recorded in the scope of textual research are all made of natural magnets; According to pre-Qin classics, only Wu 'an Cishan (now Wu 'an, Handan City, Hebei Province) produced natural magnets. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was possible to create Sina, only the Zhao Yan Cultural District centered on Handan, and Wu 'an was probably the hometown of compass.

According to Guanzi and Lv Chunqiu at the end of the Warring States period more than two thousand years ago, China people found that a stone on the mountain had the magical property of absorbing iron, so they called it a "magnet". The characteristic of Sina's magnetic guide is that Wang Zhenduo, a famous Chinese historian of science and technology, has verified and restored the spoon-shaped guide according to the record of "Sina's ladle, which is thrown to the ground, leads" in Han Feizi's Book of Spring and Autumn and Warring States and Lun Heng's Book by Wang Chong, a thinker of the Eastern Han Dynasty [1]. The south pole (S pole) of the magnet is ground into a long handle, placed on a mirror-smooth chassis made of bronze, and then cast by directional carving. When the magnetic spoon stops rotating on the chassis, the direction of the spoon handle is due south and the direction of the spoon mouth is due north. This is the earliest permeance instrument in the world, which is traditionally considered to be Sina. Among them, "Si" means "Zhi".