The ancient Chinese had made many discoveries in maritime technology far before the rest of the world. This may be due to the extensive use of their coastline and rivers to facilitate trade between their own cities. Even though the Chinese had little contact with the rest of the world, they managed to become experts at sea. Their knowledge of magnetism was a major factor that would lead to the invention of the compass.
An Early Compass
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The Chinese discovered that magnetic pieces of metal, which would align themselves in a North-South orientation. From this discovery, they made small needles from the magnetic metal. These needles floated on a reed in a bowl of water, so that the needle would be free to spin to align itself along a North-South axis. These primitive compasses were first discovered after the end of the Han dynasty, around 200 AD, when Buddhism was on the rise in China. They were refined over many years before a true navigational compass was developed and actually used on ships. These "real" compasses came about around 900 AD. It is interesting to note that the rest of the world, particulary western Europe, did not even know about magnetism, much less compass-making, until the 15th century.
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