Week 6 History Essay

The compass didn’t have the same effect in China that it did in Europe almost immediately. How were the two cultures different, and how did that influence the way the two different civilizations used the compass?

            The compass was invented by the Chinese somewhere between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, but it was not used for navigation until the 11th century AD. The Chinese used the compass for fortune telling and feng shui. One way they would use it for feng shui was to use the compass to find good areas to build houses or buildings. They also used it to find rare gemstones. The Europeans used it for finding their way and to make charts and maps pretty quickly. The compass was used differently by these cultures because they believe in different things. Living in harmony with nature is very important to the Chinese culture. That’s why they used the compass to line up with the earth’s magnetic poles. In Europe, many people were exploring and trading with other countries. They used the compass to help them navigate in the ocean.