si'nan
si'nan
Sinan is a kind of instrument used to distinguish direction in ancient China. It is the invention of ancient Chinese working people's understanding of object magnetism in long-term practice. According to the records of Gu Kuang Lu, it first appeared in the Cishan area of Hebei Province during the Warring States period. According to modern archaeologists' conjecture, a spoon shaped object is carved from natural magnetite and placed on a smooth plate. The direction is engraved on the plate. The direction can be distinguished by using the guide of magnets. The only real object found so far is in Chengdu, Sichuan. It's the ancestor of the compass that we use now. A rule of conduct; a correct direction.
brief introduction
According to the traditional view, Sinan is the earliest compass to indicate the direction of North and South invented by the Chinese working people in the Han Dynasty and even the Warring States period. According to the record of ancient mines, it first appeared in the area of Cishan (now in the area of Cishan, Handan City, Hebei Province) in the Warring States period. Sinan's invention is the result of our ancient working people's understanding of the object's magnetism in the long-term practice. As a result of production labor, people came into contact with magnetite and began to understand the magnetic properties. People first discovered the nature of magnetite attracting iron, and later discovered the directivity of magnetite. After many experiments and researches, we finally invented a practical compass. The earliest compass was made of natural magnet, which shows that the ancient Chinese working people discovered the natural magnet and its iron absorption very early. According to ancient books, as far back as the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, due to the great transformation period from slavery society to feudal society, the productive forces had a great development, especially the agricultural production, which promoted the development of mining industry and smelting industry. In the long-term production practice, people know magnetite from iron ore. The earliest compass was Sinan.
The origin of history
In March 1982, Guangming Daily reported that Cishan (now in Wu'an, Handan City, Hebei Province) is the birthplace of compass, one of China's four great inventions. According to the record of ancient mines: "Ming history geography annals" said: "Cizhou Wu'an County southwest of Cishan, producing magnetite." "Ming Yi rule" also said: "Cizhou Wu'an County southwest of Cishan, magnetite production." According to the record of ancient mines, the Ming dynasty ruled that Cishan, located 30 Li southwest of the county, is a native mineral, and the name of the state is here. Cishan, the hometown of compass. One of the classics mentioning Sinan is Gui Gu Zi · Mou Pian No.10: "so Zheng Renzhi took the jade and carried Sinan's chariot so that he would not be confused." Guiguzi was born in GuZi village, Linzhang County, Handan City, Hebei Province during the Warring States period. The place where Guiguzi lived and the event of Zheng people taking jade recorded in the article are also in Handan cultural area.
Shen Kuo's MengXiBiTan in the Northern Song Dynasty has detailed records of Compass: "if the fangs grind the needle with a magnet, they can guide." According to historical records, in 1074, Shen Kuo went to Hebei West Road (road, administrative organization) and visited Cishan (now in Wu'an, Handan City).
Li shuanqing said that Wu'an was called Cizhou in ancient times. Cihai explained Cizhou as follows: Cizhou was set up in the 10th year of kaihuang in Sui Dynasty (590 AD), and Cizhou was changed to Cizhou in Tang Dynasty. There is a magnet mountain in the northwest of the state, which is named after the magnet distribution center. Li shuanqing said that the cishishan mentioned here is now the Cishan in Wu'an.
The ancient books and records about compass and its authors are all in the area of Yan Zhao Culture with ancient Handan as the center; the ancient Chinese Compass recorded in the scope of examinable books and records are all made of natural magnets; and according to the records of the ancient books and records of the pre Qin Dynasty, only Wuan Cishan (now Wu'an, Handan City, Hebei Province) produces natural magnets. Wu'an is probably the hometown of compass. According to Guanzi and Lu's spring and Autumn Annals, which were written at the end of the Warring States period more than 2000 years ago, the local people discovered that a kind of stone on the mountain had the magical property of absorbing iron. They called this kind of stone Cishi. The characteristics of Sinan's magnetic guidebook are that Wang Zhenduo, a famous historian of science and technology in China, based on the records of "the dipper of Sinan, throwing it to the ground, its base guidebook" in Han Feizi in the spring and autumn and Warring States period and Lun Heng written by Wang Chong, a thinker in the Eastern Han Dynasty, researched and restored the dipper shaped guidebook. The south pole (S pole) of the magnet is ground into a long handle, placed on a smooth mirror like chassis made of bronze, and then cast with directional engraving. When the magnetic spoon stops rotating on the chassis, the direction of the handle is due south, and the direction of the mouth is due north. This is traditionally considered to be the world's earliest magnetic guide instrument, called Sinan. Among them, "Si" means "Zhi".
Documentation
1. There is a saying in Lun Heng that "Sinan's dipper is a guide to the ground.". The dipper can pass the spoon, so Mr. Wang Zhenduo thinks Sinan is a magnetic spoon, which is the most important evidence of Sinan's magnetic spoon. But dipper has a second pronunciation, pronounced Biao (with the standard), refers to the big dipper handle Samsung, also known as Yuheng. There is a saying in Gan Shi Xing Jing that "the dipper of three stars is a jade balance". Therefore, Mr. Liu Bingzheng thinks that Sinan in Lun Heng should be interpreted as Beidou. When the handle of Beidou in the north sky points to the ground (North), the two stars at the bottom of the dipper point to the south. 2. In Tang Wei Zhao's Piao Fu, there is a saying that "if you drink wine, you can look up to the north, but there is difference; if you play well, you can learn Sinan.". Mr. Wang Zhenduo thinks that the only North in the sentence is Beidou, Sinan can play well, it is an instrument, and it is similar to the shape of ladle and Beidou, which is one of the strong evidences that Sinan is a magnetic spoon. However, Liu Bingzheng pointed out that the word "Wei Bei" came from "Xiao Ya Da Dong", which said "there is a dustpan in Weinan, so it can't be winnowed.". Wei Bei has a fight. You can't drink wine. Weinan has a dustpan, carrying its tongue. There is a fight in the north, and the West handle is uncovered. " According to the annotation of the book of songs, such as kongshu, Zhu Xi and Yu Guanying, only North should be Dousu (one of the twenty-eight places) in the South sky. Because it is in the north of Jisu, it is called Weibei, so there is a saying of "nanjibeidou" (idiom name is not true). However, the uncovering of Xibing shows that Weibei is Nandou, because it is in Nantian and doubing points to the West. Therefore, Liu Bingzheng thinks that Sinan is the Beidou and only north is the Nandou. The "school" and "comparison" show that Sinan can not play a good role. This is consistent with the rhetoric of Xiaoya Dadong: the stars in the sky are not as real as the ladle in the world. 3. In the tenth chapter of Guiguzi's stratagem, there is a saying that "so the people of Zheng took jade and carried Sinan's chariot so that they could not be confused. It is also Sinan who is able to judge the quality and quantity of materials. Guiguzi is not found in Hanshu Yiwenzhi. It is generally believed that it is a fake work of the people of the Six Dynasties. Huangfumi of the Jin Dynasty once annotated it. Some people think that it may be he who wrote this book and named it Guiguzi. Today, there is a "car that will carry Sinan", but Liang Shenyue's Song Shu Li Zhi quoted GUI GuZi as saying "car that will carry Sinan". Wang Zhenduo and Dai Nianzu, a researcher of the Institute of natural science history, think that "Zai" means "Zai". It can be seen that Sinan is an artifact, a magnetic spoon, which can be loaded on a car and plays a guiding role. The book of song was written earlier than before, and the present one is not credible, so it should be named "Bi Zai Sinan". This is another important evidence that Sinan is a magnetic spoon. Mr. Liu Bingzheng thinks that "carrying" means "riding". For example, in the book of historical records on rivers and canals, it is said that "land transportation carries cars, while water transportation takes boats.". In addition, the ancient people often deleted words when quoting literature, but rarely added words. Moreover, Song Dynasty's Taiping Yulan · Chebu 4 quoted Guiguzi as saying "must carry Sinan's car", and both the front and back quotations were about the guide car, which was classified in the Chebu, so Sinan was the guide car. It is recorded in ouyangxun's collection of Arts and culture, Volume 83, baoyubu I of Tang Dynasty that "Guiguzi said: if Zheng Ren wanted to take jade, he would carry Sinan's chariot, so that he would not be confused.". In his selected works Fu Bing, Liang Xiaotong wrote "Yu Qicheng's road, guiding Si Fang". Li Shanzhu's anthology "guide, guide car". "Guiguzi" said: "Zheng people take jade, will carry Sinan's car, for its not confused also." Li Shan was born in the time of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, which shows that the version of Guiguzi in the early Tang Dynasty has the word "zhiche",. The book of song spread to the Northern Song Dynasty, but also lost. The present book of song was supplemented by the southern history. Moreover, the quotations of Guiguzi in Song Shu are all about the guide car. From this, we can see that the original text of Guiguzi should be "Sinan's car", and the word "zhiche" was deleted when Guiguzi was quoted in Songshu, because Sinan is the guide car. The word "Zhi" sometimes only plays the role of adjusting syllables in ancient Chinese, but has no practical significance. Therefore, "must carry Sinan's car" should be translated as "must take the guide car". The guide car here is mechanical and should not be interpreted as a magnetic spoon. 4. Han Feizi Youdu is the earliest record of Sinan, and the supporters of the theory of magnetic spoon take it as an argument. The original text of Han Feizi Youdu is that "the invasion of his master by his wife and his ministers is like the terrain, which is gradually passing by, making people lose their master and change things without knowing it.". Therefore, the former king set up the south of Si'an to end the day and night. Therefore, the Ming emperor ordered his officials not to travel outside the law, not to benefit from the law. " In the past, "dongxiyimian" and "Chaoxi" have been interpreted as "east-west direction", which is one of the evidences that Sinan is a magnetic pointing device. The author of new textual research on Sinan's Guide to Literature thinks that they should be extended meanings here, not just explained literally. The previous paragraph of this passage "ruyanyan" just shows that it is a kind of metaphor, "dongxiyimian" should be a metaphor for the unstable platform of the court, which means that the ruler gradually loses the control of the court, resulting in the power inversion of the monarch and his ministers without knowing it. In addition to the east-west direction, "morning and night" can also be interpreted as the morning and evening court or the king's hearing. "Xiaoya · rain without justice" says: "the princes and princes of the state are not willing to work day and night." Zheng xuanjian said, "when the king is outside, the three princes and all the people who follow the king are not courteous,
Chinese PinYin : Si Nan
si'nan
