This department displays compasses
for religious and esoteric use. We will try to describe their aim and
use.
Please be patient - or ... help us and send us your own inputs if
you want to participate in this project. Many thanks in advance.
La découverte du phénomène et
son utilisation pratique par les Chinois dans
l'antiquité récente est
démontrée avec brio grâce à
de nombreux documents dans le livre "L'énigme de la
boussole" (
The riddle of
the compass, Amir D. Aczel, 2001).
Bien que les Chinois eussent connu la technique pour fabriquer des
boussoles, ils s'en servaient essentiellement à des fin
divinatoires. Ceci est peut-être dû au fait que la
Chine était une nation principalement agraire et la boussole était superflue pour la navigation fluviale et que
même si les marins utilisaient la boussole loin des
côtes, cette connaisance devait rester secrète. De
toute évidence, ils maîtrisaient cette science
depuis le début du 1er millénaire et cette
technologie depuis le tournant du 2e millénaire. C'est
malheureusement une fois encore l'Eglise catholique, les
Jésuites en l'occurrence, qui au cours de
l'évangélisation de la Chine a
organisé la destruction de toutes les
bibliothèques et interrompu ainsi la transmission du savoir
ancien.
The various ways of dividing the horizon circle
Depending on the context, the Chinese (and the Japanese?) have used
various systems of dividing the horizon surrounding them.
In the ancient Chinese astronomy, the cardinal points were
described by symbolic animals and colours:
-
North:
black turtle
-
East:
blue dragon
-
South:
red bird
-
West:
white tiger
The description started
with the rising
sun in the East clockwise finishing with the North. These
directions also had a room-time-related meaning:
-
Toung
(East) was also called
Chang,
i.e. the upper side,
-
Nan
(South) was also called
Thsian,
i.e. the fore side,
-
Si
(West) was also called
Hia,
i.e. the lower side,
-
Pé
(North) was also called
Heou,
i.e. the back side.
The positions between these four main cardinals were
designated by the combined names.
Example:
Toung nan
= South-East. These eight directions were also replaced by the
eight trigrammes called
kwa
(see below astrological compass or
Luo
pan)
There were further divisions in 12*, 16 or 24 rumbs.
The 24 signs partition was used for
nautical
compasses (see example and explanations in this section). The
12 signs partition was used in Japan.
The 12 signs on the back of turtle
Technical Data
- Dimensions: 100 x 70 x 40 mm
- Weight: 120 gr
|
The 12
signs on the face of a Japanese pocket compass
The 12
signs as described in Klaproth's booklet (in the inner circle:
the 4 card.
pts.):
|
Phonetic value, translation and
resulting angle:
1 - TSU
(rat): north
2 - Tcheou (ox): north 1/3 east
3 - In (tiger): north 2/3 east
4 - MAO
(hare): east
5 - Chîn (dragon): east 1/3 south
6 - Szu (snake): east 2/3 south
7 - OU
(horse): south
8 - Wei (sheep): south 1/3 west
9 - Chin (ape): south 2/3 west
10 - YEOU
(chicken): west
11 - Siu (dog): west 1/3 north
12 - Haï (pig): west 2/3 north
These signs can be combined so as to build 16
directions by dividing each quarter of the full circle in four parts.
Example: Mao
chîn = east-south-east
|
Luo Pan Compass
Example of a (simplified) contemporary Luo Pan compass
Click on the
picture
for a full screen display |
The astrological Chinese
compass as described by Klaproth in his famous Lettre
à M.
le Baron A. de Humbodt sur l'invention de la boussole
(1834)
|
Technical Data
- Diameter: 105 mm
- Depth: 11 mm
- Weight: 150 gr
In the first of the 15 concentric circles
surrounding the
compass, the eight basic directions are represented by three-lines
symbols called trigrams or kua of Fu Xhi.
Table above: the 8 Kua
(at left: Klaproth's study;
at right: Wikipedia)
|
Qibla Compasses
Wherever they are in the world, Muslims must turn to their Holy City
(Mecca, Saudi Arabia) for their ritual prayers. This
direction is called the
qibla
and
is
represented in mosques by a niche in a wall called the
mihrab.
The compasses described thereafter show the right direction.
The Arabs had already been using compasses to this aim in the
13th century, i.e. before the crusades, and this knowledge was
transmitted to the West about at this time. For more
information read
TWO
EARLY ARABIC SOURCES ON THE MAGNETIC COMPASS (pdf).
The German Institute for History of Arab-Islamic Science (Institut
für die Geschichte der
arabisch-islamischen Wissenschaften) in Frankfurt/M. displays in its
virtual museum reproductions of ancient compasses cited in the
above-mentioned document. For pictures of al-Ashraf
Umar's
compass, click first
HERE, then select
Museum, then
"8 - Navigation".
Instructions for
use:
When the needle is oriented to any city name, the minaret will
then point to Mecca.
(Click on the
picture for a detailed view of the cities' names on the dial)
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 48 mm
- Depth: 10 mm
- Weight: 35 gr
- Date: 1st half of 20th C.
The face features four concentric areas:
- The exterior one contains the figures 1-11. The
figure 12,
which is not printed is represented by the minaret's roof
pointing North
(clockwise, sundial function - see also L'Abée-Lund).
- The 2nd one contains the cardinal points in red
(see explanation under MISCELLANEOUS
/ Cardinal points)
- A dotted line separates the 3rd and 4th areas where
city names are written in black (from the minaret, clockwise, selection
of names): Sanaa, Karachi, Ryiad, Tokyo, Delhi etc.
The words left of the minaret mean: made by the Mint
without indication of a specific country. The
minaret's architecture and the red crescent and star in the center
under
the needle's axis indicate that this item was probably made in Turkey
(see enlarged view)
The Compass
Museum
thanks the Institut
du Monde Arabe
(IMA, Paris) for the friendly
help and translation.
|
The numbers in the arabic writing
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 43 mm
- Depth: 10 mm
- Weight: 10 gr
- Divisions: 0-39 in arabic figures and "neskhi"
Instructions for
use:
Each country or main city on Earth
has its own reference number indicated in a handbooklet. This compass'
dial is divided into
40 segments. If you are in London, you must select area 25. When the
magnetic needle points to this figure, the white arrow on the compass
dial
(zero) will then point to Mecca (marking: "Direction of Al Qibla")
i.e. South-by-South-East.
|
Another interesting instrument is this watch with compass described in
the section "Other compasses / Watches" (
click on the image for
direct access).
Pendulum with Compass
Description : This instrument was most probably used
for spiritualism. When the medium holds the electrode
at the
end of the wire and the pendulum is hanging over a photograph (for
example) of a beloved person, the magnetic needle points then towards a
direction corresponding to the feelings of the person on the
photograph. The indicated values are the same as on the
postcard, i.e.
cool in the North but hot in the South. By placing a
magnet
under the table and the photograph accordingly on the table, you can
achieve very good results...
Pictures by courtesy of
Arlete
Anderson
(Click on the pictures for enlarged views) |
Markings (on side):
Registr. 8548 K K Berlin
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter (compass): 1 1/4" - 32 mm
- Height (pendulum alone): 2 3/4" - 70 mm
- Case: 5 x 2 1/2 x 2" - 270 x 68 x 5 mm
- Weight: 1.6 oz - 36 gr
- Electrodes: cylindrical rods, flattened at the end like
screw-drivers, connected via a metallic wire, wrapped around the
pendulum's
"waist".
The instrument in a luxurious case with silk cushions |
