Abstract
Extant written records indicate that knowledge of an ancient type of compass in China is very old — dating back to before the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) to at least the 4th century BC. Geomancy (feng shui) was practised for a long time (for millenia) and had a profound influence on the face of China’s landscape and city plans. The tombs (pyramids) near the former Chinese capital cities of Xi’an and Luoyang (together with their suburban fields and roads) show strong spatial orientations, sometimes along a basic South-North axis (relative to the geographic pole), but usually with deviations of several degrees to the East or West. The use of the compass means that the needle was directed towards the actual magnetic pole at the time of construction, or last reconstruction, of the respective tomb. However the magnetic pole, relative to the nearly ‘fixed’ geographic pole, shifts significantly over time. By matching paleomagnetic observations with modeled paleomagnetic history we have identified the date of pyramid construction in central China with the orientation relative to the magnetic pole positions at the respective time of construction. As in Mesoamerica, where according to the Fuson hypothesis the Olmécs and Maya oriented their ceremonial buildings and pyramids using a compass even before the Chinese, here in central China the same technique may have been used. We found a good agreement of trends between the paleodeclinations observed from tomb aligments and the available global geomagnetic field model CALS7K.2.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Carlson J.B., 1975. Lodestone compass: Chinese or Olmec primacy? Science, 189, 753–760.
Donadini F., Korhonen K., Riisager P. and Pesonen L.J., 2006. Database for Holocene geomagnetic intensity information. Eos Trans. AGU, 87(14), 137.
Donadini F, Korte M. and Constable C.G., 2009. Geomagnetic field for 0–3 ka: 1. New data sets for global modelling. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q06007, DOI: 10.1029/2008GC002295.
Dong Zuobin (Tung Tso-pin), 1960. Chronological Tables of Chinese History (Zhongguo nianli zongpu), 2 Vols. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong (in Chinese).
Franke H., 1976. Sung Biographies, Part 1–3, Band 16/1–3. XXIX, 1271, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH., Wiesbaden, Germany.
Fuson R.H., 1969. The orientation of Mayan ceremonial centers. Annals Assoc. Amer. Geogr., 59, 494–511.
Gui Gu Zi, 4th century BC. Book of the Devil Valley Master
http://www.maps-china.com/Xian (Luoyang)
Jacobs J.A., 1987. Geomagnetism. Academic Press, Cambridge University, HBL Publishers.
Jiang Lianfu, 1959. Chronological Tables of Historical Personalities Through the Dynasties (Lidai renwu nianli beizhuan zongbiao). Beijing, China (in Chinese).
Klokočník J., Kostelecký J. and Vítek F., 2007. Pyramids and ceremonial centers in Mesoamerica: were they oriented using a magnetic compass? Stud. Geophys. Geod., 51, 515–533.
Klokočník J., Kostelecký J., Böhm V., Böhm B., Vondrák J. and Vítek F., 2008. Correlation between the Mayan calendar and ours: Astronomy helps to answer why the most popular correlation (GMT) is wrong. Astro. Nachr., 329,426–436, DOI:10.1002/asna.200710892.
Kolmaš J., 1995. Letter to Etienne Souciet in Paris: 22nd September 1731. The Letters of Karel Slavíček from China to Homeland and Other Correspondence with European Astronomers (Karel Slavíček, Listy z Číny do vlasti a jiná korespondence s evropskými hvězdáři (1716–1735)). Vyšehrad Publ., Prague, Czech Republic, 148–155 (in Czech).
Kolmaš J. and Malina J., 2005. China from Anthropological Point of View (Čína z antropologické perspektivy). Panoráma biologické a sociokulturní antropologie, 21. Nadace Universitas, Brno, Czech Republic (in Czech).
Korhonen K., Donadini F., Riisager P. and Pesonen L.J., 2008. GEOMAGIA50: an archeointensity database with PHP and MySQL. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q04029, DOI: 10.1029/2007GC001,893.
Korte M., Genevey A., Constable C.G., Frank U. and Schnepp E., 2005. Continuous geomagnetic field models for the past 7 millenia. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 6, Q02H15, DOI: 10.10.1029/2004GC000800.
Korte M. and Constable C.G., 2008. Spatial and temporal resolution of millennial scale geomagnetic field model. Adv. Space Res., 41, 57–69, DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2007.03.094.
Lanos P., Le Golf M., Kovacheva M. and Schnepp E., 2005. Hierarchical modelling of archeomagnetic data and curve estimation by moving average technique. Geophys. J. Int., 160, 440–476, DOI: 10 1111/j.1365-246x.2005.02490.x.
Lund S.P., 2007. Paleomagnetic secular variation. In: Gubbins D. and Herrero-Bervera E. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, New York.
McElhinny M.W. and McFadden P.L., 2000. Paleomagnetism, Continents and Oceans. Academic Press, London, U.K.
Moule A.C., 1957. The Rulers of China 221 B.C.-1949 A.D. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, U.K.
Needham J., 1964: Science and China’s influence on the world. In: Dawson R. (Ed.), The Legacy of China. Cheng & Tsui Company, Boston, MA.
Wan Guoding 1956: Chronological Tables of Chinese History (Zhongguo lishi jinianbiao). Commercial Press, Beijing, China (in Chinese).
Zheng Haosheng, 1936. Comparative Tables of Days According to the Chinese and Occidental Calendars (Jinshi zhong xi shiri duizhaobiao). Shanghai, China (in Chinese, reprint 1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Charvátová, I., Klokočník, J., Kolmaš, J. et al. Chinese tombs oriented by a compass: Evidence from paleomagnetic changes versus the age of tombs. Stud Geophys Geod 55, 159–174 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-011-0009-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-011-0009-2