The old Chinese compass, a mineral ore, is made of iron oxide.

The lodestone is known for iron

oxide as well. In Ancient China, Chinese compasses have been invented for more than just helps people
to get their way while traveling, either before or after the Qin dynasty, (221 BCE – 207 BCE). Compasses
originally were developed as an instrument used for the alignment of buildings with directions (North,
South, East or West). Appeared in China around the IV century BC, primitive compasses showed people
how they can arrange and harmonize their environments and lives, not literally, but figuratively. It acted
as spatial designators for the Chinese primarily to coordinate their environments and lives and to
harmonize them.
The device changed the history of mankind. Travelers might discover places unfamiliar to their
cultures using such instruments as a compass. There was no way to determine your position in the open
sea before the compass was invented, so the oceans were black vacuums on crude inconsistent maps. The
seas were the trade routes of man and communication, but only those which followed landmarks were the
open paths. Although many people feel intuitively, they have a sense of guidance, it only helps them to
recognize and remember landmarks. Following the land around an ocean was a very slow and limited
travel route.
It is not even clear whether China or Europeans had first compasses that the compass has changed
this trade and communication network so quickly. With this revolutionary device Word is circulating so
fast, that we do not know who invented it. The compass provided travelers with all the meteorological
orientation, easily cut traffic times by half and opened up other formerly navigable trade routes.