south-pointing

Updated: May 5, 2025

This compass-cart, known as the "south-pointing chariot," was introduced from China in the year 658. There was also a "cloud-chariot," but this served for war purposes only, being a movable erection for overlooking an enemy's defensive work, corresponding to the turris of Roman warfare.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

The compass proper the Chinese cannot claim; it was probably introduced into China by the Arabs at a comparatively late date, and has been confused with the south-pointing chariot of earlier ages.

Herbert Allen Giles - The Civilization of China

To the Chinese the "south-pointing needle" continued to be a mere plaything to be seen every day in the sedan chair of a mandarin, or in wheeled vehicles. If employed on the water, it was only used in coasting voyages. So with gunpowder, of which the Arabs were transmitters, not inventors.

John Lord - Beacon Lights of History, Volume 14 : The New Era; A Supplementary Volume, by Recent Writers, as Set Forth in the Preface and Table of Contents

One of their emperors, it is said, provided certain foreign ambassadors with "south-pointing chariots," so that they might not go astray on their way home. To this day the magnetic needle in China continues to be called by a name which means that it points to the south.

John Lord - Beacon Lights of History, Volume 14 : The New Era; A Supplementary Volume, by Recent Writers, as Set Forth in the Preface and Table of Contents