The "South Pointing Spoon" was the first compass ever made. During the Han Dynasty, the Ancient Chinese found that a naturally magnetic iron, called lodestone, would always turn around to point south (or north, depending on how you see it). They made a spoon out of lodestone and put it on a polished board. It rotated freely and could always turn around to point south.

    The first floating needle compass was also invented by the Ancient Chinese. During the Tang Dynasty, they took a metal "needle" and magnetized it by rubbing it against lodestone. The needle always swung around to point south.

    The "South Pointing Fish" was another good idea invented in Ancient China. The Chinese put lodestone chips into a block of wood and decorated it as a fish. When it was placed in water, the "fish" bobbled around to point south.

    These compasses were put to many different uses by the Ancient Chinese. The "South Pointing Spoon" and the floating needle compass were both originally used for locating good sites for building a tomb. All these compasses were later used for navigation and by the military and miners who needed to find direction underground. One of their most important uses was finding holy places to build structures where energy, or "chi", would flow through the surface of the Earth like blood flows through veins.

    The compass was quite a useful intelligent invention. Throughout history, there have been lots of different ways of making and using a compass. Compasses are still used today in some of our most sophisticated technology.