What did the ancient people rely on to discern directions?

1. Finding the direction of the annual rings: You can find a tree stump in the forest, of course, it may not be easy. The direction is determined by its rings, which are always wide on the south side and narrow on the north side; You can see a free-standing tree with lush foliage on the south side and sparse foliage on the north side.

2. Find the direction of the anthill: You can identify the direction according to the ant's burrow. Since most of the burrows of the mother ants are facing south; You can also look for a striking rock in a rocky location, with the mossy side on the north side and the dull and bare side on the south side.

3. The Big Dipper looks for direction: If it is in the starry night, you can identify the direction according to the stars: first find the Big Dipper in the sky, if you don't know what the Big Dipper is, then I have no way, along its "spoon handle", find the sixth and seventh stars, according to the mathematical principle of determining a straight line at two points, connect the two stars into a straight line, and find a North Star comparable to the bright hall on the extension line of this line, from the "spoon handle" to the brighter North Star, It is exactly indicated in the direction from south to north.

4. Find the direction of the snow: If it is in winter, due to the sunshine, the parts that are difficult to melt the snow are always facing north.

5. Watch to find direction: This is easy to compare, and ancient people should have to learn it, because the following 4 are not so easy to find. Use your watch to identify directions:

Divide the moment you are at by 2 and point the resulting quotient at the sun, and the direction of the 12 o'clock on the dial is south. For example, at 8 a.m., divide by 2 quotients to 4, and align the 4 on the dial with the sun, and 12 points to the south. If it is afternoon, it should be calculated according to the 24-hour timekeeping method.

In ancient China, people mainly relied on the trajectory of the sun to identify the direction of travel.

Compass car, compass, Sinan, compass, Huabiao, astrolabe.

In ancient times, the tools for identifying directions included a compass, a compass, and a sinan. The compass is a simple instrument used to determine the direction, the predecessor of the compass is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, the main component is a magnetic needle mounted on the shaft that can rotate freely, the magnetic needle can be kept in the tangent direction of the magnetic meridian under the action of the geomagnetic field, the north pole of the magnetic needle points to the north pole of geography, and the direction can be identified by using this performance, which is often used in navigation, geodesy, travel and military affairs. Guide car, also known as Sinan car, is a kind of vehicle that indicates the direction in ancient times, also as the emperor's honor guard vehicle, it uses the principle of differential gear, it is different from the compass using the geomagnetic effect, it is the use of gear transmission system, according to the rotation of the wheel, the direction indicated by the wooden man on the car, no matter where the car turns, the hand of the wooden man always points to the south.

Sinan is an instrument used to identify the direction in ancient China, with natural magnetite ore carved into a scoop-shaped thing, placed on a smooth disk, the plate is engraved with directions, using the role of the magnet guide, you can identify the direction, is the ancestor of the compass used now.

Sima Qian wrote in the "Zhongji" that there was such a passage when Dayu controlled the water: "(Yu) land travel by car, water by boat, mud by sled." The mountain line rides, the left line, the right rule, carry four lines, in order to open Kyushu, through the nine roads".

Here, Sima Qian showed us a vivid picture of Yu leading the survey team to control the water. You see, Yu took the surveyor, carried the measuring instrument on his shoulder, and had all the standards, ropes, rules, and rectangles. Sometimes they travel by car on land, sometimes they ride a boat on the water, sometimes they ride a wooden sled in a muddy swamp, and sometimes they climb the mountain in shoes with iron spikes.

It can be seen that "quasi-rules, rules, and rules" are the measuring tools used in ancient times. "Quasi" is a level used in ancient times. This is recorded in the Book of Han.

The "rope" is a tool for measuring distances, drawing straight lines, and leveling, and is one of the earliest tools for measuring and leveling length. When Yu controls the water, the "left quasi-line" is to use the "quasi" and "rope" to measure the height of the terrain, and compare the difference between the height of the terrain. "Gauge" is a tool for correcting the round shape.

"Moment" is an ancient tool for drawing squares, that is, curved rulers. The ancients summarized a variety of surveying, mapping, spine and dismantling functions of the "moment", which can not only determine the level, altitude, depth, distance, but also draw a circle and a square. A simple "moment", due to the different positions placed when used, can determine the height and size of the object, its wide use, reflects the infinite wisdom of the ancient Chinese.

However, "alignment, rope, rule, and reckoning" are not the earliest measuring tools. In 1952, people discovered the ruins of a clan village about six or seven thousand years ago in Banpo Village, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. In this site there are complete residential complexes with forty-six round or square houses with doors all open to the south.

From this, it can be concluded that the Traveler was able to accurately discern the direction. How do they find their way? Presumably, they looked at the sun and stars to discern their direction.

General objects, such as trees, houses, etc., will project shadows under the illumination of the sun's jujubes, and people often observe these shadows in production and life practice, and slowly, people find that these shadows not only change over time, but also find that the changes of these shadows are regular. "Immediate" is the ancient surveying work in our country. The ancients used "immediate results" to establish directions, determine the time, or determine the length of the solar term or even the return year, and so on.

It can be said that the oldest and simplest measuring tool in China is the "table", that is, ordinary bamboo poles, wooden poles or stone pillars. People have studied the "rod shadow" since ancient times, and I don't know how many tens of millions of years. After a long period of production practice, people have created a set of "measuring high and far-reaching techniques" through the measurement and derivation of "rod shadow", and "immediate results" has become an idiom in Chinese.

1. Guide carGuide car, also known as Sinan car, is a device used to indicate the direction in ancient China. Unlike the compass, which uses geomagnetic effects, it does not use magnetism. A guide car is a simple mechanical device that uses gear transmission to point out directions.

Its principle is, rely on manpower to drive the two-wheeled guide car to walk, thereby driving the wooden gear in the car to rotate, to transmit the difference between the two wheels when steering, and then to drive the car to point to the wooden man and the direction of the car steering at the opposite angle of the same, so that the wooden man on the car indicates the direction, no matter where the car turns, the hand of the wooden man always points to the direction indicated by the wooden man when the guide car departs, "although the car is transported back and the hand is often guided". 2. Compass compass, improved from the ancient Sinan, the main component is a magnetic needle mounted on the shaft, the magnetic needle can rotate freely under the action of the natural geomagnetic field and remain in the tangent direction of the magnetic meridian, the north pole of the magnetic needle points to the north pole of geography, and the direction can be identified by using this performance. It is commonly used in navigation, geodesy, travel and military applications.

There are three types of components for the compass that physically indicates the direction, namely the Sinan, the compass and the magnetic needle, all of which belong to Chinese inventions. According to the records of the "Ancient Mine Record", it first appeared in the Cishan area during the Warring States Period. The compass is ancient Chinese labor.

Ancient instruments for discerning direction Kemmo:

Sinan: It was invented as early as the Warring States period. It is an instrument used to identify the direction in ancient China.

It is made of natural magnetite ore and carved into a ladle-shaped thing, placed on a smooth plate, and the direction is engraved on the plate, and the direction can be discerned by using the role of the magnet guide, which is the ancestor of the compass that is now used to stare at the slow. Compass: It is the operating tool of the Li Qi Sect, which is mainly composed of a magnetic needle located in the disk** and a series of concentric circles, each circle represents the ancient Chinese understanding of a certain level of information in the large system of the universe.

Huabiao Quarrel: It is a traditional architectural form in China. It was originally an instrument for observing the sky and measuring the earth in ancient times, and there was an instrument for observing astronomy in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and people set up wooden rods to measure the direction and solar terms with the length of the sun's shadow, and used it to measure the stars, and the period of the sidereal year could be observed.

Star-pulling board: astronomical positioning technology developed greatly in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. At that time, the method of determining the geographic latitude by observing the height of the star was called astralism, and the measuring tool used was called the star-pulling plate.

According to the vertical height and the length of the rope measured by the star puller, the Polaris altitude angle can be converted, which is approximately equal to the geographical latitude of the place, and so on.

Look at the direction in which the sun rises and sets.

Look at the North Star, see the "Nine Stars of Navigation".

Looking at the "sundial", you can not only know the time accurately, but also accurately discern the direction.

Refer to the direction of the monsoon, refer to the orientation of the house, refer to the growth characteristics of plants, refer to the direction of the road, and so on.

1. Watching the sky and the elephant.

For example, the Big Dipper is familiar to humans, and it refers to the seven brighter star genera in the northern sky of the college, the constellation Bearheart. The seven hearts are arranged in the sky in the shape of a long-handled spoon, so they are called Hokuto, indicating the direction of the north. The Big Dipper not only helps us determine the direction, but also indicates the different seasons:

The spoon handle points east in spring, south in summer, west in autumn, and north in winter.

2 The compass, that is, the compass.

The Chinese invented the compass during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period.

On a clear day, it is easy to know the direction by sunrise and sunset, but it can only be a rough estimate.

There are several ways to measure back, and there are several ways to answer the more accurate measurement.

1) Watch direction finding. "The hour is half a pair of suns, and 12 refers to the north". It is generally possible to quickly discern the direction between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., pointing half the time in the direction of the sun, and 12 o'clock is north.

For example, if the time of 14 40 in the afternoon, half of which is 7 20, and the time is directed towards the sun, then 12 refers to the north.

2) Solar shadow direction finding. On a sunny day, a stick is erected on the ground, and the shadow of the stick moves with the change of the position of the sun, and these shadows are shortest at noon, and the line at its end is a straight line, and the vertical line of the line is north-south.

3. Make use of features and plant features.

Sometimes some features and plant growth characteristics in the field are good directional signs, and increasing this knowledge can help us quickly identify directions.

1) Feature features.

Houses: Generally the door opens to the south, especially in the north of the country. The building has a balcony facing south.

Temples: Usually also open to the south, especially the main building in the temple complex.

Protruding features: North-facing side with a moist base and possible growth of low bryophytes.

2) Plant growth characteristics.

On the northern slopes, low ferns and vines are more developed than the sunny side. Clear rings can be seen on the cross-section of the trunk of the tree, with sparse rings on the south side and dense rings on the north side.

Sun, stars, moon. In clear daylight, according to the sunrise, sunset can be very convenient to know the direction, sometimes some features and plant growth characteristics in the wild are good direction signs, increasing this knowledge can help us quickly identify the direction. Later, the compass was invented in China.

Compass (Sinan). Nothing at first should be looking at the sun.

Not every ancient person had a compass (Sinan). I was poor at the time, and this should have been a luxury.

Ordinary people look at the sun, but most of them still walk by themselves, except for the familiar road, where to go.