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The Chinese name has a good deal to do with cultural tradition. In traditional Chinese practice, north is the direction of evil. Cities were planned with gates
by asolove 13y ago
The Chinese name has a good deal to do with cultural tradition. In traditional Chinese practice, north is the direction of evil. Cities were planned with gates at the south and rulers sat facing south. Magnets were actually first used as tools in geomancy rather than navigation. [1] This is why you would not call a magnet a points-north-needle.
Of course, the association of North with evil is itself probably because of the Northern hemisphere seasons. North, cold, winter and evil and all grouped together in opposition to South, warm, summer, and good.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass#Geomancy_and_feng_shui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass#Geomancy_and_feng_shui
- sardonicbryan 13y agoNot to mention the Mongols and Manchurians who were always trying to invade, as opposed to the tribute-paying Southern kingdoms. There's a reason they built the Great Wall to the north and not the south. Weather also does play a role, as the south was able to generate three harvests a year vs. two in the north. Historically, the capital of China has been in the south, only being moved north during the Ming (aka second to last) Dynasty. Not sure how much any of that has to do with compass points, but did want to elaborate a little on the cultural/historical context of north vs. south in China.