1123 AD
Documented shipboard compass use in China
Oceans, navigation & cartography · Instruments & positioning · Ocean navigation
The account of Xu Jing’s mission to Goryeo describes navigation with a floating magnetic needle when the sky prevented orientation by the stars. It is early evidence of maritime compass use during the Song dynasty, distinct from broader claims about the invention of magnetism.
Precision, calendar, and review
- Start
- year · no uncertainty qualifier in this record
- Calendar and convention
- Historical-era years; the source calendar is not identified. No conversion of days is assumed.
- Year zero
- The scale goes from 1 BCE to 1 CE without year zero. Changing era names changes labels only.
- Documentary review
- Date not recorded
Reading the date: point event.
Sources
- www.chnmuseum.cn (opens in a new tab)
Source provenance and scope
- Publication date
- Pending verification: the source could not be accessed
- Bibliographic date checked
- 2026-09-23
The correspondence between this reference and individual claims has not yet been itemized.
This record is an editorial synthesis. Consult the sources to check claims and their limits. Chronological relationships alone do not establish causation.