Astronomical Navigation Technology

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The Astronomical Navigation Technology is a means to determine the navigation location and orientation according to the position of celestial bodies and the angle between the mansion and sea level. People in the Qin and Han dynasties already knew the way to identify direction by judging the position of the Big Dipper during sea trip. Fa Xian, a monk in the Eastern Jin Dynasty who had been to India for Buddhist Sutra, said on his way home, "The foggy ocean was endless blurring in all directions. The sun, the moon and stars were all we got to move forward." People continued to observe star position and its height as assistance to their navigation until the Northern Song Dynasty, when compass was invented. The astronomical navigation technology in our country achieved great progress during about Yuan and Ming dynasties, when the height of celestial body was used to judge geographical latitude.

Detail

Qianxing Board

Qianxing Board

The instrument used in Astronomical Navigation Technology was called Qianxing Board made of quality ebony. It consisted of twelve square boards in different sizes made according to a certain...