The impact of the compass in China and Europe

The reason that the compass did not take off in China as it did in Europe is because the Chinese were using it as an object they used to “tap into the spiritual realm”. As for Europe, they used it for navigation and thought it was, well, revolutionary! China also used the compass to harmonize their buildings according to feng shui. The early compasses were made with Loadstone, China discovered that if Loadstone was suspended so it could turn freely, it would always point north toward the magnetic pole.
Even though the Europeans discovered the compass quite a bit later on, they put it to use for navigation and it became a very popular tool. Now, the Chinese did discover the compass, but Europe used it in a way of navigation which became more popular. So, while China discovered the use of the compass first, Europe used it in a way that became much more popular. And, that is how the compass came to be used in both China and Europe!
~Chloe