Earliest records show a spoon shaped compass made of lodestone or magnetite ore, referred to as a "South-pointer" dating back to sometime during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE).
This led to the first compass, called a sinan (south-pointing ladle) during the Warring States Period. In the Han Dynasty compasses consisted of a bronze on which 24 directions were carved and a ...
The earliest known compasses were made in China’s Han Dynasty, between 300 and 200 BCE ... and movement of the molten metal at its core. A compass contains a tiny piece of magnetized material ...