On Evidence for the Magnetic Sinan in Ancient Chinese Texts and Errors in Opposing Opinions

The term sinan (司南, south-pointer) has multiple meanings. The sinan mentioned in ancient texts is related to the invention of the compass and has been debated in academic circles for a long time. In January 2022, an article was published in the Journal of Dialectics of Nature insisting that the sinan in ancient Chinese texts is not a magnetic pointer, mistakenly proposing that the sinan mentioned in the Lun heng (论衡) and Piao fu (瓢赋) refers to the Big Dipper, and the sentence about sinan in the Guigu zi (鬼谷子) is fabricated. The author of this paper proves that the sinan, not only in the Guigu zi, Lun heng, and Piao fu, but also in the Baopu zi (抱朴子), Xuanlan fu (玄览赋), and the Biography of Fan Sun (樊逊), is the magnetic pointing device. The phrases “attracting the needle with the lodestone,” “attracting the long needle with the lodestone,” “drawing a series of needles with the lodestone,” the term magnetic needle, and a series of ancient documents concerning sinan cross reference each other. They constitute a solid chain of evidence for the meaning of magnetic sinan in ancient Chinese texts.