Yesterday I posed a quick quiz for the ever popular Throwback Thursday #TBT to see if anyone can correctly guess “What Is This?”
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The only information I gave readers about the mystery item pictured below was:
Ten years ago I was returning from spending my summer working for the People’s Republic of China helping teach law. While I received several courtesy gifts from my hosts, per their custom, this was my favorite gift of all from the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China. It still sits in my office at work.
A gift from the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (click to enlarge)
It’s a compass! The device has been widely considered to be the earliest form of the magnetic compass invented by the Chinese. It uses a “lodestone spoon” to magnetically point with the handle to the south when coming to rest. This gift represents the very large model found in the lobby of the China Intellectual Property Training Center where I taught. See the inset photo.
China Intellectual Property Training Center (CIPTC) Lobby, Beijing China
Here’s a gif I made of my compass in action:
Spoon handle spins to point to the south (to the right in this case)
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
