Chinese carpenter's compass and square (guī and jǔ)
Compás y escuadra de carpintero chinos (guī y jǔ)
- Date
- c. century IV-III a.C. · confidence low
- Place
- Qufu, Shandong, China
- Credited to
- Chinese craftsmen of the Warring States and Han
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A compass (guī) for drawing circles and a square (jǔ) for right angles, cited in the texts of Mozi and Mencius as the measure of regularity and norm. In Han reliefs they are held by the deities Fuxi and Nüwa.
The texts (Mozi, Mencius) give a terminus ante quem around the 4th-3rd centuries BC; the compass and square existed earlier in Egypt and Mesopotamia, so they are included as a documented Chinese tradition rather than a first invention.
What it led to
- the practical geometry of the Chinese workshop and its moral metaphor (guījǔ, 'rule')
- layout of buildings, furniture and chariots
- a symbol of cosmic order in Han funerary art