Misplaced Pages

#294705

34-653: It represents the north and the winter season, thus it is sometimes called Black Warrior of the North ( Chinese : 北方玄武 ; pinyin : Běifāng Xuánwǔ ). In Japan, the characters 玄武 are pronounced as Genbu . It is said to protect Kyoto on the north side, being one of the four guardian spirits that protect the city. It is represented by the Kenkun Shrine , which is located on top of Mount Funaoka in Kyoto. An important Taoist priest also has 玄武 Xuanwu as his clergy name. He

68-456: A bearing or azimuth of 0° or 360°. Traveling directly north traces a meridian line upwards. North is specifically the direction that, in Western culture , is considered the fundamental direction: Magnetic north is of interest because it is the direction indicated as north on a properly functioning (but uncorrected) magnetic compass . The difference between it and true north is called

102-406: A fully defined compass has 32 "points" (and any finer subdivisions are described in fractions of points). Compass points or compass directions are valuable in that they allow a user to refer to a specific azimuth in a colloquial fashion, without having to compute or remember degrees. The names of the compass point directions follow these rules: In summary, the 32-wind compass rose comes from

136-505: A guide for helmsmen. Prior to the modern three-figure method of describing directions (using the 360° of a circle), the 32-point compass was used for directions on most ships, especially among European crews. The smallest unit of measure recognized was 'one point', 1/32 of a circle, or 11 + 1 ⁄ 4 °. In the mariner's exercise of "boxing the compass", all thirty-two points of the compass are named in clockwise order. This exercise became more significant as navigation improved and

170-494: A right angle from the prime direction, that are closest to the rising and setting, respectively, of the sun (or moon). Being the "default" direction on the compass, north is referred to frequently in Western popular culture. Some examples include: Compass points The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths ) used in navigation and cartography . A compass rose

204-578: Is related to the Old High German nord , both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit * ner- , meaning "left; below" as north is to left when facing the rising sun. Similarly, the other cardinal directions are also related to the sun's position. The Latin word borealis comes from the Greek boreas "north wind, north", which, according to Ovid , was personified as the wind-god Boreas ,

238-410: Is " Quarto di Tramontana verso Greco "; and northeast-by-north is " Quarto di Greco verso Tramontana ". The table below shows how the 32 compass points are named. Each point has an angular range of 11 + 1 ⁄ 4 degrees where the azimuth midpoint is the horizontal angular direction (clockwise from north) of the given compass bearing; minimum is the lower (counterclockwise) angular limit of

272-414: Is "Greco-Levante"; SSE is "Ostro-Scirocco", etc. The quarter winds are expressed with an Italian phrase, " Quarto di X verso Y" ( pronounced [ˈkwarto di X ˈvɛrso Y ] one quarter from X towards Y), or "X al Y" (X to Y) or "X per Y" (X by Y). There are no irregularities to trip over; the closest principal wind always comes first, the more distant one second, for example: north-by-east

306-473: Is primarily composed of four cardinal directions — north , east , south , and west —each separated by 90 degrees , and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest—each located halfway between two cardinal directions. Some disciplines such as meteorology and navigation further divide the compass with additional azimuths. Within European tradition,

340-780: Is quite often associated with colder climates because most of the world's populated land at high latitudes is located in the Northern Hemisphere . The Arctic Circle passes through the Arctic Ocean , Norway , Sweden , Finland , Russia , the United States ( Alaska ), Canada ( Yukon , Northwest Territories and Nunavut ), Denmark ( Greenland ) and Iceland . While the choice of north over south as prime direction reflects quite arbitrary historical factors, east and west are not nearly as natural alternatives as first glance might suggest. Their folk definitions are, respectively, "where

374-624: Is sometimes (as in Journey to the West ) portrayed in the company of a turtle and a snake. During the Han dynasty , people often wore jade pendants that were in the shape of turtles. Originally, there was a legend that said that turtles could not mate with other turtles, only snakes. This is why the Black Tortoise is depicted with a snake on its back. The northern gates of Chinese palaces were often named after

SECTION 10

#1732848753295

408-628: The Middle Ages (with no obvious connection to the twelve classical compass winds of the ancient Greeks and Romans). The traditional mariner's wind names were expressed in Italian , or more precisely, the Italianate Mediterranean lingua franca common among sailors in the 13th and 14th centuries, which was principally composed of Genoese ( Ligurian ), mixed with Venetian , Sicilian , Provençal , Catalan , Greek , and Arabic terms from around

442-444: The Way , he discovered that he must purge himself of all of his past sins to become a god. He learned to achieve this by washing his stomach and intestines in the river. Washing his internal organs, his sins dissolved into the water in a dark, black form. These then formed into a black tortoise and a snake who terrorized the country. Once Xuanwu learned of this, he returned to subdue them as in

476-474: The clockwise direction and "CCW" counterclockwise . The final three columns show three common naming conventions: No "by" avoids the use of "by" with fractional points. Colour coding shows whether each of the three naming systems matches the "CW" or "CCW" column. The traditional compass rose of eight winds (and its 16-wind and 32-wind derivatives) was invented by seafarers in the Mediterranean Sea during

510-568: The magnetic declination (or simply the declination where the context is clear). For many purposes and physical circumstances, the error in direction that results from ignoring the distinction is tolerable; in others a mental or instrument compensation, based on assumed knowledge of the applicable declination, can solve all the problems. But simple generalizations on the subject should be treated as unsound, and as likely to reflect popular misconceptions about terrestrial magnetism . Maps intended for usage in orienteering by compass will clearly indicate

544-544: The Mediterranean basin. This Italianate patois was used to designate the names of the principal winds on the compass rose found in mariners' compasses and portolan charts of the 14th and 15th centuries. The traditional names of the eight principal winds are: Local spelling variations are far more numerous than listed, e.g. Tramutana, Gregale, Grecho, Sirocco, Xaloc, Lebeg, Libezo, Leveche, Mezzodi, Migjorn, Magistro, Mestre, etc. Traditional compass roses will typically have

578-491: The United States Navy to box from north and south toward east and west, with the exception that divisions adjacent to a cardinal or inter-cardinal point are always referred to that point." The Royal Navy used the additional "rule that quarter points were never read from a point beginning and ending with the same letter." Compass roses very rarely named the fractional points and only showed small, unlabelled markers as

612-580: The Xuanwu. Most famously, the Incident at Xuanwu Gate , where Li Shimin killed his brothers Jiancheng and Yuanji and seized power in a coup, took place at the north gate of the Taiji Palace , in the north of Chang'an . In ancient China , the tortoise and the serpent were thought to be spiritual creatures symbolizing longevity. The Min people custom of building turtle-shaped tombs may have had to do with

646-709: The compass point; and maximum is the upper (clockwise) angular limit of the compass point. Navigation texts dating from the Yuan , Ming , and Qing dynasties in China use a 24-pointed compass with named directions. These are based on the twelve Earthly Branches , which also form the basis of the Chinese zodiac. When a single direction is specified, it may be prefaced by the character 單 (meaning single) or 丹 . Headings mid-way in-between are compounds as in English. For instance, 癸子 refers to

680-514: The desire to place the grave under the influence of the Black Tortoise. In the classic novel Journey to the West , Xuanwu was a king of the north who had two generals serving under him, a "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General". This god had a temple in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei and there are now a "Tortoise Mountain" and a "Snake Mountain" on opposite sides of a river near Wuhan , Hubei's capital. Taoist legend has it that Xuanwu

714-475: The eight principal winds, eight half-winds, and sixteen quarter-winds combined, with each compass point at an 11 + 1 ⁄ 4 ° angle from the next. By the middle of the 18th century, the 32-point system had been further extended by using half- and quarter-points to give a total of 128 directions. These fractional points are named by appending, for example, ⁠ 1 / 4 ⁠ east, ⁠ 1 / 2 ⁠ east, or ⁠ 3 / 4 ⁠ east to

SECTION 20

#1732848753295

748-674: The father of Calais and Zetes . Septentrionalis is from septentriones , "the seven plow oxen", a name of Ursa Major . The Greek ἀρκτικός ( arktikós ) is named for the same constellation, and is the source of the English word Arctic . Other languages have other derivations. For example, in Lezgian , kefer can mean both "disbelief" and "north", since to the north of the Muslim Lezgian homeland there are areas formerly inhabited by non-Muslim Caucasian and Turkic peoples. In many languages of Mesoamerica , north also means "up". In Romanian

782-524: The half- and quarter-point system increased the number of directions to include in the 'boxing'. Points remained the standard unit until switching to the three-figure degree method. These points were also used for relative measurement, so that an obstacle might be noted as 'two points off the starboard bow', meaning two points clockwise of straight ahead, 22 + 1 ⁄ 2 ° This relative measurement may still be used in shorthand on modern ships, especially for handoffs between outgoing and incoming helmsmen, as

816-399: The initials T, G, L, S, O, L, P, and M on the main points. Portolan charts also colour-coded the compass winds: black for the eight principal winds, green for the eight half-winds, and red for the sixteen quarter-winds. Each half-wind name is simply a combination of the two principal winds that it bisects, with the shortest name usually placed first, for example: NNE is "Greco-Tramontana"; ENE

850-405: The local declination for easy correction to true north. Maps may also indicate grid north , which is a navigational term referring to the direction northwards along the grid lines of a map projection . The visible rotation of the night sky around the visible celestial pole provides a vivid metaphor of that direction corresponding to "up". Thus the choice of the north as corresponding to "up" in

884-408: The loss of granularity is less significant than the brevity and simplicity of the summary. The table below shows how each of the 128 directions are named. The first two columns give the number of points and degrees clockwise from north. The third gives the equivalent bearing to the nearest degree from north or south towards east or west. The "CW" column gives the fractional-point bearings increasing in

918-501: The monsters he had unleashed on the countryside. However, as the snake and tortoise showed remorse, he did not kill them but instead let them train under him to atone for their wrongdoings. They then became the Tortoise and Snake generals and assisted Xuanwu with his quests (another legend held that the mortal organs were tossed out to become Wuhan's Tortoise and Snake mountains). According to another source, once Xuanwu had begun his study of

952-404: The name of one of the 32 points. Each of the 96 fractional points can be named in two ways, depending on which of the two adjoining whole points is used, for example, N ⁠ 3 / 4 ⁠ E is equivalent to NbE ⁠ 1 / 4 ⁠ N. Either form is easily understood, but alternative conventions as to correct usage developed in different countries and organisations. "It is the custom in

986-547: The northern hemisphere, or of south in that role in the southern, is, before worldwide communication, anything but an arbitrary one - at least for night-time astronomers. (Note: the southern hemisphere lacks a prominent visible analog to the northern Pole Star .) On the contrary, Chinese and Islamic cultures considered south as the proper "top" end for maps . In the cultures of Polynesia , where navigation played an important role, winds - prevailing local or ancestral - can define cardinal points . In Western culture : North

1020-626: The old word for north is mĭazănoapte , from Latin mediam noctem meaning midnight and in Hungarian is észak , which is derived from éjszaka ("night"), since between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle the Sun never shines from the north. North is sometimes abbreviated as N . By convention , the top or upward-facing side of a map is north. To go north using a compass for navigation , set

1054-499: The other story. As with the other three Symbols , there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon ) within the Black Tortoise. The names and determinative stars are: North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions . It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west . North is a noun , adjective , or adverb indicating direction or geography . The word north

Black Turtle-Snake - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-579: The sun rises" and "where it sets". Except on the Equator, however, these definitions, taken together, would imply that Reasonably accurate folk astronomy, such as is usually attributed to Stone Age peoples or later Celts , would arrive at east and west by noting the directions of rising and setting (preferably more than once each) and choosing as prime direction one of the two mutually opposite directions that lie halfway between those two. The true folk-astronomical definitions of east and west are "the directions,

1122-422: Was the prince of a Chinese ruler but was not interested in taking the throne, opting instead to leave his parents at age 16 and study Taoism. According to the legend, he eventually achieved divine status and was worshiped as a deity of the northern sky. Other Chinese legends also speak of how the "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General" came to be. During Xuanwu's study to achieve enlightenment and divine status, he

1156-500: Was told that, in order to fully achieve divinity, he must purge all human flesh from his body. Since he had always eaten the food of the world , despite all his efforts, his stomach and intestines were still human. A god then came and changed his organs with divine ones. Once removed, the original stomach and intestines were said to have become a tortoise and a snake, respectively. The tortoise and snake became demons and terrorized people. Now divine, Xuanwu heard of this and returned to slay

#294705