Zhu Yu
Chinese author
1070 CE to 1135 CE
Zhu Yu is an author of the Chinese Song Dynasty (960-1279).
He retired in Huang Gang in Hubei province, buys a country house and names it "Pingzhou".
He calls himself "Expert Vegetable Grower of Pingzhou".
Between 1111 and 1117, Zhu Yu writes the book Pingzhou Ketan (ingzhou Table Talks), published in 1119.
It covers a wide variety of maritime subjects and issues in China at the time.
His extensive knowledge of maritime engagements, technologies, and practices are because his father, Zhu Fu, had been the Port Superintendent of Merchant Shipping for Guangzhou from 1094 until 1099, whereupon he was elevated to the status of governor there and served in that office until 1102 AD.
World
The Far East
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The earliest recorded actual use of a magnetized needle for navigational purposes is recorded in Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Table Talks, written from 1111 to 1117 and published in 1119.
Use of the magnetic navigational needle will lead to the development of a reliable compass.
Zhu Yu also writes of the earliest known use of separate hull compartments in ships.