Luopan
The luopan or geomantic compass is a Chinese magnetic compass, also known as a feng shui compass. It is used by a feng shui practitioner to determine the precise direction of a structure, place or item. Luo Pan contains a lot of information and formulas regarding its functions. The needle points towards the south magnetic pole. Form and function Like a conventional compass, a luopan is a direction finder. However, a luopan differs from a compass in several important ways. The most obvious difference is the feng shui formulas embedded in up to 40 concentric rings on the surface. This is a metal or wooden plate known as the heaven dial. The circular metal or wooden plate typically sits on a wooden base known as the earth plate. The heaven dial rotates freely on the earth plate. A red wire or thread that crosses the earth plate and heaven dial at 90-degree angles is the Heaven Center Cross Line, or Red Cross Grid Line. This line is used to find the direction and note position on the rings. A conventional compass has markings for four or eight directions, while a luopan typically contains markings for 24 directions. This translates to