What are the ancient timepieces in China?

This scale is the oldest and simplest instrument for measuring the length of the sun shadow in China. It consists of a standard (watch) standing upright on the flat ground and a ruler (gauge) in the north-south direction, which are perpendicular to each other.

Twenty-four solar terms can be inferred from the shadow length measured at noon, and the number of days in a year can be determined from the periodic change of shadow length. Whenever the sun turns due south, the shadow falls on the water of Guiyu. By measuring the length of the shadow, we can calculate the time of each solar term, such as winter solstice and summer solstice. When the shadow is the longest, the solstice of winter comes; In the shortest time, the summer solstice came.

Second, the sundial

A sundial usually consists of a copper pointer and a stone disk. The copper pointer is called "pointer", which passes through the center of the disk vertically and acts as a neutral rod in the standard table. Therefore, the needle is also called "table"; The stone disc is called "tile surface" and placed on the stone platform, with the south high and the north low, so that the tile surface is parallel to the equator of the celestial sphere. In this way, the upper end of the magnetic needle points to the north celestial pole and the lower end points to the south celestial pole.

There are scales on both sides of the coffin. Molecules, Ugliness, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai have twelve hours, and each hour is divided into "the beginning of the time" and "the right time", and a day is exactly 24 hours. Most sundials show apparent solar time, and the design of some of them has been changed to show standard time or daylight saving time.

Third, there is a leak.

Water leakage is the most important timing tool in ancient times. Leak, only leak the pot; Carving, there is only one arrow carving, that is, from the height of the water surface of the leaky pot, the time is marked with the scale of the arrow carving.

The history of leaky carving is not only ancient, but also experienced a long development process, almost from the late Neolithic age to the Qing Dynasty. The earliest preserved missing carvings were made in the Western Han Dynasty. According to historical records, the development of leaky carving is roughly as follows: from single pot to multi-stage pot, from sinking arrow to floating arrow. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng changed a single pot into a double pot, and changed a sinking arrow into a floating arrow.

In order to keep the water quantity of the leaky kettle basically unchanged as far as possible, the water drops are evenly received by the kettle, thus improving the accuracy of timing. Later, after continuous improvement, the clepsydra can reach the third and fourth grades, among which the third-grade clepsydra is the most widely used.

China's leaky carving was the most accurate timer in the world for a long period of history. According to research, about the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, the timing accuracy of China's leaky carving was higher than that of14th century European mechanical clocks.

Fourth, the hourglass

Because water freezes easily in winter, it is driven by quicksand. Tian Wenzhi of Shi Ming records that Zhan Xiyuan created the "five-wheel hourglass" in the early days. Later, in order to prevent congestion, Zhou Shuxue enlarged the quicksand cave and replaced it with six wheels. Each wheel of the reduction gear has a part size and number of teeth. It is said that the shaft tip of the fifth wheel has no teeth, but it is equipped with a landscape disk indicating time.

Five, armillary sphere

Jin Zhi records that Zhang Heng (AD 78 ~ 139) made the armillary sphere, saying that it was driven by water leakage in the secret room, and the time of the stars indicated by the instrument was consistent with the astronomical observation results. The instrument is equipped with two wheels, namely the sun and the moon, and the waterwheel drives the elephant. The elephant turns once a day and the sun turns 1/365 times. The instrument is also equipped with two puppets, which drum and carve respectively. This is a wooden building with a narrow bottom and a large width.

Six, water instrument image stage

Yuan You three years in the Northern Song Dynasty (1088) was written by Su Song, Han Gonglian and others. This watercraft is more than three feet high and two feet wide. This is a narrow and wide wooden building. There is a water lifting device on the lower floor of the platform, and the upper wheel and the lower wheel (pipe truck) are driven by manpower to lift the water to Tianhe (receiving pool) and inject it into Tianchi (reservoir).

The water level of the flat kettle in the platform is kept constant, and a constant flow of water is discharged to the kettle on the pivot wheel (waterwheel) through a water pipe with a certain section to push the pivot wheel. The pivot wheel drives the day and night wheel, the elephant and the armillary sphere through the transmission gear.

Seven, big leakage lamp

1276, Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty in China made a big leaky lamp. It is driven by water power, and the puppet is driven by a gear train and a rather complicated cam mechanism to automatically tell the time "ring the bell for a while, carve the drum for two minutes, ring the cymbals three times, and ring the cymbals four times".

Baidu encyclopedia-ancient Chinese timer