???? Su Song – Definition and Explanations

2023-10-15 05:37:03

Introduction

A scaled-down reproduction of Su Song’s clock tower.

Su Song (traditional Chinese: 蘇頌, pinyin: Sū Sòng, social first name: Zirong子容), born in 1020 and died (Death is the final state of a biological organism which ceases to live (even if… ) in 1101, was a Chinese polymath during the Song dynasty period (960-1279).

Astronomer (An astronomer is a scientist specializing in the study of astronomy.), cartographer, watchmaker, pharmacologist, geologist, zoologist, botanist, engineer (“The basic profession of the engineer consists of solving problems of nature. ..) in mechanics (In common parlance, mechanics is the field of machines, engines, vehicles, organs, etc.), architect (The architect is the building professional whose function is to design and direct.. .), poet and ambassador of the Song dynasty, he was with Shen Kuo (Shen Kuo (Chinese: 沈括, pinyin: Shěn Kuò), Shen K’uo,…) one of the most representative scientists of this period in China.

Su Song (Su Song (traditional Chinese: 蘇頌, pinyin: Sū Sòng,…) was notably the designer of an astronomical clock tower with hydraulic force (The word force can designate a mechanical power over things, and also, metaphorically, a…) (Hydraulics designates the branch of physics which studies liquids. As such, the…) and which used the clockwork escapement. Built in Kaifeng, its escapement mechanism had already been invented by Buddhist monk Yi Xing to exploit an armillary sphere (In astronomy, an armillary sphere, also known as name of spherical astrolabe, is…) hydraulic, although Su’s armillary sphere was the first to be created with a mechanical clock in “hard The clock tower also had the oldest known chain transmission, called tian ti (天梯), or “heavenly ladder”, as can be seen in his treatise on clockmaking Xiangfayao Xinyi (新仪.象法要). The clock tower indicated the hours audibly (The hour is a unit of measurement :).

The treatise on the clock tower, Xiangfayao Xinyi, has survived since its written form in 1092 and official print and publication in 1094. The book has been analyzed by many historians, such as Joseph Needham. However, the clock itself was dismantled by the invading Manchus in the year 1127, and although attempts were made to reassemble the tower, it never worked. . Although the Treatise on the Clock Tower is the best known of his treatises, the polymath Su Song had other works collected as well. He completed a large celestial atlas of several maps, several terrestrial maps, as well as a treatise on pharmacology (Pharmacology is a scientific discipline of life, subdivision of biology, which…). The latter examined related questions on mineralogy (Mineralogy is the science that studies minerals.), zoology (Zoology (from the Greek terms ζoον, zoon, animal, and…), botany (Botany is the science devoted to the study of plants (from the Greek…) and metallurgy (Metallurgy is the science of materials which studies metals, their…). His maps also used the Mercator projection (The Mercator projection is a cylindrical projection of the terrestrial globe on a flat map…) almost five hundred years before it was used in Europe (Europe is a terrestrial region which can be considered as a…) and known by Gerardus Mercator .

Although later, European Jesuit travelers to China such as Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault briefly mentioned Chinese clocks with wheels (The wheel is an organ or piece mechanical circular shape rotating around an axis passing through…) driving in their writing, early European visitors to China wrongly believed that the Chinese had never gone beyond the stadium (A stadium (from the ancient Greek στ? διον stadion, from the verb…) of the clepsydra, the incense clock or the sundial (A sundial is a silent and immobile instrument which indicates solar time by the…). They estimated that the Advanced clock mechanics were new to China, and they thought it was something valuable that Europe might offer. Although less important than in the Song period, contemporary Chinese texts from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 ) describe numerous models of mechanical watches in China from the 13th to the 16th century.

Bibliography

(en) Joseph Needham, Taipei : Caves Books Ltd, 1986 : Science and Civilization in China : Volume (Le volume, en sciences physiques ou mathématiques, est une grandeur qui mesure l’extension…) 1, Introductory Orientations, Science and Civilization in China : Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth, Science and Civilization in China : Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3 : Civil Engineering and Nautics, Science and Civilization in China : Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1 : Paper and Printing. Science and Civilization in China : Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology, Part 1 : Botany. (en) Derk Bodde, Chinese Thought, Society, and Science, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. (en) Robert E. Harrist Jr., The Artist as Antiquarian: Li Gonglin and His Study of Early Chinese Art, Artibus Asiae (Volume 55, Numéro 3/4, 1995), pages 237 à 280.
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