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Su Song's greatest project was the 40-foot-tall water-powered astronomical clock tower constructed in Kaifeng, the wooden pilot model completed in 1088, the bronze components cast by 1090, while the wholly finished work was completed by 1094 during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song.
The later Song dynasty historical text of the Song Shi (compiled in 1345 AD) records Zhang's work (Wade-Giles spelling): . At the beginning of the Thai-Phing Hsing-Kuo reign-period (+976) the Szechuanese Chang Ssu-Hsun [Zhang Sixun], a student in the Bureau of Astronomy, invented an astronomical clock (lit. armillary sphere, hun i) and presented the designs to the emperor Thai Tsung, who ...
Su's clock tower also featured the oldest known endless power-transmitting chain drive, called the tian ti (天梯), or "celestial ladder", as depicted in his horological treatise.The clock tower had 133 different clock jacks to indicate and sound the hours. Su Song's treatise about the clock tower, Xinyi Xiangfayao (新 儀 . 象 法 要), has ...
In the 11th century, the Song dynasty Chinese horologist, mechanical engineer, and astronomer Su Song created a water-driven astronomical clock for his clock-tower of Kaifeng City. Su Song is noted for having incorporated an escapement mechanism and the earliest known endless power-transmitting chain drive for his clock-tower and armillary ...
The original diagram of the book by Su Song in 1092, showing the inner workings of his clock tower, with the clepsydra tank, a waterwheel with scoops and the escapement, a chain drive, the armillary sphere crowning the top, and the rotating wheel with clock jacks that sounded the hours with bells, gongs, and drums.
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In Song dynasty China, an astronomical clock tower was designed by Su Song and erected at Kaifeng in 1088, featuring a liquid escapement mechanism. [2] In England, a clock was put up in a clock tower, the medieval precursor to Big Ben, at Westminster, in 1288; [3] [4] and in 1292 a clock was put up in Canterbury Cathedral. [3]
In 976, the Song dynasty astronomer Zhang Sixun addressed the problem of the water in clepsydrae freezing in cold weather when he replaced the water with liquid mercury. [32] A water-powered astronomical clock tower was built by the polymath Su Song in 1088, [33] which featured the first known endless power-transmitting chain drive. [34]