Model (scale 1:48) of a Chinese astronomical clock, copied from Su Song's 'New Design for a Mechanised Armillary Sphere and Celestial Globe' (1092). Su Song (1020-1101) was a Chinese astronomer and inventor who was ordered by the emperor to construct a complex armillary clock. The original clock-tower was 37 feet high overall. The clock mechanism drove the armillary sphere mounted on top of the tower, while inside the tower a celestial globe was rotated once in a sidereal day by the clock. The time of day was shown by 'jacks' appearing in apertures in the sides of the tower and was also sounded audibly.

Picture Reference: 10316284
Subject: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY > Time > Clocks, Chinese & Japanese
Inventory No.: 1965-0007
Credit: Science Museum

Keywords: 11th, Astronomical, Astronomical Clocks, Building, Century, China, Chinese, Clock, Clock Towers, Clocks, Chinese & Japanese, Dark Ages (to 1350, Entertainment Building, Entertainment Venue, Horology, Instrument of Time, Japanese, Man-made, Man-made Compounds, Man Made Fibres, Model, Museum, Natural World, Science Museum, Science, Scm, Scm Photo Studio, Su,song, Time, Tower, Water, Water Clocks

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