What is it about Zhang Heng and his geokinetic instrument?

The geodynamic instrument was made by Zhang Heng.

The geodynamic instrument is another masterpiece of the Han Dynasty scientist Zhang Heng. In the Eastern Han Dynasty in which Zhang Heng lived, ** was more frequent. According to the records of the Five Elements of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, from the fourth year of Emperor He Yongyuan (92 AD) to the fourth year of Emperor Yanguang (125 AD), a total of 26 major ** occurred.

** Districts are sometimes as large as dozens of counties, causing land fissures, landslides, flooding of rivers, and collapse of houses, causing huge losses. Zhang Heng has a lot of personal experience with **. In order to grasp the national dynamics, after years of research, he finally invented the geodynamic instrument in the first year of Yangjia (132 AD) - the world's first guessing and grinding instrument.

According to the "Biography of Zhang Heng in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty", the geodynamic instrument is "made of fine copper, with a diameter of eight feet", "shaped like a wine bottle", with a raised round cover, and the appearance of the instrument is engraved with seal inscriptions and figures such as mountains, turtles, birds, and beasts. Inside the instrument, there is a copper "capital column", and there are eight passages next to the column, which become "eight paths". There is a "tooth machine" in the road.

There are eight dragons cast around the outside of the body, with their heads facing down and their tails facing upwards, arranged in eight directions: east, south, west, north, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest. The faucet is connected to the engine in the internal tunnel, and each faucet has a copper ball in its mouth. Facing the dragon's head, Zhaoxian eight toads squatted on the ground, each with their heads raised and their mouths open, ready to take on the copper ball.

When ** occurs in a certain place, the "capital column" inside the geodynamic instrument is tilted, touching the dental machine, making the faucet in the direction of ** open its mouth, spit out the copper ball, and fall into the mouth of the copper toad, causing a loud sound. So people can know the direction in which ** is happening. Seismograph.

In 132 A.D. (the first year of Yangjia), Zhang Heng invented the earliest geodynamic instrument during the appointment of Taishi Ling, which was called the Houfeng geokinetic instrument. According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty, the Biography of Zhang Heng" records: the geodynamic instrument is cast with fine copper, with a circular diameter of eight feet, the top cover is protruding, the shape is like a wine bottle, and it is decorated with the image of turtles, birds and beasts in the Seal Wen Mountain.

There are big pillars, and there are eight roads to close, and the machine is closed.

It has eight directions, each with a dragon with a copper bead in its mouth, and a toad corresponding to each dragon. If there is a ** occurrence on either side, the copper beads contained in the dragon's mouth in this direction will fall into the mouth of the toad, so that the direction of the occurrence of ** can be measured. And it has been tested and fitted with what was designed, as God has been, as has not been done since the books have written.

Once a dragon machine, the ground did not move, the scholars of Luoyang blamed the lack of faith, a few days later, the messenger came, and sure enough, it happened in Longxi**, and everyone obeyed its wonder. Since then, the imperial court has ordered historians to record the place where the earth movement took place.

There are two popular versions of the structure of the geodynamic instrument: Wang Zhenduo's model, that is, the "Du Zhu" is a cylinder similar to an inverted wine bottle, and the mechanism that controls the dragon's mouth is around the "Du Zhu". This model has been largely rejected.

Another model was proposed by Feng Rui of the ** Bureau, that is, the "Du Zhu" is a hanging pendulum (see Yuan Hong's "Later Han Dynasty"), there is a small ball below the pendulum, and the ball is located at the intersection of the "m" shaped slideway (that is, the "Jue Pao Guan" mentioned in the "Later Han Shu Zhang Heng Biography"), **, the "Du Zhu" dials the small ball, and the small ball shoots the mechanism that controls the dragon's mouth, so that the dragon's mouth opens.

The world's **frequent, but really able to be observed with instruments**, in foreign countries, is after the 19th century. The wind and ground motion instrument is the ancestor of the world's most advanced instruments. Although its function is limited to the approximate location of the epicenter, it surpasses the development of world science and technology about 1800 years.

In terms of scientific invention and creation, Zhang Heng has made great contributions to Chinese and world culture. The armillary sphere in China, from the middle of the first century B.C., began to develop rapidly. Geng Shouchang of the Western Han Dynasty invented the earliest armillary sphere.

Around 125 AD, Zhang Heng made a complete armillary sphere on the basis of Geng Shouchang, Fu An and Jia Kui, plus the horizon ring and the meridian ring.

Joseph Needham spoke highly of it: "Zhang Heng was the pioneer of the demonstration armillary sphere, and at the same time he successfully used hydraulic power to operate the ring on the armillary sphere (including for observation), and he used a method to combine the utility of demonstration and observation." Since then, the method of making these two armillary spheres has not changed much for hundreds of years."

He also succeeded in creating the world's first water-powered armillary sphere (also known as an armillary sphere). According to the records of the Book of Song and the Astronomical Chronicles, the armillary sphere still existed in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In 132 A.D., Zhang Heng made a fuss to determine the ** wind and ground motion instrument, which is very scientific and accurate, and is known as "testing things and fitting like a god".

In addition, Zhang Heng also manufactured three-wheeled rotary cars, guide cars, self-flying wood carvings, etc.

Due to the long history, Zhang Heng's geodynamic instrument has been lost, leaving only a written record of more than 100 words.

The geodynamic instrument is a masterpiece created by Zhang Heng, a scientist in the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. In the Eastern Han Dynasty in which Zhang Heng lived, the first answer to the hole was more frequent. Zhang Heng has a lot of personal experience in **, in order to grasp the dynamics of the Qing Dynasty, after years of research, he finally invented the wind geodynamic instrument in the first year of Yangjia, that is, in 132 AD, which is also the world's first geodynamic instrument.

The geodynamic instrument has eight directions, each of which has a dragon head with a dragon ball in its mouth, and a toad corresponding to it under each dragon's head. If any party has ** trembling, the dragon ball contained in the dragon's mouth in that direction will fall into the toad's mouth, so that the direction of occurrence can be measured.