The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-07-29
Chinese Tllile.

watches in China native instruments EN-.
ployed tor recording the flight Of the hours
may practically be said to be confined to
two In number, the sum- dial and the water
clock, though other devices have appeared
ut various times They both have claims
to great antiquity. The water-clock is said
to have been invented in the days of the
Yellow Emperor, If not by his Majesty
himself, some twenty-six centuries before
tho birth of Christ, and the sun-dal is
attributed to Chow Kung (B. G. 1lO0),
but such accounts may safely be relcgatcd
TO the category OF the legendary. Both
these instruments have been so often de-
scribed, that other and more interesting
details may be found. In the reign, for
instance, Of Kublai Khan, we hear of u
clamp water clock" being offered as gift
to the emperor, which contained u drum
and bell, and struck the hours regularly.
1t would be difficult to say just what this
clock was, but the word lamp reminds one
that candles were used to measure time by
the Chinese long before thcirreputcd invcn-
ton ny England's monarch student thou
sand years ago. The Emperor Hsuan
Isung, of the Tang dynasty (S47-860 A.
H. ls said to have had. in his possession
twelve marvellous jade counters, each with
upon its face, and these, if thrown into
water, would rise to the surface, each at
the occurrence Of the period which 1t was
specially intended to represent. In the
history Of the last mentioned dynasty we
are also Informed that, Gin a tower in the
Fuh-ln country (variously identified with
Constantnople, Palestine, etc. there hangs
up large golden weighing machine, with
twelve golden balls attached to the end of
the yard, representing the twelve divisions
OF the day. Alongside stands the figure
OF man. also made of gold, and, whenever
one of the above periods is reached, q
golden ball drops with a clang to announce
the same" But the most brilliant piece of
workmanship of all was splendid clamp
water clock" belonging to the abovc-mcn-
toned Kublai Khan. 1t was seventeen
feet in height; it rested upon Il frame
richly ornamcnted with gold and pearls.
On the left was representation tf the sun;
on the right of the moon; while at each
end OF the beam wasa dragons head, OPEN
mouthcd, and with its glaring eyes fixed
upon the stream of wafer, rs if, we are
told, Jealously watching the regularity of
its perpetual drip. On the central beam
were depicted Two full-lcngth dragons,
playing with a pearl, and also engaged in
supervising the proper flow of water from
the clcpsydra The lamp globe, or cage in
which the light was placed was divided
into four laiitudinal sections, on the upper
one OF which were four dcitics, represent
ing the sun, moon and certain of the stars.
This section turned round once in every
day. On the second were q dragon, a
tiger, phoenix and tortoise, each in it's
proper place, and at fixed periods these
jumped about to the sound of cymhals from
within. The third section was marked out
into one hundred parts Or divisions of the
day, corresponding to our quarter hours,
and above these divisions were twelve doi-
ties, each holding q tablet indicating one of
the twelve horary periods Of the Chinese
day. There was also the figure of man,
drawing attention with its outstretched
finger to the hours as they passed in regu-
lar procession along. On the lower section
were Il bell, drum, gong, and cymbals,
each with al attendant in charge, who
struck the Instruments Mt the first, second,
third, and fourth quarters respectively.
The whole Of the above effects were pro-
duced, we were informed, by watcr-power
acting on machinery concealed in large
case near the clepsydra. The method of
striking the five night watches IN Chinese
yamcns at the present time is as follows,
One blow on the drum und one on ch't7s0
(not ''gong) for setting the watch; one on
the drum and two on the ching for the be.
ginning of the second of The five parts into
which each watch is divided; one on the
drum, and three, four and five on the china
for the periods up to the beginning of the
second watch, which is announced by TWO
blows On the drum and one on the china,
the blows on the latter increasing up to five
as in the previous watch. Thus four blows
on the drum and three on the Ching would
tell the public that three -tiflhs OF the fourth
watch had elapsed and that the fourth di-
vision was about to begin. We may add
that the ching may be described as broad
Hat piece OF metal bent 10 M obluse angle
OF about one hundred and twenty degrees.