水运仪象台复原之路:一项技术发明的辨识

A Review of the Reconstruction of the Astronomical Clock-tower

北宋苏颂和韩公廉于1092年主持制成水运仪象台。20世纪50年代,刘仙洲、李约瑟等科技史学家研究《新仪象法要》,分析这套装置的构造原理及其擒纵机构。王振铎在1958年春制成1:5的水运仪象台复原模型。英国学者康布里奇和日本工程师土屋荣夫先后在1961年和1993年,分别就"受水壶"和"天关"提出新的复原方案,从而充分读懂了中国的擒纵机构。80年代以来,基于上述研究成果,若干个团队对水运仪象台做了不同比例的复原,包括原大尺寸的复原品。

In 1092, Su Song and Han Gonglian succeeded in the construction of the water-powered armillary sphere and celestial globe tower, namely, the astronomical clock-tower. Such historians of science and technology as Liu Xianzhou and Joseph Needham made studies of Essentials of Method of Constructing the New Armillary Sphere and Celestial Globe, and made theoretical analyses of mechanisms of the astronomical clock-tower,especially its escapement in the 1950 s. Wang Zhenduo and his co-workers accomplished the construction of a one-fifth scale model of the astronomical clock-tower in 1958. John H. Combridge improved the reconstruction of water-receiving scoops in 1961, and Hideo Tsuchiya made a new explanation of the upper stopping device in 1993,so that the Chinese escapement, which consists of such parts as water-receiving scoops and the upper stopping device, was fully understood. Based on the above-mentioned studies, several teams have already constructed different scale models of the astronomical clock-tower, including full-scale ones.