As the most outstanding inventor, astronomer and writer during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng has been talked about by people for a long time, so there is an overwhelming amount of specific information about Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng, later known as Science Sage and Wood Sage, was born in 78 AD. He was diligent and eager to learn when he was young, and when he was 16 years old, he studied everywhere. When he arrived in Luoyang, he entered Taixue, the highest palace of learning at that time, for further study. Here he devoured all the contemporary classics and met the famous writer and calligrapher Cui Yuan. The two hit it off immediately, exchanged knowledge with each other, and became an inseparable In 100 AD, Zhang Heng was invited by the Nanyang Prefect to take up a clerical position.
Eleven years later, Zhang Heng was summoned by Emperor An of the Han Dynasty and went to Beijing to pay homage to Taishi Ling. During this period, Zhang Heng conceived many great inventions that attracted the attention of the world. The most famous ones are the seismograph and the armillary sphere. These two instruments are ingeniously conceived and exquisitely made. They have been studied repeatedly for thousands of years and have impressed generations of scientific workers.
Zhang Heng also has outstanding achievements in literature. After ten years of sharpening his sword, he wrote "Er Capital Fu", which has beautiful diction and far-reaching significance. It is an outstanding representative of Han Fu and has been sung by people for a long time. In 133 AD, the upright Zhang Heng was slandered by many eunuchs, and he wrote "Si Xuan Fu" angrily to express his sentiments of being upright and having a breeze on his sleeves. "Si Xuan Fu" has lofty meaning, transcendent and refined, and is one of Zhang Heng's masterpieces.
In 139 AD, Zhang Heng resigned from office, retired and returned to his hometown, and died of illness soon after. Zhang Heng completed his glorious and magnificent life. He invented countless inventions and wrote countless books throughout his life, and he made indelible contributions to the world of science, literature, astronomy, and mathematics. Speaking of Zhang Heng, everyone must be familiar with it. We know this great scholar from the Eastern Han Dynasty in primary school textbooks. What attracted the most attention to the world was that he had many inventions in his life. So what did Zhang Heng invent?
The first one is the famous seismograph. As we all know, transportation and communication in ancient times were extremely inconvenient. Where did an earthquake occur? It often took a long time for the court to find out. The seismometer, the earliest earthquake monitoring equipment in the world, is undoubtedly a great invention that transcends the times. Where an earthquake occurs, it can quickly find the location, providing great convenience for disaster relief.
The second one is the armillary sphere. The armillary sphere simulates the movement of astronomical phenomena. It has mechanical devices such as copper balls and clepsydras. It is marked with the twenty-four solar terms, the North and South Poles, and the equator. Its structure is ingenious and breathtaking. It is a very good instrument for observing astronomical phenomena. The third one is the Ruilun Pod. This is simply a modern electronic calendar. It uses running water as a driving force. It opens one leaf every day, then fifteen leaves every day, and then closes them again in the middle of the month. It cycles back and forth like a flower blooming. The fourth one is the guide car. There is a complex gear transmission system in the car. There is a wooden man standing on the car. No matter where the vehicle is heading, the wooden man always points south. The fifth one is Jili Drum Car. There are detailed records in "Annotations on Ancient and Modern Times" that there is a wooden figure in the car, and drums can be played to remind people when they travel a certain distance. The sixth one is the solo wood carving. This uses the principle of bionics to carve the shape of a bird out of wood so that it can spread its wings and fly. The last one is a topographic map. Zhang Heng can be said to know astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom. He personally visited various places, conducted on-site surveying and mapping, and created topographic maps, which were passed down to the Tang Dynasty.