Angbuilgu bowl sundial
Angbuilgu, reloj de sol en cuenco
- Date
- 1434 · confidence high
- Place
- Seoul, South Korea
- Credited to
- Jang Yeong-sil and Yi Cheon
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A sundial shaped like a hemispherical bowl whose gnomon tip casts its shadow on hour and season lines. The public examples in Seoul carried zodiac animals so that people who could not read could understand them.
The hemispherical-bowl design (skaphe) has precedents in Greece and China; what is distinctive in Joseon is its public installation with figures. It is dated 1434 by the Sejong Sillok.
What it led to
- public clocks at Hyehwamun and Jongmyo
- Joseon portable sundials (hyeonju ilgu)
- unification of official time together with the Jagyeongnu