Yi Xing's hydromechanical escapement
Escape hidromecánico de Yi Xing
- Date
- 725 · confidence high
- Place
- Chang'an (Xi'an), Shaanxi, China
- Credited to
- Yi Xing and Liang Lingzan
- People
- 👤 Yi Xing683–727
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A celestial sphere driven by a water wheel that advanced in regular steps thanks to an escapement mechanism, and that struck bells and drums. Needham considers it the first clockwork escapement.
It is debated whether the hydromechanical scoop escapement should be considered an ancestor of the European mechanical escapement (c. 1283), which appears to be independent.
What it led to
- hydromechanical astronomical clocks
- division of time into equal steps