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Mechanical Technology

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A History of Chinese Science and Technology

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Abstract

Ancient Chinese mechanical technologies have undergone a process of long-term development and transmission and reached a quite high level in designing and manufacturing civil and military devices and formed a distinctively technological tradition.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Earlier literature mainly recorded shape and performance of southward-pointing cart and basically did not describe its drive mechanism. Song Shi Yu Fu Zhi (History of Song Dynasty·Records of Carriages and Dressings gave a clear account of gear drive mechanisms of southward pointing cart made by Yan Su and Wu Deren as well as mileage drum wagon manufactured by Lu Daolong and Wu Deren.

  2. 2.

    This section will not introduce those ancient inventions whose physical structure was uncertain and controversial in terms of restoration due to too simple documentary records, such as Zhang Heng’s seismograph, Zhuge Liang’s wooden ox and horse.

  3. 3.

    Four hundred and seventy-eight teeth may be transcribed from 487 by mistake.

  4. 4.

    In Essential Methods of the new Astronomical Equipment existing today, a Chinese character “权 (weight)” was drawn at the external end of lower balancing lever, but the two Chinese characters “枢权lower weight” were marked on the other end of upper stopping tongue bar. It’s possible that the two characters “枢权” were marked at a wrong place.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China

    Baichun Zhang

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  1. Baichun Zhang
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Yongxiang Lu

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© 2015 Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, Shanghai and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Zhang, B. (2015). Mechanical Technology. In: Lu, Y. (eds) A History of Chinese Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44163-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44163-3_3

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-44162-6

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