Datong 's Drum Tower dates from the Ming
Dynasty, with many later repairs and restorations. Due to its proximity to the
"barbarian" frontier, it served variously as the Northern Wei capital
from 439-535, a secondary capital under the Liao (916-1125) and Jin
(1115-1234), and a military headquarters during the Ming Dynasty. I was
surprised to learn that it was also a clock, or at least a timekeeper. Drummers
would make noise at various times of day, and the whole village could hear
them.
The mechanical clock is an invention we all use today.
According to historical research, the world's first clock was invented by Yi Xing, a Buddhist
monk and mathematician of the Tang Dynasty (618－907).
Yi's clock operated
with water steadily dripping on a wheel that made a full revolution every 24
hours. It permitted the exact determinations of the
time of dawn and dusk, full and new moons, tarrying and hurrying. Moreover,
there were two wooden jacks standing on the horizon surface, having one a bell
and the other a drum in front of it, the bell being struck automatically to
indicate the hours, and the drum being beaten automatically to indicate the
quarters. So pay no attention to those
who say the mechanical clock is a European invention. It was first made in China.
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