Clepsydra of Changgyeonggung Palace

Water clocks had been the state's standard timekeeper since the Three Kingdoms period. In 1434 Jang Yeong-sil built one that struck the hours by itself, with bells, gongs and drums, and figures that came out holding a placard for the hour. It worked like this. Water poured into the great vessel at the top ran down through smaller ones into a tall receiver. A float rose with the water until it tipped a lever, which dropped an iron ball down a channel; that ball released others, and they struck a succession of triggers that rang the bells and pushed out the figures. The original did not last long. A replacement was built in 1536, and it is part of that one you see here — the vessels themselves, with the whole ball-and-lever mechanism gone. What survives is the plumbing of a machine, without the machine.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보