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Water Clocks

Water clocks from bronze dripping vessels to Su Song's Northern Song clock tower, keeping 100 marks a day and night by dripping water, with an early example from Mancheng.

Zhou dynasty to Qing dynasty
550 BCE · OriginSpring and Autumn texts already mention water-clock timekeeping, and the Rites of Zhou later describes the office of the qiehu shi in charge of the clepsydra.113 BCE · EvolutionA bronze clepsydra from a Western Han tomb at Mancheng, Hebei (before 113 BCE), is an early securely dated water clock.1092 · ImpactSu Song's Northern Song clock tower used flowing water to drive an escapement, giving unprecedented timekeeping accuracy.
ZhouHanSongQing
Sources (3)
  1. How Water Clocks Flowed with Time — Science and Technology Daily (2026-04-13)
  2. Clepsydra from Mancheng — China Science and Technology Museum
  3. Qintianjian — Wikipedia

The clepsydra is a bronze vessel filled with water which leaks slowly into a container below, so that the water level in the container rises, and the mark it reaches shows the hour. A day was divided into one hundred marks.

Texts of the Spring and Autumn period already mention timekeeping by the water clock. The Rites of Zhou later describes an office called qiehu shi that was in charge of the clepsydra.

A Western Han tomb at Mancheng in Hebei, sealed before 113 BCE, yielded a bronze clepsydra. It is an early water clock that can be securely dated.

In 1092 the clock tower of Su Song in the Northern Song used flowing water to drive an escapement, giving unprecedented timekeeping accuracy.

Water Clocks is the class in the chapter on Cosmos on keeping time by dripping water: Spring and Autumn texts already mention the water clock, the Rites of Zhou later describes the office of the qiehu shi in charge of the clepsydra, a bronze clepsydra was found in a Western Han tomb at Mancheng in Hebei, and Su Song's Northern Song clock tower used flowing water to drive its moving parts and announce the time.