Family of the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instruments (Ilseong-jeongsi-ui) Invented During the Joseon Dynasty
We analyze the design and specifications of the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining group of instruments (Ilseong-jeongsi-ui, 日星定時儀) made during the Joseon dynasty. According to the records of the Sejong Sillok (Veritable Records of King Sejong), Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instruments measure the s...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Korean Space Science Society
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ocean.kisti.re.kr/downfile/volume/kosss/OJOOBS/2016/v33n3/OJOOBS_2016_v33n3_237.pdf |
| Summary: | We analyze the design and specifications of the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining group of instruments (Ilseong-jeongsi-ui,
日星定時儀) made during the Joseon dynasty. According to the records of the Sejong Sillok (Veritable Records of King Sejong),
Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instruments measure the solar time of day and the sidereal time of night through three
rings and an alidade. One such instrument, the Simplified Time-Determining Instrument (So-jeongsi-ui, 小定時儀), is made
without the essential component for alignment with the celestial north pole. Among this group of instruments, only two
bronze Hundred-Interval-Ring Sundials (Baekgak-hwan-Ilgu, 百刻環日晷) currently exist. A comparison of the functions of
these two relics with two Time-Determining Instruments suggests that the Hundred-Interval-Ring Sundial is a Simplified
Sundial (So-ilyeong, 小日影), as recorded in the Sejong Sillok and the Seongjong Sillok (Veritable Records of King Seongjong).
Furthermore, the Simplified Sundial is a model derived from the Simplified Time-Determining Instrument. During the King
Sejong reign, the Sun-and-Stars Time-Determining Instruments were used in military camps of the kingdom’s frontiers, in
royal ancestral rituals, and in royal astronomical observatories. |
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| ISSN: | 2093-5587 2093-1409 |