Fire watch
The fire clock (also: Luntenuhr ; Chinese 香 鐘 / 香 钟 , Pinyin xiāngzhōng ; literally: scent clock) were mostly used for cultic acts in China and Japan .
Fire clocks are among the elementary clocks, that is, clocks that measure time using the elements or astronomically.
An aromatic mass from the bark of the Illicium religiosum was burned in narrow, boat-shaped bronze bowls, which often had the shape of an elongated dragon . Strings with metal balls attached to them hung across these bowls, which were severed by the burning embers. The metal balls fell into a bowl and indicated the time that had passed. Fire watches were not used for everyday use, but were used for ritual purposes in temples.
Colloquially, candle clocks or oil clocks are sometimes referred to as fire clocks.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard Meis: The old clock, vol. 1. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig 1978, ISBN 978-3-7814-0116-7 .
- ↑ Viktor Pröstler: Callwey's handbook of clock types [...]. Callwey, Munich 1994, ISBN 978-3-7667-1098-7 .