Fig. 14—Japanese Striking Clock with Weight and Short Pendulum
Fig. 15—Japanese Striking Clock with Spring, Fusee and Balance
[Figure 18] represents a clock which is a work of art and shows great refinement of design in providing for the varying lengths of days. The bar lying across the dial is fastened to the weight through the two slits running the whole length of the dial. On this cross bar is a small pointer, which is movable by the fingers, and may be set to any one of the thirteen vertical lines. The numerous characters on the top space of dial indicate the dates on which the pointer is to be set. This clock is wound up at sunset, and it is easy to see that as the little pointer is set towards the right, the night hours at the top of the dial become shorter and the day hours longer on the lower part. The left edge of the dial gives the hours, reading downwards, and as the pointer touches any one of the curved lines the hour is read at the left-hand end. The curved lines formed of dots are the half-hours. The right-hand edge of the dial has the “twelve horary characters” which will be explained later. For dividing the varying days into six hours' sunshine it would be difficult to think of a more artistic and beautiful invention than this. It is a fine example of great ingenuity and constant trouble to operate a system which is fundamentally wrong according to our method of uniform hours at all seasons. Clocks having these curved lines for the varying lengths of days—and we shall find them on circular dials as we go on—must be made for a certain latitude, since the days vary more and more as you go farther from the equator. This will become plain when you are reminded that a Japanese clock at the equator would not need any adjustment of hour numerals, because the days and nights are equal there all the year. So after such infinite pains in forming these curved lines the clock is only good in the latitude for which it was made and must not be carried north or south! Our clocks are correct from pole to pole, but all clocks must be set to local time if they are carried east or west. As this is a rather fascinating phase of the subject it might be worth pointing out that if you go north till you have the sun up for a month in the middle of summer—and there are people living as far up as that—the Japanese system would become absurd and break down; so there is no danger of any of our polar expeditions carrying Japanese clocks.
| [LOI] Fig. 16—Japanese Clock with Vertical Dial, Weight and Balance. | [LOI] Fig. 17—Japanese Vertical Dials | [LOI] Fig. 18—Japanese Clock with Vertical Dial Having Curved Lines, Weight and Balance. |
[Figure 19] shows a very fine clock in which the dial is stationary and the hand moves just as on our dials. This hour hand corresponds to the single hand of the old Dutch clocks. When the Japanese reached the point of considering the application of minute and second hands to their clocks they found that these refinements would not fit their old method and they were compelled to lay aside their clocks and take ours. On this dial, [Fig. 19], nine is noon, as usual, and is on top side of dial. Hand points to three quarters past seven, that is, a quarter to six, near sunset. Between the bell and the top of the clock body two horizontal balances, having small weights hung on them, are plainly shown, and the clock has two verge escapements—one connected with each balance, or “foliot.” Let us suppose a long day coming to a close at sunset, just as the hand indicates. The upper balance, which is the slow one, has been swinging backwards and forwards measuring the long hours of the day. When the clock strikes six, at sunset, the top balance is thrown out of action and the lower one, which is the fast one, is thrown into action and measures the short night hours. At sunrise this is thrown out and the top one in again to measure the next day's long hours. As the days vary in length, the balances, or foliots, can be made to swing faster or slower by moving the weights inwards or outwards a notch or two. The balance with small weights for regulation is the oldest known and was used in connection with the verge escapement, just as in this clock, by the Dutch about 1364. All the evidence I can find indicates that the Japanese clocks are later than this date. In design, ornamentation and methods for marking varying days, however, the Japanese have shown great artistic taste and inventiveness. It is seen that this dial in addition to the usual six hours, twice over, has on the outside circle of dial, the “twelve horary branches” called by the Japanese the “twelve honorary branches,” thus indicating the whole day of twelve Japanese hours, six of them for day and six for night. By this means they avoided repeating the same hours for day and night. When it is pointed out that these “twelve horary branches” are very old Chinese, we are not in a position to boast about our twenty-four hour system, because these branches indicate positively whether any given hour is day or night. When we print a time table in the twenty-four hour system so as to get rid of our clumsy A. M. and P. M., we are thousands of years behind the Chinese. More than that, for they got the matter right without any such pressure as our close running trains have brought to bear on us. These branches have one syllable names and the “ten celestial stems” have also one syllable names, all as shown on [Fig. 20]. Refer now to [Fig. 21] where two disks are shown, one having the “twelve horary branches” and the other the “ten celestial stems.” These disks are usually put behind the dial so that one “branch” and one “stem” can be seen at the same time through two openings. The clock moves these disks one step each night, so that a new pair shows each day. Running in this manner, step by step, you will find that it takes sixty moves, that is sixty days, to bring the same pair around again. Each has a single syllable name, as shown on [Fig. 20], and we thus get sixty names of two syllables by reading them together to the left. The two openings may be seen in the dials of [Figs. 15] and [19]. So the Japanese know exactly what day it is in a period of sixty which they used in their old calendars. These were used by the Chinese over four thousand years ago as the names of a cycle of sixty years, called the “sexagenary.” The present Chinese year 4606 is YU-KI which means the year 46 of the 76th “sexagenary.” That is, 76×60+46 = 4,606. In [Fig. 20], we read TSU-KIAH, or the first year. If you will make two disks like [Fig. 21] and commence with TSU-KIAH and move the two together you will come to YU-KI on the 46th move. But there is another way which you might like better, thus: Write the twelve “branches,” or syllables, straight downwards, continuously five times; close to the right, write the ten “stems” six times. Now you have sixty words of two syllables and the 46th, counting downwards, will be YU-KI. Besides, this method gives you the whole sixty names of the “sexagenary” at one view. Always read left, that is, pronounce the “stem” syllable first.
