Why was the Zhang Heng seismograph deleted from the textbook? Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: It's better to hang a piece of meat on the beam

引言

"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty" described Zhang Heng like this: "Heng is skillful and ingenious, especially in the calculation of astronomical yin and solar calendar." From this sentence, we can know that Zhang Heng is in astronomy, mathematics, etc. All have very deep attainments. Zhang Heng, who lived in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was not only a famous astronomer and mathematician, but also an excellent geographer, writer and inventor. At the same time, he is also one of the famous "Five Sages of Nanyang" and "One of 汉富四大主" in history.

Speaking of Zhang Heng's achievements, I must first think of a seismograph that can detect earthquakes. According to the relevant records in the "Book of the Later Han·Zhang Heng", we can understand that the seismograph invented by Zhang Heng is composed of refined copper, with exquisite characters and graphics carved on the exterior, and the shape is like a wine bottle. In addition, there is a pillar inside the seismograph, and there are eight organs next to it. When an earthquake occurs, this set of organs can play a role and effectively detect the earthquake.

▲Bronze statue of Zhang Heng and seismometer

The method of detecting earthquakes with seismometer is also very simple. On the eight positions outside the seismograph, there is a dragon, and each dragon has a copper bead in its mouth. There is a toad with an open mouth just below the dragon head. No matter which side has an earthquake, the copper beads in the corresponding direction will fall from the dragon’s mouth to the corresponding toad’s mouth.

01

In the Eastern Han Dynasty a thousand years ago, Zhang Heng’s wisdom was really admirable for being able to build such a precise earthquake measuring instrument. But it is a pity that the seismograph created by Zhang Heng has not been handed down , but has disappeared in the long river of history. According to textual research, Zhang Heng's seismograph has disappeared as early as around 200 AD. This also makes people wonder whether Zhang Heng's seismograph is a real existence in history or is it just a concept or legend.

▲Today's imitation seismograph

Today, the seismographs we see in textbooks are not handed down from ancient times, but original cultural relics Wang Zhenduo, the director of the Bureau Museum Division, copied and based on ancient records, so they are also called "Wang's Seismograph". Although it took Wang Zhenduo just over a year to successfully restore the seismograph, it took 15 years from design to completion.

02

The seismograph is the crystallization of the wisdom of ancient Chinese people, and it is also a symbol of the development of ancient Chinese science and technology civilization. Therefore, when Wang Zhenduo successfully restored the seismograph, the whole country was boiling. The national elementary and middle school textbooks quickly incorporated this seismograph into the textbooks.

▲Zhang Heng Statue

The restored seismograph has a very beautiful shape, but people are more concerned about whether it can actually detect an earthquake ,From experts to ordinary people, everyone is very curious about this issue. Fang Zhouzi, who is keen on cracking down on counterfeiting, once unceremoniously commented in his article that the seismograph built by Zhang Heng in history, is likely to be the same as the model restored today, but a decoration does not have much Actual detection capabilities.

▲Old photo of Fu Chengyi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Even the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Fu Chengyi also said in a lecture, it is better to hang a block on the beam Meat is more realistic than that model. Indeed, oneAn unproven thing is easy to be questioned and opposed by people, but there are also many people who support and agree with it. Of course, whether the seismograph really has the function of detecting earthquakes cannot rely on people's blind guessing, and more scientists need to conduct further demonstrations and experiments.

▲Recent photo of Zhang Heng Museum

03

Although Zhang Heng's seismograph was later deleted from the textbook, it can only prove that it is a restoration model of posterity The error does not therefore deny the true value of Zhang Heng's seismograph. is still the old saying. To know whether the Zhang Heng seismograph really exists and whether it can really detect an earthquake, people still need to make unremitting exploration.

▲Bronze statue of Zhang Heng

"Hashai Miscellaneous Poems" wrote: "I persuade Tiangong to vigorously vigorously, eclectic and eclectic to drop talents." in China's history In the long river, batches of talents have emerged. Zhang Heng, Zu Chongzhi, Cai Lun, Sun Simiao, etc. are all very representative figures. They continue to study in their respective fields, which makes the development of ancient Chinese science and technology present a prosperous situation. It was under their leadership that China was able to create papermaking, gunpowder, clocks, and compasses that had a profound impact on world civilization.

Conclusion

Helpless later rulers did not pay much attention to the development of science and technology, which made China's science and technology failed to be fully inherited and developed, causing modern China's science and technology to lag far behind Western countries. If the country did not adopt a closed-door policy, but went abroad to achieve better exchanges with other countries, while inheriting Chinese traditional scientific and technological wisdom, while continuously absorbing advanced foreign science and technology, perhaps modern China’s national strength would not lag behind Western countries will not be passively beaten for a long time in modern wars.

References:

"Books of the Later Han" "Haihai Miscellaneous Poems" "Zhang Heng Chuan"