1. Su Song, courtesy name Zirong, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Song dynasty.
22 Facts About Su Song
1. 2.
Su Song exceled in numerous fields including but not limited to mathematics, astronomy, cartography, geography, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, hydraulic engineering, poetry, and statesmanship.
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Su Song was the engineer for a hydro-mechanical astronomical clock tower located in Kaifeng.
4.
Su Song completed a large celestial atlas of several star maps, several terrestrial maps, as well as a treatise on pharmacology.
5.
Su Song was of Hokkien ancestry who was born in modern-day Fujian, near medieval Quanzhou.
6.
Su Song was an antiquarian and collector of old artworks from previous dynasties.
7.
Su Song was appointed as a distinguished editor for the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, where in 1063 he edited, redacted, commented on, and added a preface for the classic work Huainanzi of the Han dynasty.
8.
Su Song created a celestial atlas, which had the hour circles between the xiu forming the astronomical meridians, with stars marked in an equidistant cylindrical projection on each side of the equator, and thus, was in accordance to their north polar distances.
9.
Furthermore, Su Song must have taken advantage of the astronomical findings of his political rival and contemporary astronomer Shen Kuo.
10.
In 1070, Su Song and a team of scholars compiled and edited the Bencao Tujing, which was a groundbreaking treatise on pharmaceutical botany, zoology, and mineralogy.
11.
In compiling information for pharmaceutical knowledge, Su Song worked with such notable scholars as Zhang Yuxi, Lin Yi, Zhang Dong, and many others.
12.
Su Song created a systematic approach to listing various different minerals and their use in medicinal concoctions, such as all the variously known forms of mica that could be used to cure ills through digestion.
13.
Su Song wrote of the subconchoidal fracture of native cinnabar, signs of ore beds, and provided description on crystal form.
14.
Similar to the ore channels formed by circulation of ground water written of by the later German scientist Georgius Agricola, Su Song made similar statements concerning copper carbonate, as did the earlier Rihua Bencao of 970 with copper sulphate.
15.
Su Song compiled one of the greatest Chinese horological treatises of the Middle Ages, surrounding himself with an entourage of notable engineers and astronomers to assist in various projects.
16.
The new Emperor Gaozong of Su Song instructed Su's son, Su Xie, to construct a new astronomical clock tower in its place, and Su Xie set to work studying his father's texts with a team of other experts.
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However, they were unsuccessful in creating another clock tower, and Su Xie was convinced that Su Song had purposefully left out essential components in his written work and diagrams so that others would not steal his ideas.
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Yet the mechanical legacy of Su Song did not end with his work.
19.
Su Song was strongly influenced by the earlier armillary sphere created by Zhang Sixun, who employed the escapement mechanism and used liquid mercury instead of water in the waterwheel of his astronomical clock tower.
20.
However, Su Song stated in his writing that after Zhang's death, no one was able to replicate his device, much like his own.
21.
When presenting his clocktower design to the Emperor Zhezong, Su Song equated the constant flow of water with the continuous movements of the heavens, the latter of which symbolized the unceasing power of the emperor.
22.
Su Song took special care in avoiding any rewording or inconsistencies with the original text as well.