The Trail of Time
Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia
Published on 3. November 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-0-521-02163-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book is a scholarly study of a virtually unknown aspect of the history of horology (timekeeping), compiled from Chinese and Japanese historical and literary records, some of which are translated and published here for the first time. Incense timekeepers played an important role in early Chinese social and technological history, in addition to their use for time measurement. They were used in temples for religious rites, in agricultural regions for regulating water for irrigation, in palaces and government offices, and in the studies of scholars. A fascinating compendium of knowledge about a neglected aspect of Oriental culture, this book will appeal not only to historians of China and Japan, but to the growing number of collectors and museum curators who are interested in incense clocks.
Reviews / Votes
'This handsome volume, the result of a lifetime's study by a noted scholar, will be treasured not only by horologists and other historians of science but also by lovers of East Asian art and poetry.' The Antiquarian Horological SocietyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
135 Halftones, unspecified; 8 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 189 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
711 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-02163-0 (9780521021630)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/1994
Cambridge University Press
€80.60
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Previous edition
Book
03/1994
Cambridge University Press
€80.60
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Silvio Bedini (1917-2007) was a Historian Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C, who wrote extensively about the history of science on a wide range of topics including late Renaissance timekeeping, early American scientific instruments, Asian time measurement, the scientific pursuits of Thomas Jefferson, and the origin of dominoes. His research on surveyors in Colonial America led him to uncover the story of Benjamin Banneker, African American mathematician and astronomer, about whom he wrote a detailed biography. Among other awards, in 2000 Bedini received the Leonardo da Vinci Medal, the highest recognition from the Society of the History of Technology.
Content
List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Conventions; Part I. Time Measurement and Incense in East Asia: 1. Early East Asian time measurement; 2. Incense and the populace; 3. Incense in religious rites; 4. Incense for time measurement; Part II. The Incense Seal in China: 5. The incense seal of Avalokitesvara; 6. In Chinese Buddhist rites; 7. In Chinese civil life; 8. In Chinese social life; 9. In Chinese and foreign writings; Part III. The Incense Seal in Japan: 10. Japanese kobandokei; 11. In Japanese Buddhist rites; 12. In Japanese civil life; 13. The fire in the smoke; Appendices; Bibliography; Illustrations; Index.