A leaky pot is a device used to measure time, which is timed in the form of dripping water. The funny jug is classified as an isochronous timekeeping tool, that is, evenly dividing time into equal parts, similar to modern clocks. There are several types of leaky jugs, including arrow leaks and scale leaks. The arrow leak is equipped with an arrow in the pot, which changes the position of the arrow through the inflow or outflow of water to indicate the passage of time; The scale leak, on the other hand, calculates the time by the weight of the dripping water. The ancient continent divided a day and night into one hundred moments, each equivalent to 14.4 minutes, while in the early Qing Dynasty, the familiar hourglass was used to divide the day into ninety-six moments, each moment equivalent to 15 minutes. In addition, the leakage is also divided into two types: day leakage and night leakage, and its division is subject to the rise and setting of the sun. The winter solstice night drain is divided into sixty moments, the summer solstice night drain is divided into forty moments, and the day and night of the spring and autumn equinoxes are divided into fifty moments.
Regarding the time of dusk, there were clear regulations as early as the Qin and Han dynasties. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, the dusk time was defined as the three moments after the sun fell and before sunrise, while after the Qin and Han dynasties, this time was shortened to two and a half moments, and remained in use until the end of the Ming Dynasty. The origin of the leaky pot timing cannot be accurately investigated, but the earliest record appears in the "Zhou Li Xia Guan": "The hanging pot of the Chu clan is guarded by water and fire, divided into day and night. Among them, the Chu Clan is the official responsible for the engraving, and water and fire refer to the tools used to add water to maintain the water level and provide lighting, respectively. Due to the unevenness of the water velocity and the fact that solar time is not equally divided, the ancients created various methods to adjust the accuracy of the funnel pot. Heng Tan of the Han Dynasty mentioned: "Yu Qian is Lang, the canon is leaked, and the dry and mixed with the temperature and the temperature are different, so there is dim day and night." Day and day refer to the shadow, and night refers to the stars, and it is correct. He adjusted for the error of the leaky jug by observing the shadows of the day and the stars at night. Another ancient scholar, Ma Zhiji, mentioned in "Hydrolysis": "When the Nine Domains visited the Lingtai in the past, this history saw the leakage of the copper pot, and the Tai Shi summoned the water to say: This water has been three cycles, the water slip will leak at the speed of flow, and the leakage will be poor in time, and it will be easy to be new water." "This is a way to replace the water with new water in time to reduce the error.
Before the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was already a rule that starting from the winter solstice, one day of missing inscriptions was increased every nine days and one night was reduced, while after the summer solstice it was the opposite. This practice is used to adjust the time difference between day and night. In order to reduce the friction of the lifting and lowering of the arrow ruler, Shen Kuo, an astronomer of the Song Dynasty, replaced the copper hole with jade, and raised the position of the drip hole, extending the water pipe to the center of the pot. These improvements improve the accuracy of the instrument.
In short, the leaky pot is an exquisite instrument used to measure time in ancient times, and although limited by the technology of the times, the ancients were wise and constantly improved the funiling pot through various methods to make it more accurate and precise. These innovations leave a valuable intellectual legacy for future generations.