south-pointing chariot; ancient Chinese compass carriage
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesnoun
south-pointing chariot; ancient Chinese mechanical vehicle indicating direction
An ingenious mechanical device invented in ancient China (attributed to the Yellow Emperor or later improved by Ma Jun and others) that uses differential gears to keep a wooden figure's arm always pointing south, regardless of the chariot's turning direction. It represents one of the earliest applications of differential gearing.
Bó博
wù物
guǎn馆
lǐ里
chén陈
liè列
zhe着
yī一
liàng辆
zhǐ指
nán南
chē车
de的
fù复
zhì制
pǐn品
。
The museum displays a replica of the south-pointing chariot.
Zhǐ指
nán南
chē车
shì是
Zhōng中
guó国
gǔ古
dài代
kē科
jì技
de的
jié杰
chū出
chéng成
jiù就
zhī之
yī一
。
The south-pointing chariot is one of the outstanding achievements of ancient Chinese technology.
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Zhè这
zhǒng种
chē车
de的
nèi内
bù部
jié结
gòu构
qiǎo巧
miào妙
，
néng能
ràng让
mù木
rén人
de的
shǒu手
shǐ始
zhōng终
zhǐ指
nán南
。
The internal structure of this vehicle is ingenious, allowing the wooden figure's hand to always point south.