Copper gold-plated Huntianhe Seven Political Instruments

[Copper gold-plated Hun Tianhe Qizheng Instrument]

The copper gold-plated Hun Tianhe Qizheng Instrument, in the 18th century, has a total height of 38 cm, a diameter of 36.8 cm for the upper wall, and a diameter of 31.1 cm for the lower wall. The old collection of the Qing Palace
The bottom of the instrument is a round copper plate with a compass embedded on it. The upper ring device is supported by 6 copper gold-plated columns around the disk, and the instrument body is composed of outer, middle and inner triple rings
The outer layer is composed of the horizontal horizon and the vertical meridian circle, which can rotate up and down to adjust the height of the Arctic from the horizon according to the local geographical latitude. There are four quadrants carved on it. The inner edge of the horizon circle is 360 °; The Latin and Chinese names, pictographs and representative graphics of the zodiac are carved in the middle; The outer edge is engraved with the names of twelve months in English and Chinese, and the number of days of this month. Among them, the Chinese names of the twelfth zodiac and December are added later, which may be added after the instrument entered the palace for easy recognition. The top of the north is a time dial with a pointer engraved with Roman timing figures
The middle layer is a meridian circle intersecting the south and north poles, forming four distinct meridians, with five parallel circles attached. From top to bottom (i.e. from north to south), it is the Arctic Circle, the Tropic of Cancer, the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Antarctic Circle. In addition, there is a wide band of rings attached to the cross, which is the zodiac, and the central line is the zodiac. The zodiac belt is also carved with the contents of the twelve zodiac signs, which are slightly the same as those carved on the horizon
The inner layer is the seven-star political board, and the outer layer of the seven-star political board is composed of three planets: fire, wood and earth, of which Jupiter has four moons and Saturn has five moons; The middle layer has the earth and the moon; The inner layer is set with gold and water stars; In the middle is the sun. The moon on the seven political plates is black and white, representing the back and the ground respectively
The Hun Tian He Qi Zheng Instrument is equipped with a hand-operated device. With the rotation of the gear, it can demonstrate the rotation of Mercury, Venus, Earth and other stars around the sun and the rotation of the earth and the sun
This instrument has no author’s name. It should be made in Britain according to the production style. It was entered into the Qing Palace in Tibet no later than 1759.

铜镀金浑天合七政仪局部