Chinese fire clock in the shape of a dragon with an incense stick and falling weights

This mysterious dragon-shaped boat is a Chinese fire clock, known since the 6th century. The principle is simple: an incense stick is placed in the dragon's hollow body and lit at the head. As it burns, it consumes the threads from which small weights are suspended at equal intervals, and the weights fall with a clatter onto a metal tray, marking the passage of time. The photograph shows a clock of the 19th century. Other types of fire clock are also known, for example those with a multi-layered incense rod, which measures time by a sudden change of scent as each successive layer burns away

Report a translation error

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Chinese fire clock in the shape of a dragon with an incense stick and falling weights

Read more

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s