Joseon Water Clock System

Timeline

1. 1590–1592Jangyeongdae Platform, Gyeongbok Palace, Hanseong · HanseongBefore the war, the observatory used self-striking and clepsydra clocks together with the armillary sphere and sundial; calendar officials announced the time by marks, providing standard time for court audiences, sacrifices, and the opening and closing of city gates. The water clocks measured time with bronze vessels and floating-arrow scale rods, representing the mature application of Joseon's traditional hydraulic timekeeping technology.
2. 1592–1598Hanseong · HanseongIn 1592 Japanese forces captured Hanseong; Gyeongbok Palace and the Jangyeongdae Platform were burned, and the self-striking clocks, water clocks, and astronomical instruments were lost. During the war the court was in flight, the time-signal system was interrupted for a time, and simple clepsydrae or sundials served as substitutes, highlighting both the fragility and the importance of the water clock system as the national time standard.
3. c. 1598–1600Hanseong · HanseongAfter the war ended in 1598, the court ordered calendar officials and the Ministry of Works to rebuild water clocks and armillary spheres modeled on the old system and Ming dynasty instrument designs. Around 1600 the new self-striking and clepsydra clock systems gradually resumed operation, once again taking on court time-signal and calendar-compilation duties and continuing the Joseon tradition of hydraulic timekeeping.