Red Sandalwood Pavilion-Shaped Clock
The Red Sandalwood Pavilion-shaped Clock, dating back to the Qing Emperor Qianlong's reign, was used to both announce time in the daytime and sound the night watches.
With red sandalwood as the main framework, the clock is embellished with enamel and gemstones and involves a wide range of techniques, demonstrating a typical style of the Imperial Workshop of the Qing Dynasty.
The upper part of the clock is a double-eave pavilion, and the gilded copper facade is engraved with lotus flower patterns and inlaid with a big dial as well as two smaller meters indicating solar terms and night watches, respectively. The bottom is a Buddhist-style Xumi base.
The ancient Chinese divided the night into five gengs equivalent to two hours each, and stroke gongs to announce the time at the turn of each geng, which is called "dageng" (meaning "sound the night watches"). Since the start and end time and length of each geng vary in different solar terms, the two smaller meters were necessary to accurately sound the night watches. This design made the clock more difficult to make than a regular one.
European clocks were brought into the Qing royal court by Western missionaries in the early 17th Century. Emperor Yongzheng was not satisfied with simply using Western timekeeping methods, and asked Chinese craftsmen to invent unique clocks with the help of Westerners . This red sandalwood clock fused Western clock timekeeping and traditional Chinese night timekeeping, representing an innovative result of technological and cultural exchanges between China and the West.
紫檀樓閣更鐘
紫檀樓閣更鐘制作于中國清乾隆年間，白天走時、報時，晚上打更。
整體以紫檀木為框架，輔以琺瑯、玉石裝飾，集多種制作技藝于一身，體現了清宮造辦處鐘表的典型特征。鐘上部為重檐樓閣，中部銅鍍金面板上鏨刻蓮花，上嵌表盤、節(jié)氣盤、定更盤。下部為須彌座。表盤最大，用于走時，與一般西洋鐘表無異。兩小盤分別是節(jié)氣盤與定更盤，用于打更。打更是中國傳統(tǒng)的夜間報時方法。古人將夜晚時長等分為五段，即五更，每更報時。由于不同節(jié)氣的起更時間、更間長短不同，便需要由節(jié)氣盤和定更盤來調節(jié)更的起訖和間隔時間，保證夜間準確打更。制作難度比一般時鐘更大。
西洋鐘表于17世紀初葉由西方傳教士帶入宮廷，雍正皇帝不滿足于單純使用西方計時方式，要求工匠在西洋人的幫助下，發(fā)明獨特的更鐘。紫檀樓閣更鐘是西方鐘表計時與中國傳統(tǒng)夜間計時方式的融合，是中西方科技、文化交流碰撞出的創(chuàng)新成果。
