Origin of steel tape measure
Time:
18 Feb,2023
In the annals of the world's technological inventions, China also invented the steel tape measure, invented in the ancient Huizhou (present-day Huangshan City) in Anhui Province. This exciting and little-known information was learned when we revisited the memorial of the former residence of Cheng Dawei, a Ming Dynasty mathematician, bead mathematician and inventor. Standard Steel Tape Measure
Standard Steel Tape Measure
The memorial hall is located in Huangshan City and was built on the basis of the former residence of Cheng Dawei (1533-1606) and the Cheng Ancestral Hall. He called it a "measuring cart" at that time, and Cheng Dawei is therefore known as the "father of the tape measure".
The "measuring trolley" is much larger than today's steel tape measure and leather tape measure, but from its principle, structure, use and usage, one has to admit that it is the prototype of the tape measure. It consists of a wooden jacket, cross, bamboo gimlet ruler, iron turning heart, drill feet and rings and other components. The gimlet ruler is put in and out of the plaque eye of the jacket, the drill foot is easy to accurately insert into the field measurement points, and the ring is easy to carry. I was curious to take it out and try it out, but the ruler was easy to put away, measure, read and carry.
The curator told us: what is more precious is that the tape measure invented by Cheng Dawei is not only in kind, but also in the third volume of Cheng Dawei's compilation of the "straight algorithm of the unified clan" has a complete set of written information such as parts diagram, general assembly diagram, design instructions and modification instructions, which is quite rare in the history of world invention. The curator said: According to this set of information, woodworkers in any country in the world can easily imitate it.
According to the History of Ming Dynasty, in 1578, Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, ordered the whole country to clear the land, and made the "land measurement" and "one whip law" as the important measures for its implementation. It is known from the "Direct Reference to the Algorithm of the Unified Patriarchate" that Cheng Dawei took part in this large-scale land clearance work. Before that, "the ancient people measured the length of the fields, all by the rope and ruler to hold the measure", which was not only labor-intensive, but also the error rate was too high. Therefore, the inventor raised the issue, forcing him to think hard to create a new measuring tool. He said in the design note that his idea came from the inkwell used by woodworkers. I think: if the inkwell gave him the ingenious idea of turning to achieve the ruler body, then the valuable thing about Cheng Dawei was the inspiration of using a flat "gimlet ruler" instead of a "rope". This result is still being enjoyed by the current tape measure.
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