Ma Jun
| Ma Jun | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 馬鈞 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 马钧 | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Wade–Giles | Ma Chün |
Ma Jun (fl. 220–265),courtesy name Deheng (徳衡), was a Chinese mechanical engineer and government official during the Three Kingdoms era of China. His most notable invention was that of the south-pointing chariot, a directional compass vehicle which actually had no magnetic function, but was operated by use of differential gears (which applies equal amount of torque to driving wheels rotating at different speeds). It is because of this revolutionary device (and other achievements) that Ma Jun is known as one of the most brilliant mechanical engineers and inventors of his day (alongside Zhang Heng of the earlier Eastern Han Dynasty). The device was re-invented by many after Ma Jun, including the astronomer and mathematician Zu Chongzhi (429-500 AD). In the later medieval dynastic periods, Ma Jun's south-pointing chariot was combined in a single device with the distance-measuring odometer.
According to his friend and contemporary poet and philosopher Fu Xuan (217-278 AD), Ma Jun was born in Fufeng, located in the Wei River valley between Wugong and Baoji. In his youth Ma Jun traveled throughout modern day Henan province, and obtained a minor literary degree, or bo shi. Despite this degree, Ma Jun was relatively poor in his youth, yet found means to gain recognition by employing his natural genius in creating mechanical contraptions and inventions.
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