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( Ma Jun)
Ma Jun (fl. 220–265),[1] styled Deheng (??), 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).[2] 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.[3] In his youth Ma Jun traveled throughout modern day Henan province, and obtained a minor literary degree, or bo shi.[3] 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. Ma Jun was a somewhat distinguished official serving under the northern state of Wei, becoming a Policy Review Advisor (Ji Shi Zhong).[2] Ma Jun once oversaw the construction of Chong Hua's palace, under the orders of Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui. Ma Jun was very well known in Wei as a very gifted designer of weapons and certain types of contraptions, and was praised especially by Fu Xuan in an essay of his. Fu Xuan noted that Ma Jun was not the best orator or master of rhetorics, and had trouble conveying his ideas to others with his somewhat introverted personality. Nonetheless, he gained fame for his mechanical genius, and is universally considered one of the greatest mechanical engineers of ancient China. One of Ma Jun's early inventions was an improved silk loom, which, according to Fu Xuan, earned Ma Jun considerable recognition for his innovative skill.[3] In his time, silk looms generally had fifty heddles and fifty treadles, some even up to sixty of each.[3] Ma Jun crafted a loom that had only twelve treadles, which not only made the process faster and more efficient, but also allowed the weaving of new intricate patterns.[3]
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