Zhang Heng
Also known as Chang Heng
Chinese scientist and statesman (78–139)
AI overview
Zhang Heng was a Chinese scientist and government official who lived from 78 to 139 CE and made important contributions to astronomy, mathematics, and engineering. He is remembered as one of ancient China's greatest polymaths whose innovations, including an early seismoscope for detecting earthquakes, demonstrated the sophisticated scientific knowledge of his era.
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Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 10
- Total plays
- 26
Tags
chinese
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Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition
· 2016 · cited 166,179x
- Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films
· 2004 · cited 61,858x
- The Sequence Alignment/Map format and SAMtools
· 2009 · cited 58,228x
- Fast and accurate short read alignment with Burrows–Wheeler transform
· 2009
Article
Zhang Heng (Chinese: 張衡; AD 78 – 139), courtesy name Pingzi, formerly romanized Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, he achieved success as an astronomer, mathematician, seismologist, hydraulic engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, artist, poet, philosopher, politician, and literary scholar.
Zhang Heng began his career as a minor civil servant in Nanyang. Eventually, he became Chief Astronomer, Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages, and then Palace Attendant at the imperial court. His uncompromising stance on historical and calendrical issues led to his becoming a controversial figure, preventing him from rising to the status of Grand Historian. His political rivalry with the palace eunuchs during the reign of Emperor Shun (r. 125–144) led to his decision to retire from the central court to serve as an administrator of Hejian Kingdom in present-day Hebei. Zhang returned home to Nanyang for a short time, before being recalled to serve in the capital once more in 138. He died there a year later, in 139.