New Armillary Sphere

New Armillary Sphere

When Emperor Qianlong went to the observatory in the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), he saw that the instruments on the platform were all Western structures, so Emperor Qian Long commissioned a special instrument to be made that was based on the traditional Chinese equatorial armillary but could incorporate the Western 360° standard measurement. It was designed and supervised by Ignatius Koegler and Augustin de Hallerstein, the missionaries who served in the Astronomical Bureau at that time. After 10 years, it was completed in the 19th year of Qianlong (1754). The instrument weighs 5145 kg and has a height of 3.379 meters. It is now located on the top platform of the Beijing Ancient Observatory. The New Armillary Sphere is the final masterpiece of large-scale bronze classical astronomical instruments.