Su Song (1020–1101 AD) was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman. Excelling in a variety of fields, he was accomplished in mathematics, astronomy, cartography, geography, horology, pharmacology, mineralogy, metallurgy, zoology, botany, mechanical engineering, hydraulic engineering, civil engineering, architecture, invention, art, poetry, philosophy, antiquities, and statesmanship during the Song Dynasty (960–1279). Su Song was the engineer for a hydro-mechanical astronomical clock tower in medieval Kaifeng.
Yi Xing (683–727), born Zhang Sui (Chinese: 張遂), was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, mechanical engineer, philosopher, and Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty (618–907). His astronomical celestial globe featured a clockwork escapement mechanism, the first in a long tradition of Chinese astronomical clockworks.
