Art & Places: Giant Sundial, Pudong, Shanghai, China
When I saw this giant sundial while visiting Shanghai last February, it reminded me of my son who is quite amazed with how a sundial works.
Completed in April 2000, this giant sundial sculpture, known as Oriental Light, is situated at the eastern end of Century Avenue, forming the entrance to Century Square, Pudong, Shanghai. This large scale sculpture which represents a huge time piece also serves as public modern art and the first of it’s kind of large-scale urban landscape sculptures in China. The large elliptical frame measures 400 square meters and the total length of the stainless steel tubes used exceeds 6,000 meters. Oriental Light was built based on an idea by French architect, Jean Marie Charpentier.
A sundial is an instrument that measures time by the position of the sun. Called “rigui” in Chinese, a sundial is a timepiece that indicates the daylight hours by the shadow that the gnomon casts on a calibrated dial in ancient China. A typical sundial is made up of a bronze pointer and a stone dial. The earliest sundial in the world was created some 6,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. And the earliest sundial of China, according to historical documents, was the flat horizontal dial plate, or the horizontal sundial invented in 574 AD.
51 Comments
azah
oh saya baru tau fungsi benda ni, ingatkan saja-saja dorang bina 🙂
emila
Ya, siapa tak pakai jam boleh tengok sundial ni tapi kalau tak ada matahari susah sikit nak tengok masa.
marvic
nak menang postcard
marvic
nak menang!!!!!
marvic
nak jugak…. hahahaha
emila
LOL. Nak menang, komenlah banyak-banyak.
marvic
now commenting for real on this entry…
emila
Ok boleh 😀
marvic
this structure look so complex and yet interesting
emila
Kan? Imagine berapa banyak besi mereka guna.
marvic
they build it with a good reason..for history and a learning experience for public
marvic
suddenly this remind me of Bintulu Development Authority.. that building is inspired by TUDUNG SAJI.. hahaha. read this dlm Going Places.. again.. the motive?? LOL
marvic
kan tgh mengomen byk2 ni.. LOL
emila
Yes, indeed. It’s a good thing that parents can bring their kids here and tell them how to use the sundial. Kak Emi adalah pergi Pusat Planetarium, ada juga sundial. Nanti Kak Emi karang story dulu.
marvic
pastu very detail lg they arrange besi-besi tu
marvic
ada byk benda lain dlm Sarawak tp why pilih inspration from TUDUNG SAJI.. pengsan jap
emila
Very interesting. Kak Emi nak cover all the public arts dekat Malaysia. nanti boleh cover cerita tudung saji ni…menarik tu.
Syuq
Wahhh..banyak nya komen Marvic, semangat betul 🙂 Saya nak jadi pengomen yang setia je laaa..ada hadiah tak? hehehehhe China memang hebat laa bab-bab pembinaan ni. Tengok sundial ni teringat stadium birdnest yang complicated tu.
azah
banyaknye dia komen.. lawan2.. kihkih 😛
azah
saya nak juga!!!
emila
OK!
emila
OK, kalau macam ni Kak Emi nak beri postcards for 3 Top commentators! Ok tak?
azah
tula.. banyaknye dia komen kan.. hehehe 😀
emila
OK!!
marvic
lawan jgn x lawan..LOL
marvic
hahaha.. jom jom
marvic
kannn.. tudung saji plak jadi pilihan hati.. LOL
azah
okeh okeh kak! nanti kami berdua boleh bolot! hahahah
azah
mesti susah nak buat.. sakit kepala berbulan-bulan tu
marvic
at least better than tudung saji..LOL
marvic
apasal aku anti sgt dgn tudung saji ni..LOL
samdaddycool
Saya kena bagi ‘chance’ kat orang lain plak kali ni. 🙂
emila
Janganlah….kesian tudung saji. Kak Emi suka yang anyaman mengkuang tu. Unik.
emila
😀
azah
malam2 tak jalanla jam nanti. hehe. tapi ada kot bateri untuk malam
azah
mai..mai.. syuq pun join sekali la 😀
marvic
oh.. jgn la mcm tu samdaddycool.. jom sekali memeriahkan pesta ini 🙂
marvic
jom syuq ikot sekali
marvic
lari sama2 mengejar postcard
marvic
sure runcing sekali jejari kita.. cewahhh..LOL
marvic
suka juga tp susah nak bersihkan kalau anyaman mengkuang tu
marvic
kalau plastik bole sental jer dgn berus and air
soulie
NAK JUGAK! hahahah nyebok kat entry nih plak
soulie
made of stainless steel…tgh imagine kalo ujan lebat ribut petir kene sambar ker?
soulie
k.emila…susah dak nak amik shot of this sundial to make sure everything masuk dalam frame?
Insyirah
soooooo big!
Insyirah
🙂
ainur roslan
useful and tourist attraction..COOL
Lya
Tgk entry ni ingt MH370…
Lya
:”(
imaisha
eh, ingatkan giant sundial ni tumbang sbb besar sgt sundial tu berbanding batang yg menyokong.. rupanya mmg design mcm tu 😛 dan lagi, ada function rupanya.. bkn sekadar hiasan semata-mata 🙂