Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 240

three 15 th century nations able to calculate the movements of the planets with respect to their
own latitude of observation.
6. “Kobukson or “Turtle Ship” The Kobukson, or Turtle Ship,
was the first iron-clad warship and developed more than 250 years before the Monitor and the
Merrimac used in the American Civil War. The Turtle Ship was used for the first time by
Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the 16 th century. With its exceptional capabilities and firepower, it played
a significant role in almost all of the sea battles of a war between Korea and Japan, known as the
Imjin War (1592-1598). The chapter includes information about Korea’s ongoing achievements
in shipbuilding.
7. “An Automatic Water Clock” The Chagyongnu was an automated water clock created in
1434. Building on Chinese and Arabian innovations, it was powered by flowing water, and the
time signals were triggered by a system of falling marbles. The purpose of the automated clock
was to provide a means of time-keeping that required no human input, and was therefore reliable.
The clock was commissioned by King Sejong, and destroyed in a fire during the Imjin War
(1592-1598). Originally completed in one and one half years, it took a professor at Konkuk
University 23 years to reconstruct it successfully!
8. “Kudle: Traditional Underfloor Heating” The first form of underfloor heating in the world, the
Kudle (also called ondol) was sophisticated enough to be an effective source of heat and within
the means of both the rich and the poor to build and use. Early forms of Kudle have been
discovered in excavated sites more than 2,000 years ago. Still found in Korean homes, it has
been shown to help allergies, aid sleep, and improve the general quality of life. Frank Lloyd
Wright was the first western architect to develop a system of underfloor heating in modern times.
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The new Romanization adopted by the Republic of Korea has been adopted in this guide for
exploring science and technology in Korea.
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