Angbu Ilgu (Scaphe Sundial)
앙부일구
A Joseon-era sundial shaped like an upturned cauldron, with a concave hemispherical face that shows both the hour and the seasonal division of the year.
01About
In the tenth month of 1434, the 16th year of King Sejong, Joseon first set up scaphe sundials at Hyejeonggyo Bridge and in front of Jongmyo Shrine in Hanyang so that passers-by could read the sun's shadow. Its concave hemispherical face is its defining feature: a shadow cast on a flat dial is distorted in the morning and evening, while the bowl keeps the scale even. A pointer (the gnomon) slants from the center at an angle set by the latitude of the site; where its shadow falls, the vertical lines give the hour and the 13 horizontal lines the seasonal division, and the shadow's length changes with the seasons. Small portable versions appeared from the 19th century; one in the Seoul Museum of History, made in 1908, was designated a national Treasure in 2025.
02In the gallery
Find the gnomon, then tell apart the two sets of lines running different ways on the dial: which gives the hour, and which the season?
Wall label terms in Korean
- 해시계
- Sundial
- 영침
- Gnomon
- 절기
- Solar term
03Notes
The angbu ilgu's hollow dial tells both the hour and the season at once.
On a street with no clocks, how did people know the time?