World Building- Time Keeping before Mechanical Clocks

The world's first mechanical clock -Water-driven Spherical Birds – was invented by Yi Xing, a Buddhist monk in 725 A.D.. It was operated by dripping water which powered a wheel that made one revolution in 24 hours.  In 1092 astronomer and mechanist Su Song developed a more sophisticated clock called the Cosmic Empire. The clock told the time of day, the day of the month, the phase of the moon, and the position of certain stars and planets.

In Europe however the earliest mechanical clocks are bell tower clocks that tolled the hours, but did not have the familiar clock face of modern watches. These were developed in the early 13th century in Northern Italy and Southern Germany. 

Salisbury Cathedral Clock ca. 1386

The concept of time prior to this was based more on daylight and daily activities rather than minutes and seconds. This doesn't mean however that time keeping was somehow less advanced. Clocks made from burning candles and water clocks were widely used by both nobles and the lower class. Candles also made good alarms if you put nails in them at specific intervals. 

Candle Clocks from Europe

Prior to the industrial revolution time was based on seasonal activities and daylight. Candles are great, but they don't allow for the same level of detailed work of electric lights. This division of day was more important for those in cities and monasteries than farms and since agriculture was the primary occupation throughout much of medieval Europe it wasn't until much later that a more detailed method of time keeping was needed.

For many writers it makes life easier to keep to simple time keeping (morning, noon, etc.) or use terminology that is familiar to modern readers (minutes, hours, etc.). When world building for ancient or medieval time periods it is helpful to consider what methods your characters will use to keep time. Nothing takes a reader out of the story quite like inconsistency. If you start the story using broad time terms like morning or evening and use candles for lighting, but suddenly switch to minutes and hours and have secret midnight meetings in well lit rooms one might question why the characters didn't have access to these things earlier. Now if you use this change as part of your world building it can create a deeper layer of intrigue. Perhaps your characters lived in a rural setting initially and didn't need detailed time keeping. If they journey to a city where clocks are common you can create a level of character building that will keep your readers engaged.

Something else that rarely comes up in history classes is the context of different cultures existing at the same time. Western history is often taught in a straight line from Ancient Greece and Egypt to Rome to the "dark ages" fast forward to the Renaissance and then the industrial revolution and the world wars. This leaves out not only most of the world, but implies that the rest of the world is not as advanced as Europe. As I stated in the beginning of this post, China had clocks nearly as sophisticated as any we have today in the 11th century. Europe at the same time was still dealing with the after affects of the decline of Rome. This is the time frame of the so called "dark ages". By comparison most of the rest of the world was experiencing a golden age. As an example of these strange timeline shenanigans, you could live in the mid to late 19th century and encounter Victorian gentlemen, old west cowboys, Caribbean pirates, and Meiji Restoration Samurai. This sounds like a made up fantasy or a joke until you actually look at the dates. 

For historical fiction and fantasy writing, time can play an important role in world building, whether you are conscious of it or not. One of the best things about creating your own world in writing is the ability to use whatever parts of history and culture you wish. That's what makes fantasy writing so interesting.