I have been searched for the first person that create original chinese design images for years. Finally, I found a respected person who called
Zhang Heng, and also was the first engineer and inventor in chinese history. Thousand years passed, we ignored the cultural and aesthetic value that this great piece of
seismometer called as "侯風地動儀", which means the seismometer as "wind blows when the earth quake happens". With this sense, the dragon with expression of the "wind" in metaphor, and the frog with "ground". Nevertheless, the dragon was placed on the side of seismometer with a function of "drop the dragon ball" to the frog mouth. In other words, the phenomena of "earth quake" is transferred to a clear image in universal meaning for the user at that period.
We also found a example in western cultural as parallel comprehension. The sewing machine is obviously reminded in early industrial revolution and also provided as the first industrial product in design history. The decoration style as the "whiplash" was reflected the cultural of art-nouveau in various meanings, which highlighted the design values in the progress of industrial development. However, the sewing machine and the seismometer both have a decorative reasoning from the art and cultural status, to delivering the aesthetic and engineering approach that doesn't change a lot for hundred years.
Unfortunately, this seismometer was not able to be produced as the industrial product at almost 2000 years ago, and hardly found the commercial values. Even though, we still can learn from the form and function as the new technology that well integrated in a physical object as the archetype study in asia context. The different interpretation maybe is unusual today, and gives us some hints to explore the future.
