Bi Lan 畢嵐 was one of the twelve Regular Attendants enfeoffed as marquises in the 180's A.D. He was known for his engineering achievements.
Biography[]
In 185 A.D. Bi Lan was enfeoffed as Marquis. As Prefect of the Lateral Courts he cast bronze statues and bells for the Southern Palace at Luoyang and also constructed water-lifting machines: Heavenly Deer (tianlu) and Frogs (xiama), probably fed by noria buckets, served aqueducts leading into the palace; while a square-pallet chain pump (fanche) and Thirsty Crows (kewu), probably suction-pumps rather than syphons, supplied the north-south roads of the city.
In 189 A.D. Bi Lan was part of the group which waylaid and killed the General-in-Chief He Jin, and he no doubt died in the slaughter which followed.
Notes[]
References[]
Sources[]
- de Crespigny, Rafe. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms. Leiden:BRILL, 2007.
- Fan Ye 范曄 (398–445). Hou Han shu 後漢書 "History of the Later Han".
- Sima Guang 司馬光. Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 "Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government".