Ma Jun

Ma Jun (fl. 220–265),courtesy name Deheng (徳衡), was a Chinese mechanical engineer and government official during the Three Kingdoms era of China. His most notable invention was that of the south-pointing chariot, a directional compass vehicle which actually had no magnetic function, but was operated by use of differential gears (which applies equal amount of torque to driving wheels rotating at different speeds). It is because of this revolutionary device (and other achievements) that Ma Jun is known as one of the most brilliant mechanical engineers and inventors of his day (alongside Zhang Heng of the earlier Eastern Han Dynasty). The device was re-invented by many after Ma Jun, including the astronomer and mathematician Zu Chongzhi (429-500 AD). In the later medieval dynastic periods, Ma Jun's south-pointing chariot was combined in a single device with the distance-measuring odometer.

Biography

According to his friend and contemporary poet and philosopher Fu Xuan (217-278 AD), Ma Jun was born in Fufeng, located in the Wei River valley between Wugong and Baoji. In his youth Ma Jun traveled throughout modern day Henan province, and obtained a minor literary degree, or bo shi. Despite this degree, Ma Jun was relatively poor in his youth, yet found means to gain recognition by employing his natural genius in creating mechanical contraptions and inventions.

Ma Jun (environmentalist)

Ma Jun (simplified Chinese: 马军; traditional Chinese: 馬軍; pinyin: Mǎ Jūn; born 22 May 1968) is a Chinese environmentalist, non-fiction writer, environmental consultant, and journalist. He is a director with the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE).

In the 1990s Ma became known as an investigative journalist, working at the South China Morning Post from 1993 to 2000. There, he began to specialize in articles on environmental subjects. He eventually became the Chief Representative of SCMP.com in Beijing.

He was named as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world by Time magazine in May 2006, in an article written by Hollywood film star Ed Norton.

Ma's 1999 book China's Water Crisis (Zhongguo shui weiji) has been compared to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring – China's first major book on the subject of that nation's environmental crisis.

He directs the IPE (Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs), which developed the China Water Pollution Map (中国水污染地图), the first public database of water pollution information in China. He also serves as environmental consultant for the Sinosphere Corporation.

Ma Jun (footballer)

Ma Jun (simplified Chinese: 马君; traditional Chinese: 馬君; pinyin: Mǎ Jūn; born 6 March 1989) is a female Chinese footballer who plays as a midfielder.

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