引言任何一门科学与技术的发展都离不开社会环境与历史背景，自动控制在中国的发展亦不例外。中国是具有五千年文明史的世界“四大文明古国”之一，因此，减轻或替代人类体力和脑力劳动的自动装置较早在中国出现是毫不奇怪的。用于自动计时的装置“漏壶”（公元前14～前11世纪 Introduction The development of any science and technology can not be separated from the social environment and historical background. The development of automatic control in China is no exception. As China is one of the “four ancient civilizations” in the world with a history of 5,000 years, it is not surprising that automatic devices to reduce or replace human physical and mental work appeared earlier in China. Device used for automatic timing “Hourglass” (14 BC to the 11th century BC