The odometer was also independently invented in ancient China, possibly by the prolific inventor and early scientist Zhang Heng (78 AD – 139 AD) of the Han Dynasty. By the 3rd century (during the Three Kingdoms Period), the Chinese had termed the device as the 'jì lĭ gŭ chē' (記里鼓車), or 'li-recording drum carriage' (Note: the modern measurement of li = ). Chinese texts of the 3rd century tell of the mechanical carriage's functions, and as one li is traversed, a mechanical-driven wooden figure strikes a drum, and when ten li is traversed, another wooden figure would strike a gong or a bell with its mechanical-operated arm.