In the mid-to-late last century, grave robbers were rampant. China has a long history, coupled with the ancients attach great importance to tombs, because of the many funerary products, tomb robbers are very fond of patronizing ancient tombs, coupled with the advancement of technology decades ago, the tools of tomb robbers are more advanced, and the supervision of relevant departments is not enough, so there were a large number of ancient tombs stolen at that time, and many precious cultural relics were lost.
In 1990, there was a large-scale tomb robbery case in China, and the tomb robbers found a large tomb in the ancient Yu country, and opened the tomb, stealing a large number of funerary items inside. When the police learned of this, they immediately dispatched, and the archaeological department also sent team members to assist the police and carry out protective excavations of the ancient tomb.
After the initial excavations by the archaeological team, a shocking sight occurred in front of them: a large number of huge robbery caves, destroyed tombs, and empty burial chambers. Because tomb robbers only care about interests and do not care about the protection of ancient tombs, they have seriously damaged ancient tombs, and many precious monuments have suffered serious losses.
The archaeologists did not have much hope when they first excavated, after all, tomb robbers are often mad, and the cultural relics that can be stolen will definitely be stolen. However, what the archaeologists did not expect was that just below the tomb robber's cave, they rediscovered a new tomb, and the cultural relics inside were also well preserved, presumably because the tomb robber was in a hurry, so they ignored this tomb that was close at hand.
It was in this newly discovered tomb that the archaeologists found a jade-handled iron sword. This jade-handled iron sword was very inconspicuous when it was first discovered, buried in the tomb, the body of the sword was covered with rust, and I am afraid that many people will regard it as worthless scrap iron when it is placed outside. But the archaeologists were so keen that they immediately realized that it might be a very precious artifact, so they immediately took it out and carefully wiped it to find that it was a jade-handled sword and made of iron. Nowadays, iron products are not unusual, but it should be known that the age of this jade-handled iron sword is thousands of years ago, and it is a sword of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
In China's martial arts culture, the sword has always been the most powerful and famous existence, and many imperial funerals in ancient times had swords. And in ancient times, having a sword was a symbol of honor, so there have been countless legends about swords for thousands of years. In China, the most famous sword legend is the ten famous swords, until now many literary creations will still cite the famous swords, such as the "Xuanyuan Sword", symbolizing authority and great lethality. And behind the swords like "Gan General" and "Mo Evil" is a very famous story.
However, most of these famous swords are legends, and many of them are only recorded in history where their authenticity cannot be determined, and most of them are very short due to the limited technology of ancient times. But the jade-handled iron sword is different, and the rusty sword may not look comparable to the legendary sword, but it is real and can be studied.
Moreover, the historical value of the jade handle iron sword is very great, because it shows that the iron smelting skills of the ancients in the Western Zhou Dynasty were already very skilled. Before the discovery of the jade-handled iron sword, the earliest sword found was the copper-handled iron sword of the Qin State, and the jade-handled iron sword pushed this time forward by another two hundred years. Therefore, the jade handle iron sword represents not only an ancient sword, but also the advanced productivity level of ancient China.
The jade handle iron sword was later called "the first sword of China" by experts, it represents the arrival of the Chinese iron age, the development of iron has also promoted the development of civilization, the Shang zhou bronze age is also about to pass, although this sword is now not proud, but its historical significance deserves to be called "the first sword of China".
Today, this jade-handled iron sword that survived from the hands of tomb robbers has become one of the important cultural relics in China, and is collected in a museum for future generations to visit.