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Elements and Human Civilization
With copper as a mirror, you can wear a crown;
Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall;
Taking people as a mirror can make clear the gains and losses.
- (Tang) Li Shimin
The land of etiquette
When it comes to human civilization, copper is probably an element that cannot be avoided. Speaking of which, it is a close relative of gold and silver— on the periodic table, gold, silver, and copper belong to the same family, that is, the 11th column of the number from left to right. Copper and gold are not only chemically related, but also culturally connected.
In many ancient Chinese literature, the Chinese character "gold" refers to copper rather than gold, for example, the "Golden Man Twelve" cast by Qin Shi Huang mentioned in the "Treatise on Passing Qin", which refers to the twelve huge copper figures.
Ancient China in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and France at the end of the 19th century, two "ceremonial states" of different time and space, for different goals, invariably chose the element of copper to create ceremonial vessels.
At the National Museum of China, there is a bronze collection, whether in terms of historical archaeology, art appreciation or cultural influence, it is a national treasure comparable to the Statue of Liberty, that is, the famous stepmother Peng Dafangding.
National Museum Of The Treasure of the Town Hall Houmu Peng Ding (formerly known as Simu Peng Da Fang Ding)
(Source: National Museum of China)
According to research, Ding is an ancient people cooking and eating utensils, so in an era when people often did not have enough to eat, the size of Ding can represent the degree of wealth, since ancient times, there is a "Ding food home" refers to the rich and noble family. As for the royal family, the Ding used must be the largest Ding in the world, so that it can show its grandeur, and it is also a very solemn ceremony to use it as a ceremonial instrument. Although it would be strange to send a large bowl as a gift between friends today, at that time, using Ding as a gift was something that ordinary people could not afford.
In the Zhou Dynasty, the status of Ding was further enhanced, becoming a symbol of royal power, not to mention the commoners, and even the nobles had to use Ding to be measured. Legend has it that as early as after Dayu ruled the water, he cast nine large dings of different shapes, meaning Nine Prefectures in China.
After that, the Shang Dynasty inherited the Jiuding in turn, and those who owned the Jiuding could truly gain their country. Of course, this matter has a great component, after all, according to historical data, in the Xia Yu era, bronze technology is almost blank in China, not to mention casting such exquisite ceremonial instruments as Ding. But no matter what, with this legend, the configuration of the "Jiuding" has become the exclusive standard of the Son of Heaven, and if others want to covet it, it is a transgression offense, which is no different from rebellion.
Fix my armor
There is a saying that people often hang on their lips, called "first salute and then soldier", which is also a kind of wisdom to resolve disputes - the number of etiquette has arrived, if the contradiction cannot be resolved, then it can only use violent means. Therefore, after talking about copper as a "ceremonial weapon", we must then talk about the role of copper as a "weapon" in war.
At the end of 1965, in Jiangling County, Hubei Province, workers were braving the cold winter wind and building the reservoir in full swing, but they dug more than fifty ancient tombs without paying attention. In this tomb group, archaeologists found a bronze sword with a total length of 55.7 centimeters and a sword grid width of 5 centimeters. Seeing the sword, the researchers took the newspaper in their hands and tried to test whether the blade was sharp, but with a gentle stroke, they cut through more than twenty layers of newspaper, and the on-site personnel were all amazed.
Not only is the performance excellent, but the exquisiteness of this sword is also staggering. The body of the sword is covered with diamond patterns, the head of the sword is engraved with eleven concentric circles, which is no less geometrically perfect than the level of machine tool processing, and there are some gemstones in the position where the hilt is connected to the body.
At that time, they did not know that this was the largest discovery in this archaeology, and it was not until later that they discovered that it was a rare treasure that caused a sensation throughout the country. Today, this sword is displayed in the Hubei Provincial Museum and is one of the treasures of the museum' town hall.
The Sword of Deception
(Source: People's Daily News)
The peculiarity of this sword is that it once followed the Yue Wang Gou Jian who was lying on the salary, and the eight seal characters inscribed on the sword body are enough to confirm this matter: "Yue Wang Gou Jian Zi Zhi Sword" (the Chinese character here is a modern term, and the inscription text of the Gou Jian Sword is "Yue Wang Jiu Shallow Self-Use Hammer"). After more than two thousand years, when this sword reappeared in the sky, the cold light was radiant and intact, and the body of the sword actually had no trace of rust.
The inscription "Yue Wang's Self-Acting Sword"
An important reason why the Gou Jian Sword has not rusted over the years is that it is buried deep in the underground tomb, in a state of lack of oxygen, without oxygen, it is naturally not so easy to rust. At the same time as the sword was unearthed, there were several other bronze swords in the tomb, and there was almost no rust. After more than half a century of display, because the preservation environment has changed, the luster of the sword body has been somewhat dimmed, and the importance of oxygen isolation for metal protection is self-evident.
But then again, there are many cultural relics that were in an oxygen-deficient environment before the excavation, and there are very few that are as polished as the Gou Jian Sword, so there must be other reasons worth studying.
According to some existing information, the bronze used in the sword is not only the ratio of copper and tin is very elaborate, but a small amount of sulfur is likely to be the mystery of rust prevention. In addition, the content of other impurities is very low, which reduces the possibility of it forming a "Galvani battery", which is naturally not so easy to rust. If the statue of Liberty restoration team learned of the miracle of this sword, they did not know how to feel.
(This article is excerpted from the book "Elements and Human Civilization" published by the Commercial Press)