There are many "Hercules" in ancient Chinese history, and Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu, counts as one. Also because of his fame of "lifting Ding", King Wu of Qin did not lift well and died, but Xiang Yu did not have anything to do. Of course, Xiang Yu's good physical condition is an important reason, the "History" records that Xiang Yu is "more than eight feet long, and his strength can carry the ding", and sure enough, Xiang Yu later conquered the world, and the weapons used were also feared.
This weapon is the famous "Overlord Halberd", if you visit Xiang Yu's hometown, you can see the true appearance of the "Overlord Halberd". The "Overlord Halberd" looks majestic, with simple ornaments and a sharp blade of the moon ring, which is said to weigh up to 300 pounds, and can be stabbed, slashed obliquely, and flattened when used, which is quite domineering. However, many people also questioned, is Xiang Yu's strength really that great?
Such a 300-pound weapon, now I am afraid that no one can lift it to use freely, could it be that the strength of the ancients is really greater than ours, and they can casually swing hundreds of pounds of weapons? Speaking of this, I can't help but think of Lu Zhishen in "Water Margin", he had to hit 100 pounds when he went to hit the Zen staff, and the blacksmith said that Lu Zhishen reluctantly agreed to hit 62 pounds (62 pounds in ancient times was heavier than now).
Although Lu Zhishen is a fictional character, this also reflects the fact that the weight of weapons of the ancients is not rare. In fact, we use the eyes of modern people to evaluate the daily life of the ancients, and it is inevitable that some misunderstandings will arise. For example, a person who used to do gravity work before let him stretch his hands and open his mouth for 5 years will inevitably regress.
Even if we don't talk about the ancients, we can talk about our fathers and grandfathers. Writer Li Senxiang once wrote a classic article "Steps", which mentioned that his father can lift 300 pounds of bluestone slabs, Li Senxiang was born in 1956, his father in order to repair the steps to carry bluestone slabs, should be in the sixties and seventies. It can be seen that the strength of the older generation of stonemasons is indeed very large, better than ours.
Our current material living standards are high, and machinery has increasingly replaced labor, so many people have not done strength exercise in their youth, and the most common exercises are probably only fitness groups and weightlifters. Another point is that we can judge the strength of the ancients by looking at the situation of the ancient martial arts examinations.
The history books record that the imperial examination system originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the martial arts examination of the Tang Dynasty had a "weightlifting" item. In the Qing Dynasty, because the previous Qing emperors attached great importance to military riding and shooting, and attached importance to martial arts, so the folk also began to rise to practice martial arts, and an ancient stone pier appeared in Xinghua Village, Fenyang, Shanxi, which was engraved with "Xianfeng Gengshen", which was the equipment for people to practice martial arts at that time, indicating the weight of "three hundred Yuan".
The weight of a scoop is about 500 grams. Converted into a modern unit, there are at least 300 pounds. Although the stone pier is not a weapon, it also proves that the people at that time practiced martial arts for 300 pounds. Xiang Yu, who has always been known for his divine power, lived in the era of cold weapons, and it was indeed not difficult to lift 300 pounds, according to Sima Qian's records, it was entirely possible for Xiang Yu to use the Overlord Halberd as a weapon.
Moreover, Xiang Yu was a commander after all, and the weapons used to kill the enemy were not only the "Overlord Halberd", but also others, and the "Overlord Halberd" should not be necessary for every battle. If you lived in ancient times and wanted to fight with swords on the battlefield, would you dare not exercise your strength well in peacetime? We now have a high standard of living, but physical exercise is also generally less, and it is not surprising that our strength is not as good as that of our predecessors.