The Chinese civilization has been splendid for 5,000 years, and the ancients have left us countless rare treasures. However, they have experienced various wars and chaos in the past dynasties, and gradually disappeared into the long river of history, and now few have passed on to us.
Speaking of the war that had the greatest impact on China's ancient cultural relics, it was the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance in modern times. The Western powers were beasts cloaked in the cloak of civilization, and at that time, Empress Dowager Cixi dragged the Guangxu Emperor to flee west, and completely exposed the Forbidden City, where the most core cultural relics of our country for thousands of years were gathered, to the claws of the great powers.
According to incomplete statistics, after the withdrawal of the Eight-Power Alliance, the number of precious cultural relics scattered in China at home and abroad is about 16 million, of which 300,000 are national treasure-level cultural relics.
In the early 1990s, the Royal Ordnance Agency Museum spent 100,000 pounds to buy a collection called the Yongle Sword, which has now become the treasure of the museum. This Yongle sword is exactly the national treasure-level cultural relics looted from the Forbidden City of Our country when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, how legendary and exquisite is it? And listen to the author one by one.
The Yongle Sword, as the name suggests, is a sword forged during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. The sword was forged in 1420 under the supervision of Zhu Di. At that time, Zhu Di wanted to give this sword as a gift to a living Buddha in Tibet, so as to strengthen his rule over Tibet. Therefore, the tattoos on the sword are all Buddhist patterns, for example, the animal carved on the sword grid is the Tibetan Buddhist beast Snow Lion.
In addition, the yongle sword body length is 90.3 cm, and the blade length is 76 cm. It weighs 1.3 kg and is quite handy to pick up. The workmanship is extremely exquisite, and the handle of the sword is also deliberately designed with a pit, which enhances the feel and friction, which can be called the first of the ancient swords, and also represents the highest level of sword casting technology in China.
Why did Zhu Di deliberately build such a sword for the Tibetans? As we all know, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was not completely destroyed, but retreated to the north of the desert and established the Northern Yuan regime. In order to prevent them from waiting for an opportunity to counterattack, it is particularly important to stabilize the rule of Tibet.
However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty were full of defenses, but they still failed to prevent the rise of the Later Jin regime established by the Jurchens in the northeast region. They were the predecessors of the Qing Dynasty, and their power quickly grew, quickly swept through the surrounding areas of the Ming Dynasty, and Tibet was also conquered by them at that time, and this exquisite Yongle sword fell into the hands of the Qing army and was finally brought into the Forbidden City.
For a long time, the Yongle Sword was placed in the Yuanmingyuan and treasured by the Qing Emperor as a treasure passed down from generation to generation. However, in modern times, the Western powers knocked on the door of the Qing Dynasty, the British and French allies first looted a wave, and then when the Eight-Nation Alliance burned the Yuanmingyuan, the treasures inside were moved, burned, and completely lost track. This Yongle sword has also been lost since then, and there has been no news for nearly a century.
It was not until 1991, when the Royal Ordnance Museum of the United Kingdom bought it from the descendants of the Eight-Nation Alliance, that this unique sword was revived, and its craftsmanship was superb, completely crushing the western European swords of the same era. However, it is already difficult for it to return to its homeland.
Today, the Yongle Sword still lies quietly in the Royal Ordnance Agency Museum, telling the history of China's blood and tears at the beginning of the last century. At the same time, at all times, we remind every Chinese people not to forget the national shame and forge ahead. As long as the motherland is built strong, can we not let history repeat the same mistakes, and can we not let these weeping cultural relics be homeless.