Holding a three-foot Dragon Spring Sword, he did not swear to commit adultery and evil. - "Water Margin"
Swords have a long history in the history of the mainland, and in ancient times, whether it was a general on the battlefield or a chivalrous guest in the rivers and lakes, there was a sword of its own, which was used to kill the enemy or perform heroic battles.
The sword period traced back to Chinese history is during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
It has been more than 2,600 years to date. It is the Longquan Sword, also known as the Longyuan Sword, which is a famous sword in ancient times on the mainland, and it is also a sword of integrity and purity, which is said to have been forged by ou zhizi and ganjiang, two sword casting masters.
The origin of the sword
In ancient times, there were ten famous swords on the mainland, namely Xuanyuan Sword, Zhanhu Sword, Chixiao Sword, Tai'a Sword, Longquan Sword, Ganjiang Sword, Mo Evil Sword, Fish Gut Sword, Pure Jun Sword, and Chengying Sword. These ten famous swords are mostly recorded in ancient legends or ancient books, such as "History", "Liezi", "Wu Yue Spring and Autumn" and so on. Among these ten famous swords, what we often hear about may be the Xuanyuan Sword and the Gan general Mo Evil Sword.
Regarding the creation of the sword, it can be traced back to the era of the Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan, according to the "Guanghuang Emperor Benxingji": "The emperor mined the bronze cast sword of the first mountain, and inscribed it with astronomical ancient characters"
。 It can be seen that although it is not known who the founder of the sword is, it can be determined that he was born in the era of the Yellow Emperor.
From the Yellow Emperor to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, that period was the Bronze Age, and weapons were mostly made of bronze
The same is true for swords, which are forged in bronze and have good sword quality. Since the Shang Dynasty, there have been historical records about sword making, the material is copper, and the shape is generally willow leaf or sharp triangle shape
At that time, the sword was still an auxiliary weapon under the long weapon, not a mainstream weapon.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, when the princes were at war, the weapons used in different places were different.
Soldiers in the Central Plains were more adept at using goats or spears, but soldiers in the southeastern vassal states were more adept at using swords. In particular, the Kingdoms of Wu and Yue were very good at forging swords
And the technology is superb, and the sword created is also famous in the world,
Like the Ganjian Mo Evil Sword that we are familiar with, it is from the State of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period
。 The most famous is still "Yue Wang Gou Jian, Lying Down to Taste The Gall", once unearthed in hubei Jiangling Wangshan No. 1 Chu tomb also unearthed a bird seal inscription sword, on which is engraved "Yue Wang Dove (sentence) shallow (practice) self-action sword", this sword was listed by the state as a protected cultural relics, but also identified as "the world's first sword".
A good sword needs to be forged and polished by a good sword caster, and the Yue Wang, known as the "world's first sword", is not only because of its age, but most importantly because of its casting level
。 Its body is black diamond-shaped pattern, also vulcanized, the surface is very smooth, the blade polishing technique is completely comparable to the current precision grinding. In order to polish a good sword, the sword caster is very focused, it can be said that he forgot to eat and sleep, and if necessary, he can even take out his life to "sacrifice the sword", just to create a world-famous sword, this pursuit of the ultimate perfection of the craftsman spirit, is really admirable. ancient
Why use the "living sacrifice sword" for the casting of swords? It's not all superstition, but there's also a scientific basis for it.
The legend of the famous sword
The story of the Sword of Gan General Mo Evil must have been heard by everyone, and it is said that Gan General and Mo Evil are two swords, no one can separate them, they are two swords forged by General Gan and Mo Evil. At that time, King Wu asked General Gan to make a famous sword, he did not succeed in casting it for three months, and he saw that the time to hand over the sword was coming soon, and if he could not hand over the sword, he would be killed by King Wu. Mo Xie looked at the cadre who practiced sighing and suddenly smiled, she knew that the raw material in the sword casting furnace was the essence of gold and iron collected from the Five Mountains and Six Combinations, which could not be melted, and the sword could not be forged. After being stunned for a while, he understood what Mo Xie was laughing at, and he also knew what Mo Xie wanted to do, and he told Mo Xie not to do that. However, in order to let the general survive and forge a good sword, Mo Xie did not listen to the words of the general, and on the night before the sword exchange, Mo Xie did not pay attention to the general and jumped into the fire, and the flames in the furnace increased greatly in an instant. Soon, the gold iron changed and began to melt
Changed
Red and bright, the grieving Gan will tearfully forge two sharp swords, and named after their husband and wife, one called Gan General, is the male sword, and the other is called Mo Xie, is the female sword.
"Sacrifice of the living
sword
"The reason
You may find it a little strange, why did the ancient sword casting use "living people to cast swords"? Is this feudal superstition or a scientific basis? After a series of analyses, we finally understood the truth, in fact, it is not all superstition, but also has scientific basis.
During the Spring and Autumn period, the raw materials for casting swords were not only bronze, but also iron ore. Iron ore has a high melting point of 1535 degrees, while copper has a melting point of 1083 degrees
, to be lower. At that time, the ancients melted raw materials with firewood to smelt, copper melting point is easy to melt, and iron is very difficult to melt
。 Since it is related to the melting point, why can it be successful to sacrifice the sword with a living person?
It's about human tissue.
First: There is a lot of fat in the human body, which is equivalent to an extremely high concentration of oil
By sacrificing the sword with a living person, the body's grease will become fuel, accelerating combustion, so that the temperature in the furnace will rise rapidly to reach the melting point of iron.
Second: the human body contains a lot of carbon, carbon can increase the hardness of the metal,
The casting process can make the sword tougher.
Third: the bones and other substances in the human body will produce chemical reactions with iron at high temperatures, making them closer to the composition of steel
The sword thus created can be stored for a long time no matter what environment it is in.
epilogue
In the current view, it is also possible to use large animals instead of people to sacrifice swords, and the effect is the same. It's just that in ancient times, people were more superstitious about ghosts and gods, thinking that swords had aura, and if they wanted to create a world-class sword, of course, it was necessary to have someone's spirit to inject the most aura sword. If it is the flesh and blood of animals, it will make the sword muddy and evil, so some obsessive sword casters in ancient times would choose to use the "living sacrifice sword".
Reference: Water Margin