As we all know, China is a historical country with thousands of years of culture, and there are many heirlooms of the ancestors, which are still buried in the soil. We can often see that archaeologists carry out rescue excavations, thanks to the fact that science and technology are becoming more and more developed, and treasures that generally come up from the ground can be properly stored. However, in 1989, a number of Tang Dynasty cultural relics unearthed in Yongji County, Shanxi Province, broke everyone's established imagination. In this archaeological discovery, experts have excavated the Tang Dynasty iron bull and iron man, which can be said to be of great value and have high cultural research value. However, after excavations, archaeologists have placed these top artifacts in the open air, and for more than 30 years there has been little maintenance. Many ordinary citizens say that it is a pity, but archaeologists seem to have done it on purpose.
These Tang Dynasty iron bulls and iron men have a long history, and they are said to have been cast in 725 AD, that is, the thirteenth year of the tang dynasty. These iron bulls and iron men are the "Zhenhe Divine Beasts" used to build waterways in ancient times. However, due to the change of the Yellow River and the fact that this waterway has fallen into disrepair, these iron cattle and iron men are gradually emerging from the water level. Until 1989, the Yongji County Museum cooperated with many archaeologists in Taiyuan, Shanxi, as well as Many archaeologists in Hebei and other places, to carry out rescue excavations. Soon the Tang Dynasty iron bull and iron man were salvaged from the water intact and brought ashore.
The excavated iron bull is about 1.9 meters high, 3 meters long and 1.3 meters wide. Due to the development of metal smelting technology in ancient times and the craftsmanship of craftsmen, these iron cows came alive after being unearthed, and looked like a large buffalo from a distance. The body is also carved with many blessing motifs, so many experts have excavated iron bulls and iron men. It can be speculated in detail about the living habits of the residents of the Yellow River area in Shanxi during the first year of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the techniques of the craftsmen at that time. These iron bulls and iron men are rare treasures all over the world.
However, after the Yellow River iron bull was fished out for more than 1200 years, it was put in the open air without active maintenance. It is reasonable to say that the Yellow River iron bull weighs 40 tons, and it should be particularly difficult to steal it completely. However, archaeologists have repeatedly issued public statements saying that they deliberately placed the artifacts in the open air. With a detailed document released in 2005, we learned what the archaeologists were behind. First of all, when these Yellow River iron cattle and iron men were just salvaged ashore, the whole body was shiny with oil, and the colorful colors on the body were very dazzling.
However, in the 1990s, the mainland cultural relics protection equipment was relatively backward, and after the iron bull and iron man were salvaged ashore, after a long period of oxidation, the outermost pigment layer fell off, and gradually formed a gray protrusion. The reason why experts place them in the open air for maintenance is that through this preservation method, the state of these cultural relics can be restored to the greatest extent underwater. If placed indoors, it is likely that due to the influence of humidity and other factors, there will be some other problems in this batch of cultural relics. The Yellow River Iron Bull and the Iron Man are, to put it bluntly, a pile of large iron blocks, and placing them in the open air will not have any impact. The Yongji County Museum allows the Iron Bull to be visited for free by tourists and can also be touched up close.
I believe that many friends in Shanxi will touch these iron cows and iron men when they were young. And people with grease on their hands, after a long time of touching by tourists, on the contrary, these iron bulls and iron men will become smooth and round, and the principle is similar to that of antique enthusiasts pan walnuts or pan jade, perhaps this explanation may be a little less rigorous, but it is roughly the truth. Therefore, archaeologists, put these iron relics in the open air, only need to ensure that they are not destroyed, not stolen.
Such a 40-ton iron block, even with a sledgehammer and chainsaw, it is difficult to destroy it, on the contrary, it is placed in the open air for tourists to touch at close range, and it can also play a great benefit to the cultural relics themselves. Therefore, archaeologists can save the cost of human resources of the museum through such a method, and at the same time benefit the masses, which is a good thing to count in one fell swoop. Therefore, these cultural relics are not placed in the open air, not violent objects, but on the contrary, they are the good intentions of experts.
Reference: Book of Tang