This is a mausoleum of the Chu State Doctor during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and before the coffin was opened, the archaeologists did not expect to get any major discoveries that attracted worldwide attention. After all, the owner of this tomb was only a high-ranking official of the Chu State, not an emperor, not even a prince.
The heavy coffin was opened, and the archaeologists were overjoyed, and the burial items inside the coffin were well preserved, neither damaged by tomb robbers nor eroded by groundwater. The burials have been in a sealed vacuum for more than 2,300 years.
In addition to some of the daily utensils that accompanied the burial, there was also a sheathed sword. The hilt of the sword was bare, and the fabric that had once wrapped around the hilt had long since fallen off. The archaeologists carefully picked up the sword, grasped the handle of the sword and gently pulled it, but it was slightly loosened, and quickly wrapped it up according to the process and handed it to the cultural relics cleaning staff in the rear. The archaeologist, a college student who had recently been assigned to the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics, still didn't know that the sword he had just touched belonged to a well-known figure in history, and there was an idiom about this person that we would recite when we were in elementary school.
Not long after, the head of the cultural relics clean-up team hurried away. Not long after, the leader of the cultural relics institute returned to the cultural relics cleaning group with the person in charge. The leader decided on the spot: the situation is significant! Report to the central government immediately! Immediately send a letter to all the authoritative experts in the field of historical archaeology and paleography in the country for help!
What kind of situation makes these old leaders of the Cultural Relics Institute who have been in the battlefield for a long time and have been in contact with countless rare treasures feel like a great enemy!
The problem was with the sword taken from the coffin.
The staff of the heritage clean-up team received the sword and, as is customary, needed to wash away the dust and mud on the surface without causing damage to the cultural relics. After cleaning, the staff was surprised to find that although the ornaments on the hilt of the sword, which had been buried for 2300 years, had been partially peeled off, the bare metal part had not been rusted, and the gems embedded in the hilt of the sword were shining. The staff asked their colleagues to grasp the sheath of the sword, and they held the hilt of the sword and carefully tried to draw the sword outward. At this time, there was a scene that surprised everyone: he actually pulled the sword out of Cambridge at once! Frightened, in order to prevent the sword from falling out of his hand, this staff member who had no experience in sword dance subconsciously dragged the sword body with one hand, and in an instant, his fingers were cut by the blade, and the blood flowed like a flood!
The ancient sword from 2300 years ago was completely rustless and still very sharp! It was unheard of for the archaeologists present! The news was immediately reported to the upper echelons of the Institute of Cultural Relics. Relevant experts rushed to the scene and conducted a meticulous investigation of the sword. This test can not be seen, the sword is not only not so simple as no rust, the inscription on the sword seems to hide a bigger secret! This could be a major archaeological discovery that will write history and shock the world!
In order to be further confirmed, the leaders of the Institute of Cultural Relics asked the central authorities to urgently send the detailed photos and inscription rubbings of the sword to major universities and research institutes in China to solicit the opinions of the top cultural relics and philology experts in China.
The sword body inscription has a total of eight characters, and Professor Fang Zhuangyou, a famous historian who guided the work at the archaeological excavation site at that time and vice chairman of the Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee, believes that six of the words can be basically confirmed, only two words are difficult to identify, the inscription is "Yue Wang so-and-so self-acting sword", who is this "so-and-so", everyone is inconsistent.
Experts who received inscription rubbings included Dozens of top experts in cultural relics archaeology and philology, such as Guo Moruo, Xia Ding, Tang Lan, Chen Mengjia, Yu Shengwu, Rong Geng, Shang Chengzuo, Xu Zhongshu, Luo Fuyi, Su Bingqi, Wang Zhenduo, Hu Houxuan, Gu Tiefu, and Zhu Fangpu.
Mr. Tang Lan, a famous paleographer and researcher at the Palace Museum in Beijing, proposed in his reply that the two words on the sword inscription are "dove shallow", that is, Gou Jian. The inscription reads: Yue Wang Gou Jian Zi Zhi Sword.
According to the "Book of Yue Zhi", Ou Yezi, a famous sword caster during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, cast five swords for the Yue King, which belonged to the Yue King' Gou Jian, namely: Zhan Lu, Sheng Evil, Fish Intestine, Ju Que, and Chun Jun! It is still uncertain which of the five swords this "Yue Wang Gou Self-Action Sword" appeared in the ancient tomb.
Why did the Yue King's sword not rust for a thousand years? The archaeologists were not careful when cleaning up the sword, and they were cut by the sword buried in the ground for more than 2300 years, and the blood flowed non-stop; later, in the CCTV feature film, someone tried its sharp edge again, and with a little force, it cut through the 16 layers of white paper.
Ding Meng said that first of all, copper is an inactive metal, which is not as easy to rust as iron; second, the tomb of the Yue King's Gou Jian itself is very well built and relatively well-sealed; the third reason is related to the dense black diamond-shaped dark lattice pattern on the sword.
"Dark check is a substance that is independent of the body of the sword, but organically merges with the body of the sword. It not only improves the decorativeness of the sword, but also plays an antiseptic effect, improving the toughness of the sword. But what kind of substance is this? And what kind of process is attached to the sword? So far, there are still many opinions in the academic community. There is a research institute in Munich, Germany, which has conducted research and analysis of the dark plaid patterns on bronze swords, and they have concluded that this is a technology that contemporary people cannot recognize. The craftsmanship of the ancient Chinese sword casting masters is truly breathtaking. Ding Meng said.
The author of this article: Daniel Zhang, the founder of the craftsman workshop, the handmade knife maker, the inheritor of the folding forging process of the Yuan Dynasty Iron Bureau. In addition to the cultural relics in the text, the remaining sword pictures are the sword works of the craftsman's workshop.