The four iron bulls were all majestic, their horns towering into the clouds, their eyes shining brightly, their bodies creeping to the ground, imposing, as if ready to jump up and plow the ground at any time, as if firmly rooted in the earth, majestic, majestic.
The iron bull is 3 m to 3.3 m long, 1.5 m to 1.66 m high, and weighs 45 to 78 t. It is covered with a thick layer of armor made of steel material, shining dazzling in the sun, which is very spectacular. They are made of more than 20 metal alloys and can withstand various natural disasters and accidents. Next to the four iron bulls was an iron man with a morning glory leash. He wears different clothes and represents four different ethnic groups: Uighurs, Mongols, Tibetans, and Han Chinese. The Han Chinese were the most interesting ethnic group, and the design of the big lapels was very similar to today's suits, so some people say that this was the first set of clothes in China, more than a thousand years before the European clothes.
There are not only "iron bulls and iron men", but also many iron tools such as "iron mountains" and iron pillars, weighing about 350 tons, which is the largest group of iron tools found in China so far.
Speaking of these iron bulls, some people say that they are town water, some people say that they are demons, in fact, they have more practical functions, which are used to make bridge anchors. The Iron Bull is made of cow bones, and it does not have any metal parts on it, but is made up of steel and iron as a whole. Iron Bulls can float in the water, but will not sink. Because the iron bull itself is a buoyancy material. All iron bull tails have a thick iron shaft for iron cables.
Each iron bull was cast on rectangular iron plates, and under each iron plate there were six large iron pillars, which they leaned forward and plunged more than 10 feet into the ground. Two of the iron bulls each have a large copper hook on their backs, on which the word "Heavenly Soldier" is engraved, indicating the power of heaven; the other pair of iron bulls also has the words "Heavenly Soldier Heavenly General" engraved on their backs. Among the four iron bulls, there are two horizontally arranged iron mountains, as indestructible as mountains, and their purpose is to help the iron bull and the iron man increase the weight of the anchor.
The four iron bulls we see now are located in the eastern part of the river, and experts say the other four should be at 360 meters above the Yellow River, more than a dozen meters underground.
The artistic and historical value of these four iron bulls is the most remarkable. They not only have a high artistic appreciation and collection value, but also a precious cultural relics resource. The iron bull was cast by Yan Liben, a famous craftsman of the Tang Dynasty, more than 1300 years ago. It is made of an iron plate. But it is not easy to cast such a heavy iron bull. In ancient times, there was no means of transport, it should be poured on site. According to historical records, although the Tang Dynasty was rich and strong, the annual iron production of the country was only more than 1,000 tons, and the iron production of Pujin Bridge accounted for four-fifths of the total iron used in the country.
We can imagine that the pontoon bridge across the banks of the Yellow River is like the highway we have today, with cars and horses following us overnight. It was the iron bull on the river that became the solid anchor of the pontoon bridge of the Tang Dynasty.