Systematic analysis of bronze sword

Sword, "Shuo Wen": "Sword, the soldier brought by man." "Release the soldiers by releasing the name": "The sword is also inspected, so the defense inspection is very heavy." Explain that the role of the sword is self-defense. In the pre-Qin period, China's weapons were generally cast in bronze, and the weapons used in actual combat were all bronze weapons, especially swords. A large number of unearthed objects confirmed that the history of bronze sword casting continued until the early Western Han Dynasty. Although the ironware came out in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, most of the bronze swords unearthed in the pit of Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang were bronze swords. It can be said that in this long historical period, bronze swords ruled the whole country. According to the physical objects unearthed all over the country, the length, shape characteristics, decorative patterns and patterns are summarized and analyzed, which can be basically divided into the following systems.

Zhongyuan system

Historically, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River have always been called the Central Plains, including Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other regions, and are the main settlements of the Han nationality. A large number of bronze swords unearthed in these areas have different characteristics from those popular among nomadic people in the northern grasslands during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Academics define this sword as Gu Jian in the Central Plains. Gu Jian in the Central Plains began in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its original shape is straight and flat, and there is no grid between the handle and the body, so it is necessary to install the handle separately. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, this kind of sword began to change, and its structure became more and more perfect. It gradually forms a round stem with a round head, and sometimes there is a hoop on the stem (hoop is to facilitate the winding of silk rope on the handle, which is more comfortable and beneficial to hold). There is a grid between the hilt and the body, the body is straight with a ridge in the middle, the cross section of the body is flat triangle, and the tip standard is positive. Another style of this sword keeps the flat stem characteristics of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The front of the sword is slightly tapered, sometimes with two or three ridges. The cross section of the sword body is flat or rhombic. Along with this kind of sword, there are often many beautifully carved jade articles. After research and restoration, they are all decorations on the body and scabbard. This kind of sword decorated with jade pieces is called Jade Sword, which was very popular in Han Dynasty. Most jade swords are bronze swords, and a few are iron swords or iron swords with copper handles.

Northern system

Bronze swords in northern China are widely distributed, including Hebei in the south, Jilin in the north, Korean Peninsula in the east, Inner Mongolia in the west and northwestern Shanxi.

There are many changes in the sword of this system. According to the different appearance characteristics, it can be basically divided into three types, and each big one can be divided into several or several branches.

Crank sword

The sword body is straight, the middle ridge is ridged, and the hilt is decorated with geometric patterns. The head of the handle is made of animal heads such as sheep and horses, and the lower part of the animal head generally has a ring. Sometimes there are small protruding teeth on one side and sometimes on both sides between the handle and the body, which is used as a sword lattice. This kind of sword is rare in kind. According to the patterns and shapes of other bronzes unearthed at the same time, it can be inferred that their age can reach the late Shang Dynasty at the earliest. This kind of sword is probably the earliest sword in the history of China. From the analysis of the characteristics of horse, sheep and other animal heads as decoration, it can be basically determined that they belong to the nomadic people in the northwest grassland.

Liuyejian

Named for its willow-like shape, the blade is straight, the middle ridge is ridged, and the cross section of the blade is flat diamond, which is the same as the crank sword. The blade, head and handle of the sword are all cast at one time. According to the characteristics of head and stem, willow sword can be divided into two branches. In the first sword, the blade and the tip of the hilt have two sharp teeth, and the small teeth even have gaps at the two measuring blades. The hilts are flat, and some have grooves in the middle. The stem is shaped like a bird's head, a mushroom's head, a comb's head and a three-snake's head. The stem is decorated with sawtooth, square, animal, animal face, real dragon and other patterns. The first two patterns on the stem are the most, and the last two patterns only appear on a few swords. In the second kind of sword, there are obvious squares protruding to both sides between the body and the hilt, which are rectangular, oval, half-moon, bird and beast heads, and the hilt heads are oval, double-ring and animal-face.

Curved blade sword

This kind of sword has a wide body and a curved blade, and there is no gap between the handle and the body. According to the shape, it can be divided into two types: one is similar to a wicker sword, the handle and the body are connected as a whole and cast at one time; The other one has no hilt, and there is a section in front of the ridge to install the wooden hilt. The head of the wooden handle (that is, the stem head) is wide and T-shaped with the handle. A groove is dug at the top of the handle head, and a handle weighting device made of stone, hematite, magnetite and bronze is embedded in the groove. , or made of clay, also known as "pillow" or "pillow". Some of these two kinds of swords are like slender gourds, some have sharp corners protruding to both sides in the middle, and some are arc-shaped.

Bronze swords in the northern system, regardless of age, are relatively short in size. The body and hilt are generally about 35 cm, the shortest is only 25 cm, and the longest is no more than 40 cm, which is far behind other swords in length.

Bashu system: In today's Sichuan Basin, there are two slave kingdoms, Ba and Shu, and the bronze sword popular in this area is called Bashu sword. Bashu swords are all flat stems, with one or two holes in the stems, which are convenient for nailing when wooden handles are installed. The hilt is clamped with two pieces of sawdust outside the hilt, sealed with small nails, wrapped with string and reinforced with color. There are two kinds of swords, one is wide, with a cylindrical ridge in the middle, and some have a wide blood groove on the side of the ridge. Most sword bodies are cast with tiger skin, semicircle, three petals and other patterns, as well as symbols such as palm, flower pedicle, human head, tiger and bird. The other is narrow and thick, with no patterns and symbols on the surface, and no ridges and blood grooves. Some of these swords are double swords, which were inserted in the same scabbard when unearthed. The handle of Bashu sword is very long, and some of it is 16.5cm when unearthed. According to research, the longest hilt can reach half the length of the sword body. According to historical records such as Hanshu, this long-handled sword can not only be stabbed by hand, but also thrown to kill the enemy when necessary.

Southwest yi system

The name of "Southwest Yi" is taken from Historical Records Biography of Southwest Yi. From the Warring States Period to the mid-Western Han Dynasty, Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake in Yunnan today are the settlements of southwest ethnic minorities such as Yelang, Galand, Yunnan, Juan, Kun and Du Qiong, and are collectively referred to as southwest yi by the rulers of the Han Empire. According to the most remarkable characteristics of external differences, southwest Yi swords can be divided into three categories.

A sword without lattice, a sword with straight lattice and a sword with trident ridge between the body and hilt. The hilts and bodies of these three kinds of swords are all integrally cast. Most stems are cylindrical, and a few are flat. The shapes of stems are ever-changing, and some of them are directly composed of images of animals and people. The stems and bodies are generally carved with typical bronze cultural patterns of Dianchi Lake, such as tigers, leopards, monkeys, snakes, frogs, flowers and plants, and the struggle between humans and animals. There are a certain number of iron swords with copper handles in the swords of Southwest Yi, which are generally longer than copper swords. The sword head is close to Gu Jian in the Central Plains. There is also a copper blade between the copper hilt and the iron blade. Some bronze swords are made into jagged swords, and some are cast with chest nails and small circles on both sides, and the surface is cast with patterns. Its function is probably to strengthen the connection between the iron sword body and the copper hilt, so the length sometimes exceeds the hilt.

Wu Yuechu Bronze Sword

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu, a well-known sword-casting vassal state, recorded in Historical Records that the two countries had produced a large number of "flat swords" and "stepping swords", both of which were famous for their excellent quality. After the death of Wu, it was destroyed by Chu, but its sword-casting technology was passed down from generation to generation, and its influence was very extensive. Wuyue bronze swords unearthed in Changxing, Luocheng, Li Jiaxiang, Wu Shan and other places in Zhejiang Province in the 1970s, although buried underground for more than 2,000 years, are still as bright as new and extremely sharp, as the history books say, "sharp and sharp, with thorns, it will be broken with one blow". Wu Yuechu bronze swords can be divided into three types according to their shapes.

The first sword has designs on its body, hilt and lattice. The squares are square or binaural, and some are close to the central plains. There are two kinds of swords, one is straight and tapered up and down, the other is wide in the middle and slightly narrow in the upper part. There are some ridges in the middle of the sword, and some ridges become square edges. This kind of sword has many similarities with the sword of Southwest Yi. The two swords are exactly the same as those of the Central Plains in appearance, but the lattice decoration is gorgeous, and there are blood grooves or double ridges on both sides of the ridge; The third kind of sword has a Chinese style sword lattice in the southwest of Yi Jian, which is simple in appearance and without any decoration.