Bronze (Copper-Tin Alloy) Detailed Information

Bronze is the earliest alloy in the history of metal smelting and casting, the addition of tin or lead alloy in pure copper (purple copper), has a special importance and historical significance, compared with the pure copper (purple copper), bronze strength and low melting point (25% of the tin smelting of bronze, the melting point will be reduced to 800 ℃. The melting point of pure copper (bronze) is 1083°C). Bronze is castable, wear-resistant and chemically stable.

Immediately after the invention of bronze, it became prevalent, and since then human history has entered a new phase - the Bronze Age.

March 28, 2015, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, found a Warring States period to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the excavation of a number of exquisite burial objects, including a bronze sword, well-preserved, very rare. 1965 in Jiangling County, Hubei Province, Wangshan No. 1 tomb unearthed a Yue Wang Goujian sword, the sword through the history of more than 2,000 years, the body of the sword does not see the slightest rust spot, is still cold and shining, sharp, reputed as a good example of a bronze age, and the sword has been used for many years, but it is not a good example. The sword has traveled through more than two thousand years of history, the sword body does not see the slightest rust spot, still shining, sharp, known as "the world's first sword".

Basic introduction Chinese name: bronze Foreign name: bronz Alias: copper-tin alloy Performance: casting performance, good friction performance Set: bearings, worm wheels, gears Earliest casting: 6000 BC Introduction, characteristics, use, foreign, China, research, archaeological discoveries, Introduction Bronze is the earliest alloy in the history of metal smelting and casting, in the pure copper (copper), add tin or lead alloy, with special importance and historical significance, with pure copper (copper), tin or lead alloy, with special importance and historical significance, with pure copper (copper), tin or lead alloy. The addition of tin or lead to pure copper (purple copper) has special importance and historical significance. Compared with pure copper (purple copper), bronze has high strength and a low melting point (the melting point of 25% tin smelted bronze is lowered to 800°C.). The melting point of pure copper (bronze) is 1083°C). Bronze is castable, wear-resistant and chemically stable. After the invention of bronze, it was immediately prevalent, and human history has since entered a new stage - the Bronze Age. On March 28, 2015, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, found a tomb complex of the Warring States to Eastern Han Dynasty, excavated a number of exquisite burial objects, including a bronze sword, well-preserved, very rare. Characteristics Bronze has a low melting point, hardness, plasticity, wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant, bright color, etc. It is suitable for casting a variety of utensils, mechanical parts, bearings, gears, etc.. There are twelve major categories of bronze utensils, including eating utensils, drinking vessels, water vessels, musical instruments, weapons, carriages and horses, agricultural implements and tools, currencies, seals and runic symbols, weights and measures, bronze mirrors, and miscellaneous utensils, which can be subdivided into a number of subcategories. Among them, food, wine, water, musical instruments, weapons, these five categories are the most important, the most basic. Use Foreign Bronze was made as early as 3000 B.C., but used as a general set of artifacts much later. The earliest bronzes appeared 6,000 years ago in the Two Rivers Valley of ancient Babylon. Large bronze knives carved with images of lions during the Sumerian civilization are representative of early bronze. Homer, in his epic poem The Iliad, mentions that Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, threw copper, tin, silver, and gold into his furnace, which resulted in the refining of the shield used by Achilles. The proportions of copper and tin varied over a wide range (67 to 95% copper as measured from surviving artifacts); however, it was already known in the Middle Ages that different proportions could produce different potencies. An 11th-century Greek codex in the library of St. Mark's Church in Venice lists an alloy of 1 pound of copper to 2 ounces of tin, an 8-to-1 ratio, which is similar to the gunmetal later used. Bronze is harder than copper and has a lower melting point, making it easier to melt and cast; it is also harder than pure iron, and different alloy compositions of bronze are suitable for making gun barrels and machine bearings. The historical substitution of iron for bronze in tools and weapons is not due to any special merit of iron itself, but to its greater abundance than copper and tin. Bell bronze is characterized by its ability to produce a loud sound when struck. Its tin content is high, 1/4 to 1/7. Sculpture bronze contains as little as 1/10 tin, sometimes with a mixture of zinc and lead. Zinc can improve the hardness, bearing alloy usually contains a small amount of zinc. Bronze with a small amount of phosphorus can improve its performance and strength; phosphorus bronze containing phosphorus ingots up to 1 ~ 2%, castings contain only trace; its high strength, especially suitable for the pump plunger, valves and sets. Manganese bronze is also used in the mechanical industry, it contains a small amount of tin or even no tin, but contains a large amount of zinc and manganese. In addition to its use as tools and weapons, bronze is also widely used to make coins; many copper coins are actually struck in bronze, which typically has a composition of 4% tin and 1% zinc. Bronze is a substance that expands and contracts with heat just like water. China The development of Chinese bronze culture is divided into three major phases, namely the Formative Period, the Dawn Period, and the Transformation Period. Formative period refers to the Longshan era, 4,500 to 4,000 years ago; heyday that is, the Chinese Bronze Age, the era of Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and the early Warring States period, the continuation of the time of about 1,600 years, that is, China's traditional system of the age of bronze culture; the transition period refers to the end of the Warring States period - the Qin and Han periods, bronze has been gradually replaced by iron, not only the number of great reduction, but also by the original rituals and weapons of war, and also by the original rituals and weapons. The period of transition refers to the end of the Warring States period - the Qin and Han periods, bronze has been gradually replaced by iron, not only the number of greatly reduced, but also by the original ceremonial weapons and used in ritual sacrifices, war activities and other important occasions into the daily utensils, the corresponding types of ware, construction features, decorative art has also undergone a turning point in the change. Formation period: 4,500~4,000 years ago, the Longshan era, equivalent to Yao, Shun and Yu legend era. Ancient documents record that people had already started to smelt and cast bronzes at that time. In the sites of the Longshan period in the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, bronze artifacts have been found in dozens of sites through archaeological excavations. Judging from the available materials, the bronzes of the Formative Period have the following characteristics: 1. Red copper and bronze coexisted, and brass appeared. Dongxiang Linjia site in Gansu Province, unearthed a fan-cast bronze knife; Tangchengshan site in Hebei Province, Hebei Province, found two pieces of perforated red copper plaque ornaments; Dengfeng Wangchenggang Longshan City, Henan Province, unearthed a fragment of a bronze container containing 7% of tin; Xiangfen Taosi Cemetery, Shanxi Province, unearthed a complete brass bell, which is of red copper; Jiaozhou, Shandong Province, two pieces of brass cones were excavated at the Sanlihe site; Qixia, Shandong Province, Yangjia Circle unearthed a fragment of brass. The largest number of copper artifacts were found in the Qijia culture around Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia, where several cemeteries unearthed knives, awls, drills, rings, and copper mirrors, some of which were bronze and some of which were red copper. The production technology, some of which are forged, some of which are cast with Fan, is more advanced. 2, bronze varieties are less, mostly belong to the daily tools and living class, such as knives, awls, drills, rings, bronze mirrors, decorations and so on. But it should be recognized that people at that time have been able to manufacture containers. In addition, in the Longshan culture in common red or yellow ceramic 鬹, and flow mouth, belly crotch often imitation of metal rivets, if you think that this time the copper 鬹 container with the summer business bronze 鬹, Jennifer, jia container function the same words, the bronze has been in the or began to turn to ceremonial ware. 3, general small sites also unearthed bronze products, general residents also embrace bronze products. In addition, this period of bronze products are more simple and undecorated, that is, there are decorative bronze mirror is only for the stars and stripes, triangular pattern and so on geometric decorations, never three generations of bronze ornamentation of the mystery. DYNASTY: Including Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and the early Warring States period, the continuation of the time about more than 1,600 years. Bronzes of this period were mainly categorized into ceremonial instruments, weapons and miscellaneous weapons. Musical instruments were also mainly used in clan and temple rituals. Ceremonial instruments were used in ancient red tape rituals, which carried a certain degree of sanctity and could not be used in general life occasions. Among all the bronzes, ritual instruments are the most numerous and the most beautifully made. Ritual instruments can represent the highest level of Chinese bronze craftsmanship. The types of ritual vessels include cooking vessels, eating vessels, wine vessels, water vessels and idols. This period of bronze is the most beautifully decorated, more types of decorations. Warring States Bronze Zun Plate, unearthed from Zeng Houyi Tomb, Suixian, Hubei One of the most common patterns on bronzes is the taotie pattern, also known as the animal face pattern. This pattern first appeared in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River 5,000 years ago on the Liangzhu culture jade, Shandong Longshan culture inherited this pattern. Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals - the first knowledge of the article cloud "Zhou tripod with Taotie, with a head without a body, eat people before swallowing, the harm and its body", so, generally this animal face pattern is called Taotie pattern. Taotie pattern in the Erlitou summer culture in bronze has been. There are many types of taotie motifs in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the mysterious color of bronze decoration gradually faded. Dragons and phoenixes were still the mother themes of many bronze patterns. It can be said that many patterned motifs were actually derived from the two main types of motifs: dragon and snake, and phoenix and bird. Cicada pattern, is a common pattern in the Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, there are also deformed cicada patterns. During the Spring and Autumn period, chi dragon motifs were prevalent and gradually dominated, crowding out almost all other patterns. Another outstanding feature of ancient Chinese bronzes is the exquisite craftsmanship, showing the creative talents of ancient craftsmen. With ceramic composite model casting production of bronze and Fan method, in ancient China has been fully developed. Pottery model of the material selection mold turned model, pattern engraving are extremely sophisticated, muddy casting, casting, casting, superimposed casting technology is very mature. Subsequently developed without the need to cast the lost wax method technology, undoubtedly a great progress in the bronze casting process. Inlaid on the bronze to increase the beauty, this technology appeared very early. Inlaid materials, the first is turquoise. This green stone, still used in jewelry. The second type is jade, there are jade aid go, jade leaves of the spear, jade blade of the axe and battle-axe. The third type of meteorite iron, such as iron blade copper battle-axe, iron aid copper blade, identified, iron blade are Shuo iron. The fourth is embedded red copper, red copper to form animal-shaped pattern. Spring and Autumn and Warring States also used gold, silver to inlay decoration of bronze. The famous Yue Wang sword is also cast in bronze. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the development of metallurgical casting technology was high, and there appeared the technical summary document of making bronze ware, "Kaogongji". The book on the production of bells and tripods, axe catty, Eagle halberd and other various artifacts used in bronze in the proportion of copper and tin made detailed provisions. Due to the frequent wars, weapon casting was developed rapidly. Especially Wu and Yue's swords were exceptionally sharp and famous all over the world, and there appeared some famous sword makers, such as dry generals, Ouzhizi and so on. Some swords have been buried in the ground for more than two thousand years, but they can still cut through stacks of paper. Some swords, such as the Yue Wang Goujian Sword, have their surfaces treated with certain chemicals to form anti-rust diamond, scale or flame-shaped patterns, which are exceptionally gorgeous. Another characteristic of Chinese bronzes is that no portraits have been found so far. Quite a number of bronzes use human faces as decorations, such as human-faced square tripods and human-faced battle-axes, but none of these faces are those of any particular person. More artifacts are the overall image of a person, such as a human-shaped lamp or pedestal; or the whole of a person as part of the artifacts, such as the bell frame has a sword wearing human figure with his hand raised to hold the beams, under the copper plate has several human-shaped foot and so on, most of these human figures are men and women to be from the attire, and is not a portrait of a specific maidservant. Guanghan samsung mound in sichuan unearthed three-dimensional like, human head, size are more than normal people, are long ears and eyes, high nose and wide mouth, rich in mystery, should be mythological characters. bronze square tripod tens of thousands of Shang and Zhou bronzes left inscriptions, these texts are generally called Jinwen. For historical scholars to play the role of proof of history, make up history. Chinese bronze inscriptions, the text to cast more. The concave characters are called yinwen, and a few characters are raised and called yangwen. During the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, it can be said that inscriptions were cast, with only very few examples of inscriptions carved with sharp tools. In the late Western Zhou, inscriptions that were entirely carved began to appear. In the middle of the Warring States period, most of the inscriptions were already engraved, and even the three extremely important ceremonial vessels from the Han Tomb of King Zhongshan in Pingshan, Hebei Province, were all deed-engraved, with exceptionally rounded knives and high artistic value. Bronze Inscription Topography Ancient people believe that the bronze is extremely strong, the inscription can be passed on immortal, so to long-term circulation of matters must be cast on top of the bronze object. Therefore, the inscription has become an important material to study ancient history today. Spring and Autumn and Warring States period casting bronze technology further development, due to the accumulation of experience, casting a variety of bronze with tin has a ratio. Zhou Li - Kaogong Ji" said: gold has six Qi: six points of its gold, and tin in one, called the bell, tripod Qi; five points of its gold, and tin in one, called the axe catty Qi; four points of its gold, and tin in one, called the halberd Qi; three points of its gold, and tin in one, called the big edge of Qi; five points of its gold, and in two, called the cut kill vector Qi; gold and tin in a half, said that the flint of the Qi. Here the so-called gold is copper, copper-tin alloy that is bronze. The so-called "gold of the six Qi", is to distinguish between the bronze varieties of the six formulations of the portion, in order to manufacture a variety of utensils. The so-called "bell, tripod of Qi" copper, tin ratio of six to one, that is, 85.71% copper, tin accounted for 14.29%. "Axe catty of Qi" of copper, tin ratio of five to one, that is, copper accounted for 83.33%, tin accounted for 16.67%. The ratio of copper to tin in the "Gohu Zhiqi" is four to one, i.e., copper accounts for 80% and tin for 20%. The ratio of copper to tin for the "Great Blade of Qi" is three to one, i.e. 75% copper and 25% tin. The ratio of copper and tin for the "Qi of Sharpening and Killing Yard" is five to two, i.e., copper accounts for 71.43% and tin accounts for 28.57%. The ratio of copper and tin in the "Qi of flint" is one to one, i.e., each accounting for 50%. According to Mr. Yang Kuan, "the ratio of copper to tin alloy for various types of bronze wares as stipulated in Kao Gong Ji is very much in line with the principle of alloy "1 . Bronze with 17% to 20% tin is the toughest. Kao Gong Ji says that the tin content of "axe and catty" is 16.67%, and the tin content of "gorget and halberd" is 20%, because the axe, catty, gorget and halberd all need to be tough. Bronze in the composition of tin accounted for 30-40%, the highest hardness. The Kao Gong Ji stipulates that 25% of tin is used for the "Great Edge of Qi" and 28.75% for the "Cutting and Killing Vector of Qi" because of the high hardness required for these weapons. As the amount of tin in bronze increases, the luster changes from bronze to reddish-yellow, orange-yellow, or yellowish. With 30-40% tin, the bronze turns grayish-white. The Kao Gong Ji stipulates that "the bells and tripods of the Qi" tin accounted for 14.29%, in order to make it more beautiful orange-yellow color, but also in order to be able to knock out a beautiful sound. The "Kao Gong Ji" stipulates that "the Qi of the flint" tin accounted for 50%, because copper mirrors need to be white and glossy. Archaeological discovery of the Spring and Autumn period in Hubei Suixian unearthed Zeng Hou tomb chimes, there are 19 pieces of new bells, 45 pieces of bells, the king of Chu presented a Bo ①. After the sound measuring know, "this set of chimes system seven tone scale, and the modern meter, its vibration frequency is also similar to the modern international standard, the total range across five octaves, than the modern piano's range of each end of one octave less. The sound of this set of chimes is beautiful, with a wide range of tones and a complete range of changing tones, capable of playing a variety of tunes" ②. The discovery of this set of chimes is a vivid example of the brilliant achievements of bronze casting technology in the Spring and Autumn period. Zhouli - Kaogongji" said: "Where the casting of gold, gold and tin black and cloudy gas exhaustion, yellow and white next; yellow and white gas exhaustion, green and white next; green and white gas exhaustion, green next, and then can be cast." This is in line with the metallurgical reasoning. In the bronze mixing and casting, first of all, the impure material volatilization, so produce "black turbid gas". Secondly, tin melting volatilization, so produce "yellow and white gas". When the temperature rises again, copper melts and volatilizes, producing "green gas". To the "green gas" appeared, copper, tin completely melted, bronze alloy smelting is completed, and then can be cast into objects. Xunzi said: the casting of bronze objects lies in the "criminal (type) model is correct, gold (copper) tin beauty, work and metallurgy, fire Qiqi get. ③ This shows that the production of casting model, raw material selection, smelting and casting skills, mastery of fire and other aspects should be mastered in order to cast a good artifacts. Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of progress in bronze technology, highlighted in the use of the following two technologies: one is the gold and silver wrong technology, the so-called gold and silver wrong technology is inlaid with gold and silver wire on the surface of the bronze, made of patterns or text. This technology, the middle of the Spring and Autumn period has appeared, when Chu, Song and other countries on the weapons of the wrong gold art characters. At the beginning of the warring states, copper rituals appeared on the large gold and silver wrong pattern, the middle of the warring states this technology is not only used in the weapons, rituals, but also used in the runic festival, seal, car, copper mirror, belt hooks and lacquer on the copper buckle. Second, after the middle of the warring states carved and skeletonized image process developed, this process is in the thin pot, grudge grudge grudge, identify, trousseau on the system on the thin as hair on the carved and skeletonized images, generally more land and water attack, hunting, banquets and rituals, etc. Pictures. These pictures are made after casting the shape of the vessel, with a steel knife engraving processing made. Transformation period: refers to the period from the end of the Warring States period to the end of the Qin and Han dynasties. After hundreds of years of wars of annexation and political, economic and cultural reforms aimed at enriching the country and strengthening the military, the county system replaced the feudal system, and a feudal society with centralized power was finally established, with the traditional ceremonial system completely dismantled and iron products widely used. All areas of society underwent radical changes. The status of bronzes in social life gradually declined, and most of the artifacts were used for daily life, but there are still many exquisite works of art specific to certain bronzes. For example, two bronze carriages were unearthed in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in Lintong, Shaanxi Province. The first ride driving four horses, the car has a shed, the emperor is sitting. These two carriages are bronze casting composition, size and actual proportion, extremely exquisite. There are also a lot of gold and silver ornaments on the carriage, the whole body is painted. The second horse, 3.17 long, 1.06 meters high, can be said to be so far unearthed in the form of huge, the most complex structure of the bronze. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, ceramics have been greater development, the role of social life is increasingly important, thus further sidelining the daily use of bronze utensils from the life. As for weapons, tools and other aspects, this time iron has long dominated. Sui and Tang dynasties of bronze is mainly all kinds of beautiful bronze mirror, generally have a variety of inscriptions. Since then, in addition to bronze mirrors, it can be said that there is no longer any development, and therefore this web site on the development of ancient Chinese bronze research, until the Sui and Tang dynasties. Research Animals and plants: The "venomous pattern" was named after the coiled snakes, popularized in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Vicious is the ancient canonical records of the venomous snake, the so-called like a snake but small. The "coiled viper pattern" is only seen in the Spring and Autumn period. "Elephant pattern" and "elephant trunk pattern" is also a common pattern on the bronze. Elephant, through the phase. It is a kind of docile large animal, but also often as a symbol of peace and good luck, and is "out of the general into the phase" of the splendor. "Animal face band pattern" also known as "hunting band pattern", is a kind of deformation on the bronze for the band decorative pattern of animal face image combination. This kind of decoration appeared in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, popular in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Four Sheep Square Zun: sheep as the image Geometric Patterns: refers to the diamond, triangle, circle, and other connected into groups of deformed patterns. Typical are: "band pattern" or "bead pattern", mostly for the auxiliary decoration, popular in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties; "triangular cloud pattern" often interlaced with other decorations, popular in the Warring States period; The "rhombic diagonal checkerboard pattern" is often seen mixed with "volute" and "S" pattern, popular in the Warring States period; "ring belt pattern", formerly known as "Gongzhi pattern", is popular in the Warring States period; and "ring belt pattern", formerly known as "Gongzhi pattern", is popular in the Warring States period. The "ring band pattern", formerly known as the "Gongzhi pattern", manifested as a continuous "S"-shaped wavy band pattern, the top and bottom of the filling "steal curve pattern" or ring pattern, popular in the late Western Zhou Dynasty; "Stealing the curve pattern" has long been seen in the "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" records, "stealing the curve pattern" has many variations, such as curling as a double ring and one of them has an eye shape, there are two ends of the inward curved in the form of a Ruyi head shape, to name a few. Archaeological discovery in 1973 in shaanxi lintong jiangzhai site had unearthed a semi-circular type residual copper, identified as brass. In 1975, a bronze knife was unearthed at the site of Linjia Majiayao culture in Dongxiang, Gansu Province (about 3000 BC), which is the earliest bronze artifact found in China, and is the proof that China entered the Bronze Age. Compared with West Asia, South Asia and North Africa, which entered the Bronze Age successively about 6,500 years ago, the arrival of the Bronze Age in China was relatively late, but it cannot be denied that it originated independently, because there was a period in China when bronze tools were used in conjunction with stone tools, which is about 5,500 to 4,500 years ago. China's invention of bronze alloys on this basis follows the same pattern of bronze development in the world, thus ruling out the claim that Chinese bronzes were spread from outside the country. In March 2015, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, in cooperation with Xiangcheng, an infrastructure site for cultural relics exploration, found a Warring States to the Eastern Han period of the burial complex, the excavation unearthed a number of exquisite burial objects, including a bronze sword, well-preserved, very rare.