Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
As far as we are aware today, all the ancient Chinese iron swords were of wrought iron or steel: none were cast. It seems clear enough that a competent smith could make a wrought-iron or steel sword of any reasonable length the customer desired or could pay for. Measurements in the 70–100 cm range seem to be the most common.
Chinese steel swords make their appearance from the 5th century BC Warring States period, although earlier iron swords are also known from the Zhou dynasty. The Chinese Dao (刀 pinyin dāo) is single-edged, sometimes translated as sabre or broadsword , and the Jian (劍 pinyin jiàn) double edged.
Once the sword took the shape the swordsmith wanted, the swordsmith would clay the spine of the sword, called tsuchioki, and heat it once more. Once the sword was red hot the swordsmith took the newly formed sword and quenched it in water, hardening the blade. Then he would pass it on to a polisher and finisher.
The vast majority of Chinese iron manufacture, from the late Zhou dynasty onward, was of cast iron. [35] However forged swords began to be made in the Warring-States-period: "Earliest iron and steel Jian also appear, made by the earliest and most basic forging and folding techniques."
Around this time, the Chinese began producing crucible steel to convert excess quantities of cast iron and wrought iron into steel suitable for swords and weapons. [ 47 ] [ 48 ] In 1064, Shen Kuo , in his book Dream Pool Essays , gave the earliest written description of the patterns in the steel, the methods of sword production, and some of the ...
The swords of the medieval Chinese Tang dynasty (many of which are preserved in Japanese museums) are made with this lamination technique of a harder steel core wrapped in a softer steel jacket. Jacketed lamination techniques, as well as repeated hammering and folding techniques, date to at least the ancient Chinese Han dynasty of 202 BC to 220 AD.
Ou Yezi (simplified Chinese: 欧冶子; traditional Chinese: 歐冶子; pinyin: Ōu Yězǐ; Wade–Giles: Ou Yeh Tzŭ) was a legendary master of sword-making in the Spring and Autumn period. According to Yuejueshu , he forged five treasured swords for Gan Jiang and King Zhao of Chu , named, respectively, Zhanlu (湛卢), Juque (巨阙 ...
Gan Jiang (Chinese: 干將; pinyin: Gān Jiàng) and Mo Ye (Chinese: 莫邪; pinyin: Mò Yé) were a swordsmith couple, discussed in the literature involving the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Some aspects of this material may be considered historical; others are certainly mythological. A pair of swords was forged by and named ...