What was the original color of ancient bronze ware? Green, yellow, red, black...
Ancient bronze ware plays a very important role in the formation and development of ancient Chinese civilization and is an important carrier of Chinese civilization. Chinese bronze civilization has a long history, with exquisite smelting technology, excellent production and beautiful shape. It reached its peak in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, forming a unique Style of China and enjoying a high reputation and artistic value among bronzes in the world.
When it comes to ancient bronzes, people usually think of those simple and elegant objects in various shapes seen in museums. But when asked what color the bronzes were originally, most people would automatically say turquoise. It's not.
The color of the ancient bronzes we see now is the result of the changes that have taken place after the baptism of time and corrosion and oxidation.
These ancient bronzes, which have experienced many vicissitudes and years, have other colors such as blue, red, black and silver in addition to the more common turquoise. Some people may ask, are ancient bronze ware, why the color will have such a big difference? What was the original color of ancient bronzes? Bronze is an alloy made of red copper and tin or lead in a certain proportion. When bronzes first appeared, they were mostly small tools or ornaments, and the production technology was relatively simple. Archaeologists have found copper smelting remains dating back 5,800 years in the Yangshao culture layer.
The single-edged bronze dao unearthed at majiayao Cultural site in Gansu province is the earliest known bronze ware unearthed in China, dating back to 4,800 years ago. These archaeological discoveries prove that China began to make bronzes more than 4,000 years ago. With the development of society and the improvement of metallurgical technology and production technology, the functional properties of bronze ware have also changed. For example, ding and GUI, which were originally cooking utensils, gradually evolved into ritual utensils, and also became symbols of status, power and wealth. Nowadays, we usually refer to ancient Chinese utensils made of bronze as bronze ware, but this is just what we modern people call it.
In the pre-Qin period, people called bronze "jin" or "Ji jin", and its alloys were generally lead bronze and lead tin bronze. "Jijin" was later used as the general name of Zhongding Yi ware, and there are also a lot of records about "Jijin" in ancient documents. For example, the characters cast and chiseled on bronze vessels in the Shang and Zhou dynasties are called Jin Wen or Zhong Ding Wen.
It is recorded in volume 11 of Mozi Xian Exegetical Text: "At the beginning of xixia, mountains of gold were folded by flying low, kuni was cast and triding was formed..." This mainly tells the story of Dayu casting nine tripods. Kunwu is the name of the mountain. According to the book of Mountains and Seas · Zhongshan "records:" two hundred miles to the west said kunwu mountain, its red copper. Guo Pu of jin Dynasty once noted: "Kunwu is famous for copper, red as fire, with the blade, like cutting mud jade." Therefore, the "gold" mentioned here does not mean gold, but refers to the copper from the mining of copper, used to cast tripods.
In addition, it is mentioned in Xunzi · Yibing: "Advance to the sound of drums, retreat to the sound of gold." The word "retreat by hearing Kim Sound" corresponds to myeonggeum in the idiom myeonggeum Retreat. Both myeonggeum and Myeonggeum refer to Myeongjing Jing or Jing Jing. Jing is a kind of ancient musical instrument made of copper. It is long and narrow in the shape of a bell. It can be held by a long handle and makes a noise by hitting it with its mouth upwards. The book explains, Jing is like a bell, running up and down in the shaft. In addition, some records of ancient bronze ware in the Qing Dynasty were also called "Ji Jin lu".
Terracotta sates
Tin and lead is the key so are ancient bronzes all the same color?
Obviously not. When casting different types of bronzes, ancient craftsmen would add different proportions of tin or lead to the copper solution according to the functional properties of the bronzes. In kao Gong Ji, a handicraft monograph of the pre-Qin period, the alloy composition (tin content) ratio of six kinds of bronze ware was introduced in detail. It was recorded as follows: "There are six pieces of gold, and six pieces of gold and one piece of tin, which is called the qi of zhongding; Five points of its gold and tin in one, that the axe jin qi; Four points of its gold and tin in one, that is, the qi halberd; Three parts of gold and one tin, it is called the great blade of the whole; Five points of its gold and tin in two, that cut the arrow of qi; Half of gold and tin, that kam Sui qi."
This shows that the ancients had a good grasp of bronze smelting and casting technology in the pre-Qin period. Due to the different proportions of tin and lead when making bronzes, the colors of bronzes are also different.
Generally, the color of bronze ware is mainly determined by the content of tin in copper, while lead affects the color of bronze ware to a certain extent. Because ancient ancestors added different amounts of tin and lead to the copper, the surface of the bronze made will show different colors and luster, roughly golden yellow, orange yellow, light yellow, gray white and so on. In addition, ancient people also decorated bronzes by gilding, painting, misplacing gold and silver on the surface of the bronzes, as well as inlaying precious stones, according to their needs, so as to obtain some specific color patterns.
The Fuyi tripod is in the Palace Museum
Turquoise and golden because of the importance and value of ancient bronzes, at present, they are mainly collected in museums and some cultural and museum research institutes. In addition, there are also a small number of folk collectors of ancient bronzes. For the general public, it is difficult to get access to these artifacts, and the way for people to get close to them is relatively simple, mainly through visiting museums and exhibitions.
When we observe ancient bronzes closely in the museum, without the interpretation of professionals, most of the audience will just take a cursory look, and more knowledge about ancient bronzes will be learned through the text description in the exhibition hall. The ancient bronzes we see in museums are mainly unearthed objects. The reason why they appear turquoise is that these ancient bronzes have been buried underground for hundreds of years and their surfaces have been corroded by oxidation. However, the museum of ancient bronze ware surface color few is introduced, as well as the similarities and differences of text is mainly about bronze ware of its history, name, production process and function of some simple introduction, more professional knowledge is found in some professional books and journal articles, etc., the audience is very small, this for the general public, if there is no relevant background knowledge, Often difficult to understand. If this goes on for a long time, it will give the audience a misunderstanding that the color of bronzes is just like this.
In recent years, costume films and TV plays have become very popular. However, the props in some of these plays are often at odds with historical facts. For example, some ancient bronze props, such as ding and GUI, which appeared in historical dramas reflecting the pre-Qin period, are actually turquoise in color, which is somewhat inappropriate.
As mentioned above, the color of bronzes is mainly determined by the amount of tin in copper. At that time, when ding and GUI were made, they were usually golden in color, not the turquoise color we see today.
In addition, ding and GUI were mainly used for practical purposes (cooking utensils) and sacrifice in ancient times. They were used frequently and were usually maintained by special personnel, so they generally did not rust. The above situation appears in drama, it is to pass strict textual research apparently, this will cause a few misdirect to the audience to a certain extent.
So, is it true that all the unearthed ancient bronzes in the collection appear turquoise after oxidation and corrosion? Not really. There are some exceptions. For example, the sword of the world-famous King Goujian of Yue will not rot for thousands of years. A bronze eating vessel unearthed from the Chang Tai Guan No. 7 Tomb of the Chu Dynasty in Xinyang, Henan Province, showed a golden appearance when it was unearthed. The discovery of these unearthed relics overturns people's impression of the appearance of traditional bronze relics, and also allows us to have a glimpse of their original style thousands of years later.
Goujian Jian of King Yue (part)
The bronze eating utensils unearthed from Changtaiguan in Xinyang, Henan province and the goujian sword of King Yue and the bronze eating utensils unearthed from Changtaiguan no. 7 tomb of Chu in Xinyang, Henan Province can survive thousands of years without decay. Why is this?
Archaeological experts have found that the reasons for this phenomenon may be related to the proportion of materials used to make the utensils, casting technology and burial environment. As for other reasons, further research is needed. For example, goujian jian of King Yue is coated with a layer of metal containing chromium, which is not rusty for thousands of years, which is related to its production technology.
