Looking back on the development of bronze swords in the Central Plains, the body of the sword was abruptly lengthened. At first, the sword was only twenty or thirty centimeters long; In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the length generally reached about 50 ~ 60 cm; In the late Warring States period, some swords exceeded 70 cm, and the longest reached 75 cm or 76 cm. In the Qin Dynasty, the length of Jian Qin in Guanzhong reached a new level, exceeding 80 cm, and the longest reached nearly 95 cm.
The shape of Jian Qin is one wide, one narrow, one wide, one narrow and one waist. The tip of the sword is in front, which is phased, from coarse to fine, from coarse to fine, and then to the tip of the sword, and gradually decreases. This design strengthens the stressed part of Jian Qin, while maintaining a certain elasticity, and the blade is not too heavy.
The primary role of bronze sword in Wushu is to kill the enemy and penetrate the opponent's armor, while splitting and pulling is only an auxiliary role. Jian Qin, who is nearly 30 centimeters longer than his opponent's sword, is obviously more likely to stab his opponent in battle, which may be the main reason why Jian Qin has become longer. However, this is a bronze sword after all. What methods did the Qin people use to make the sword not easy to break?
In the bronze age, the key to casting swords was how much tin was added to copper during smelting. Less tin, too soft sword; Sito, the sword is hard, but easy to break. Jian Qin's chemical quantitative analysis shows that its copper-tin ratio makes the hardness and toughness of bronze sword combine just right. As the last peak of bronze sword-casting technology, Jian Qin's length, hardness and toughness have reached an almost perfect combination, and its attack performance has been greatly improved.
Qin bronze sword is not only long, but also sharp. Some swords are unearthed without rust, clean as new, and have sharp blades. After testing, it can scrape through 18 paper at one time. The surface of these swords is grayish yellow, with fine organization and no trachoma. Moreover, the surface of the blade has been finely filed and polished, so it is extremely smooth and bright.
Qin bamboo slips have a special body and a long hilt. Most of the bronze swords unearthed in pits 1 and 2 of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses are about17 ~ 20cm in length. According to Jian Qin's length, weight and practical function of fighting and attacking, Jian Qin mostly uses two hands (two-handed swords can also be used with one hand in some cases), and a few swords with shorter hilts may be single-handed.
Among the cultural relics unearthed from the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, 19 made Jian Qin particularly conspicuous. Jian Qin was very famous during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago. The Jian Qin unearthed from the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang truly witnessed the magic of Jian Qin. The 19 Qin bamboo slips unearthed from the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang are all made of bronze, and each piece is extremely sharp and bright as new. You know, these Jian Qin have been buried underground for more than 2000 years.
Why can Jian Qin be preserved for more than 2000 years without rusting? Experts found that Qin Jian has a layer of chromium salt compound with a thickness of 10 micron, which can protect bronze from rusting.
This discovery immediately caused a sensation in the world, because this "chromium salt oxidation" treatment method was not invented and patented by the United States until 1950, but in fact China had mastered this technology as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago.
Moreover, according to legend, when Jian Qin was unearthed at that time, a sword was pressed under a 150kg clay figurine. The sword is bent, but it is not broken. When the staff removed the terracotta figures, the bronze sword magically recovered itself and returned to a straight state!
You can imagine how advanced the casting technology in Jian Qin is. The reason why Qin was able to unify the six countries was related to Jian Qin, which was ahead of other countries.