Can ancient generals really fight with heavy weapons? Artifacts reveal the weight of the weapon

Mondo Military Updated on 2024-02-02

In ancient societies, war was the norm, and having sharp weapons was the "sharp weapon" in the hands of soldiers. It's like a craftsman who wants to do a good job and has to have the right tools.

The ancient generals held heavy weapons in their hands, and at the end of the day, could they really hold on? This question makes us think.

From stone and bone to the Bronze Age, the development of ancient weapons is full of progress and transformation of human society. At the end of primitive society, with the emergence of classes and the gap between rich and poor, the formation of slaves and slave owners was inevitable.

Slave owners, with more means of production and authority, craved greater power, so they went to war with other tribes, which also promoted the development of weapons. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the appearance of bronze ware was called the "Bronze Age", and bronze products and weapons also flourished.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to compete for supremacy, the princes and kings of all sides continued to fight, and in order to improve the military combat effectiveness, the reform of weapons was also carried out. The history of the development of ancient weapons is a history of continuous progress and change in human society.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a significant improvement in productivity, which gave birth to iron tools. However, due to the high cost of iron tools, bronze weapons were still the most important component of weapons at that time.

This "iron + bronze" weapon matching specification lasted for a long time, which is also known as the "cold weapon" era. However, this changed during the Northern Song Dynasty.

The Song people invented "gunpowder", and the birth of gunpowder completely changed the era of cold weapons. After the birth of gunpowder, it was used in the military field, so that when attacking a city and plundering a pool, it could be forced to enter by blasting open the city gate by gunpowder.

It can be said that the invention of gunpowder is a milestone in the history of Chinese affairs. After the birth of gunpowder, Chinese weapons changed to the specification of "gunpowder + cold weapons". However, gunpowder was not well used in China, but was improved by Westerners, creating foreign guns, foreign cannons, etc.

In China's modern history, Britain opened China's door with artillery fire. The Sino-British Opium War was a collision between cold and hot weapons.

The failure of the Opium War, Mr. Mao Haijian clearly pointed out in the book "The Collapse of the Qing Dynasty" that the backwardness of the Qing military was an important reason. This passage emphasizes the importance of weapons in combat.

The "eighteen kinds of martial arts" in ancient literary creation, that is, the "eighteen kinds" include short weapons, long weapons and hidden weapons. However, we often see military generals holding dozens of pounds of ** in film and television dramas, and they can still walk like flying and repel the enemy.

Is this a picture real? "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is one of the four famous works in ancient times, vividly depicting the scene of the struggle between Wei, Shu and Wu, and the heroes of the Three Kingdoms are all burly and powerful, like "Hercules".

Among them, Guan Yu is holding the "Qinglong Yanyue Knife", also known as the "Leng Yan Saw", which is known to everyone because of its huge power and weight of eighty-two catties. With this knife, Guan Yu slashed Huaxiong with warm wine, and killed six generals after five levels, and became famous.

Zhang Fei, holding a Zhangba snake spear, named because the blade is bifurcated and resembles a snake, weighing 50 catties. With his hot-blooded personality, he used this weapon to fight fiercely with Lu Bu, and the two were indistinguishable from each other.

And Dian Wei under Cao Cao, holding a double iron halberd, weighing eighty catties, once fought with Lu Bu and was famous. As for Shu Han's "Changshan Zhao Zilong", he is one of the "Five Tiger Generals" and is known as a victorious general, and his ** is a bright silver gun weighing 45 pounds.

We usually think that it is unthinkable that soldiers in ancient wars held ** weighing tens of pounds and fought continuously for more than ten days. However, literary works often have some elements of exaggeration and fiction.

Now, with the development of science and technology, archaeologists use modern means to reveal the scenes of ancient military operations, and also answer our doubts about the weight of ancient times.

For example, the bronze sword held by Goujian, the king of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period, is now preserved in the Hubei Provincial Museum, and after archaeological measurements, the weight is only 18 pounds. The gold and silver sword unearthed in the Tang Dynasty weighed only about 1 catty.

1.The "golden sheath copper handle iron sword" unearthed in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty weighs 710 grams, and the "iron knife with sheath ring" excavated from the tomb of the Sui Dynasty general "Li Xian", who is rich in burial goods, is 945 cm and weighs about 1315 grams.

In comparison, the heaviest weapon at present is the Song Dynasty "Li Ganggong", engraved with the words "Li Gangzhi in the first year of Jingkang", 96 centimeters long and weighing 3,600 grams. The length of the Gongqing sword in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was about 96 centimeters, but its weight was only about 710 grams.

2.The short sword "Golden Sheath Copper-handled Iron Sword" unearthed in the Western Han Dynasty weighed 710 grams, and the "Iron Sword with a Sheath Ring Head" in the tomb of the Sui Dynasty general "Li Xian" was 945 cm, weight about 1315 grams, about 26 pounds.

At present, the heaviest weapon is the "Li Ganggong" of the Song Dynasty, which is 96 centimeters long and weighs 3,600 grams, about 72 pounds. The length of the Gongqing sword in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was comparable, but the weight was only about 710 grams.

3.The short sword "Golden Sheath Copper Handle Iron Sword" unearthed in the Western Han Dynasty weighs 710 grams, and the "Iron Knife with a Sheath Ring Head" excavated from the tomb of the Sui Dynasty general "Li Xian", who is rich in burial goods, is 945 cm and weighs about 1315 grams.

At present, the heaviest weapon is the "Li Ganggong" of the Song Dynasty, which is 96 centimeters long and weighs 3,600 grams. The length of the Gongqing sword in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was about 96 centimeters, but its weight was only about 710 grams.

4.During the Western Han Dynasty, archaeologists unearthed a short sword called the "Golden Sheath Copper-handled Iron Sword", which weighed 710 grams. And in the tomb of the Sui Dynasty general "Li Xian", a handful with a body length of about 94 was unearthedAn iron knife of 5 cm and weighing about 1,315 grams.

Compared with this, the Song Dynasty's "Li Ganggong" is known as the heaviest weapon, engraved with the words "Li Gangzhi in the first year of Jingkang", 96 cm long, weighing 3600 grams, about 72 pounds.

The length of the Gongqing sword in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was comparable, but the weight was only about 710 grams.

The gourd hammer, a historical mystery of weight The gourd hammer, seven feet long, has an oval hammer at one end, and its image in history is profound. But do you know that in fact, the weight of the gourd hammer is only two catties, far from the rumored weight of dozens of catties.

Archaeological discoveries have shown that the weight of ancient weapons was generally in the single digits, which gives us a new understanding of history. Regardless of the quality and strength of the weapons, the generals can play their role and charge for the country, and this spirit is admirable.

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