始于青銅的百兵之君

文/五花肉

上一期，專欄聚焦合金冶煉的起源和發展，介紹了“爐火淬煉的青銅巔峰”。本期，我們繼續跟蹤這一線索，關注始于青銅的百兵之君——劍。

In the last issue， the column focused on the origin and development of alloy metallurgy and introduced the peak of bronze metallurgy. In this issue， we shall continue to follow this clue and introduce the bronze sword， king of melee weapons in ancient China， swords.

劍，是中國古代最常見的兵器，素有“百兵之君”的美譽。傳說劍始于軒轅黃帝——“帝采首山之銅鑄之”，由此開啟了傳承數千年的劍文化，在漫長的歷史長河中留下濃墨重彩的一筆。

Swords were the most common melee weapon in ancient China. They were regarded as the king of melee weapons. Legend has it that it began with the Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan， "the Yellow Emperor mined copper from the Shoushan Mountain to cast sword". The legend opened up the sword culture and left a deep impression in the long Chinese history.

質量奠定近戰優勢Quality Establishes Melee Advantage

青銅冶煉技術的成熟，為劍的應用、普及奠定了工業基礎。春秋戰國時期，青銅劍已經成為列國步兵重要的近戰裝備，防可格擋兵器，攻能刺穿鎧甲。

The maturity of bronze metallurgical technology laid the industrial foundation for the application and popularization of swords. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period 2，500 years ago， bronze swords became the important melee weapon for infantry because swords could block weapon attack and pierce through enemy's armor.

彼時，各國鑄造的青銅劍，長度普遍只有50 cm～65 cm，過長則變脆、易折。而冶煉技術發達的秦國，青銅劍長度多為80 cm，最長的可達140 cm，質量依然上乘。憑借“一寸長一寸強”的近戰優勢，秦國士兵在兩軍對壘時無往而不利。

At that time， bronze swords forged in various states were generally from 50 to 65 centimeters in length，and if they were too long， they would become brittle and easy to fold. However， in Qin State， where bronze metallurgical technology was advanced， bronze swords were mostly 80 centimeters long， even up to 140 centimeters long with high quality. According to the saying "one inch long and one inch strong"， longer swords enabled Qin soldiers to kill enemies easily in battle fi elds.

秦青銅劍秦始皇帝陵博物院藏

越王勾踐劍湖北省博物館藏

強兵源于工藝標準Excellent Quality Technological Standards

隨著鑄劍工藝的精益求精，一種擺脫長度限制，兼具強度和韌性的復合劍開始登上歷史舞臺。相比最初一次鑄造成型的青銅劍，這種復合劍的劍脊和劍刃采用不同銅錫配比，分兩次澆鑄而成。劍脊韌性強、不易斷折，劍刃硬度高、保持鋒利，兩者以榫卯結構連接。聞名于世的國家一級文物越王勾踐劍就是其中的杰出代表。

With the continuous improvement of sword casting technology， bimetallic bronze swords with mutual advantages in strength and toughness began to enter the historical stage. Compared with the onetime forging bronze sword， the ridge and blade of bimetallic bronze swords were cast with different copper-tin ratios and were manufactured in two-time forging technology. The ridge of the sword had strong toughness and was not easy to break.The blade had high hardness and kept sharp. The ridge and blade were connected in tenon-mortise structure. Sword of Goujian， one of the worldfamous Chinese national cultural relics， was the outstanding representatives for bimetallic bronze swords.

青銅復合劍截面示意圖

當時的秦國甚至以國家法令的形式，將這種制劍工藝標準固化，以確保批量化生產，為最終一掃六合建立了牢固的軍事優勢。

At that time， the state of Qin even set the sword manufacturing standard as the state decrees to ensure mass production， thus establishing a solid military advantage for conquering the six kingdoms and unifying them as one empire.

文化煉就百兵之君Culture of Chinese Swords

歷經傳承和發展，制作精良、佩戴優雅的劍不再僅僅被視為戰場的殺戮之器，還被賦予了皇權、品德、曲藝等文化內涵，成為達官貴人權勢、身份的象征，并深受文人墨客的廣泛青睞。

After inheritance and development， the wellmade and elegant sword was no longer only regarded as a melee weapon in the battlefield，but also endowed with cultural connotations such as imperial power， moral character and folk arts. Swords not only became a symbol of the power and status of dignitary， but also were widely favored by scholars.

到了漢朝，尚方寶劍的橫空出世，標志著劍作為皇權象征達到了巔峰，上可震懾昏君、下可立斬佞臣，被公認為百兵之君。

In the Han Dynasty， the birth of the imperial sword symbolized that the swords reached peak as a symbol of imperial power. The imperial sword could be used to frighten foolish emperors and kill traitor ministers， which was regarded as the king of melee weapons in ancient China.

結 語Conclusion

如果說冶煉技術賦予了劍的“身體”，那么工藝標準則是撐起這幅“身體”的“筋骨”，為最終注入文化靈魂，賦予了扎實基礎和想象空間，共同成就了源遠流長的劍文化。

Metallurgical technology endows shape of the swords and the technological standards brought the inner quality and virtue， which injected cultural elements and thus achieved Chinese sword culture with long history.