How does the sword in the hand of 'Warrior Qin' change world history?

This archaeological discovery is closely related to the historical Qin Shi Huang.

Bronze swords were commonly used in the Early Qin Dynasty . During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States Period, the ancient sword-making technique reached its peak. The Viet King Goujian sword was unearthed in Hubei, China in December 1965. This is the clearest demonstration of the "short weapon" at that time.

In bronze sword casting, the most important step is the mixing of copper and tin. If there is little tin, the product texture will be weak. However, if there is too much tin, the texture of the sword will be too hard, brittle and break easily.

Therefore, to ensure the durability of the sword, the ancients had to work hard to shape it. For example, they shorten the length of the blade, then widen and thicken the blade. However, this also made the ancient bronze swords quite "bulky" in general . So far, most of the ancient bronze swords unearthed have three characteristics "short, wide and heavy".

Over time, the weapons manufacturing process has improved. In the Spring and Autumn period - Warring States period, a sword was about 20 to 60cm long. By the Qin Dynasty, the form of the sword had changed.

The transition from bronze swords to steel swords in ancient China took place during the Qin and Han dynasties. Before the Han Dynasty, people still minted a large number of bronze swords, however, some defects of bronze swords did not meet human needs. Not long after, swords made of steel were born.

Qin sword. (Photo: Wudan Academy).

In the 1990s, when the archaeological team was clearing the first pit of Qin Shi Huang's terracotta warriors and horses, they accidentally found a strange sword 91 cm long. At that time, the excavation of this sword shocked experts . Because this is the first time such a long neck sword has been found.

Then, in 1994, archaeologists discovered a series of bronze swords in Hole 2 . The shortest is about 80cm, and the longest is 95cm. This led people to believe that the Qin people had made a breakthrough in the making of long swords. To balance the toughness and hardness of the sword, the craftsmen found a near-perfect ratio of copper and tin.

On these Qin swords appeared a technique called "black technology" . The secret lies in the chromium layer on their surface. This coating is only 10 micrometers thick, which is only 1/10th the thickness of a newspaper.

The function of this chromium layer is to protect the blade and prevent rust. When comparing the Qin sword with the Viet Vuong Gou Tien sword, the results were unexpected. Although the Qin sword is fragile, when unearthed, it is still as bright as new, can cut 18 layers of paper at a time, the durability is also higher than the other sword.

However, chromium coating technique was only announced in the last century in 1937 by German scientists. In 1950, the United States applied for a patent for this technology. Therefore, the discovery of the Qin sword shocked the world. The answer about the birth that preceded humanity by 2000 years still needs time to find the answer.