Ancient Sword with No Rust – Advanced Ancient Chinese Technology?
Original Chinese Language
Article: By www.chinatimes.com (Translated by Adrian
Chan-Wyles PhD)
Translator’s Note:The Ch’an Dao Martial Arts Association
practices a Single and Double Jian (long sword) form.These forms are very old and believed to date
back thousands of years to a female sword-master who developed the forward and
back, up and down, and circular movements by living in a forest and daily
practicing moving around, under and through the branches of the trees so that
she could touch the trunk of the trees with the sword-tip – whilst avoiding
being touched by the branches.This lady
eventually defeated the king’s best sword champions and gained a great respect
in the minds of the people throughout China.This article demonstrates that ancient Chinese swords were of a very
high quality well over two thousand years ago.Not only this, but these swords are routinely coated with a protective
layer of chromium-oxide – a process not fully developed in the West until 1950. ACW 24.7.15
An archaeological team - excavating an ancient tomb dating
to the Spring and Autumn Period (722-481BCE) in Hubei – stumbled upon an unexpected
find of a long sword covered in mud.One
of the archaeological team gently used water to loosen the layers of compacted
mud that had built-up over time, and suddenly a line of ancient seal script was
revealed which read ‘The King of Yue Named Guo Jian made this Sword for His
Personal Use’.News of this great
archaeological discovery in 1965 quickly spread around the world.
The very good condition of this sword – which has been
buried underground for over 2000 years – has led researchers to ask how such
preservation could have occurred.Why
did the cold metal blade still exude a brilliant radiance, and why was the
blade still razor-sharp?Further
research revealed that this inscribed sword was not only made of stainless steel,
but also covered with an outer-layer comprising of chromium.Chromium is an extremely corrosion-resistant
rare metal.The chromium contain in the
earth is very low, and when discovered, very difficult to extract.Furthermore, the melting point of chromium is
around 1907 degrees.
Early attempts at chromium plating existed in
1937 Nazi Germany, but the full developed process was not patented in the USA
until 1950.How could an ancient Chinese
sword that is over 2000 years old be covered in a layer of chromium?In fact, the Chromium-oxidation process has
been well-known and widespread throughout Chinese history. This can be seen
through the universally renowned Terracotta Army archaeological find (as one of
the eight great archaeological sites of the world), where the bronze swords
discovered measured 86 cm long, were strong, sharp, highly ornate and refined
in structure, design and inscription.Despite being hidden in the ground for over two thousands years, these
swords remained bright and sharp due to a 10 micron thick layer of chromium
plating.The passing of time had not
diminished their structure in the slightest.
How could a modern scientific process (not fully
developed in the West until 1950), exist in ancient China well over 2000 years
ago?It is not difficult to imagine the Terracotta
Warriors following the orders of the First Qin Emperor of China – and welding
their swords whilst cutting-down the ranks of the enemy!What was the First Qin Emperor’s masterful
method of sword production – and why does it appear to reflect modern
science?From whom did the First Qin Emperor
learn this technique?From where did this
advanced scientific knowledge come from in ancient China?Wherever this advanced knowledge originated,
it is known that chromium plating was used during the Qin Dynasty – and hundreds
of years before that according to the Spring and Autumn Period sword (mentioned
above) that carries the inscription of ‘The King of Yue Named Gou Jian made
this Sword for His Personal Use’. Metal
alloys were developed in ancient times, then why doubt that Lu Ban (a
scholar-official who specialised in public transport innovation and development
during the end of the Warring States Period) could have invented a mechanical
carriage?This leaves the question of
just how advanced was ancient Chinese science and technology?
