爐火淬煉的青銅巔峰

文/五花肉

銅狗和銅劍·古巴比倫大英博物館藏

青銅是金屬冶煉史上最早的合金，最早可追溯至6 000年前的古巴比倫兩河流域文明。它的出現，標志著人類從新石器時代邁進青銅器時代。

Bronze is the earliest alloy in the history of metallurgy, dating back to the ancient Babylonian rivers of 6,000 years ago. Its emergence marked the beginning of the human age from the Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age.

始于意外

Origin from Occasional Events

據荷馬史詩《伊利亞特》記載，在古希臘神話中被視為工匠始祖的火神赫斐斯塔司，偶然把銅、錫投入鑄造金銀器的熔爐，卻意外煉就一面青銅盾牌，戰(zhàn)神阿喀琉斯憑借這面盾牌成為最偉大的戰(zhàn)士。

According to“The Iliad of Homer”, the god of fire, Hephasta, who was regarded as the ancestor of artisans in ancient Greek mythology, accidentally put copper and tin into the furnace, and manufactured a bronze shield occationally. Achilles，the warrior ,won great honor in the Battle for Troy with this shield and became the greatest hero of Greek army.

青銅的熔點僅有799 ℃，是彼時冶煉技術下唯一可以量產的可塑性金屬。早期青銅極為珍貴，通常用于祭祀的皇家禮器，國家博物館的鎮(zhèn)館之寶后母戊鼎就是其中的典型代表。

Bronze has a melting point of only 799 centi-degree,which was the only plasticity metal that could be mass produced under the metallurgy technology at that time.The early bronzes were extremely precious, and were often used as royal sacrificial vessel.The Houmuwu square cauldron (sacrificial vessel in ancient China),treasure of National Museum of China, was a typical representative.

定于六齊

Standard Ratio of 5:1

到了戰(zhàn)國時代，工匠長期實踐發(fā)現，使用不同的銅、錫配比標準可以冶煉出不同強度的青銅。其中，錫的含量越高，青銅的硬度越強，脆度也相應提高。

In the Warring States Period, artisans found that bronze of different strengths could be manufactured with different copper and tin ratio. Among them,the higher the ratio of tin, the stronger the hardness of bronze and the corresponding increase in brittleness.

比如，制作鐘鼎的青銅，其銅、錫配比為5：1，斧子、戈戟、劍刃、箭頭等銅、錫配比依次遞減，這也是世界上最早的青銅合金配比標準，謂之“六齊”，標志著青銅制造工藝進入成熟的巔峰期。

For example, the bronze made by Zhong Ding(sacrificial vessel with a shape of Chinese ancient bell) had a copper to tin ratio of 5：1. The ratio of copper and tin in the axe, the scorpion, the blade and the arrow declined in turn. This was also the world's first standard ratio for bronze alloys in the world.

后母戊鼎·商中國國家博物館藏

青銅冰鑒·戰(zhàn)國中國國家博物館藏

“子禾子”青銅釜·戰(zhàn)國中國國家博物館藏

成于純青

Achievement in Furnace Quenching

爐火淬煉是青銅冶煉的最后一個環(huán)節(jié)，也是決定成敗的關鍵環(huán)節(jié)。其中，對溫度的控制至關重要。當時，沒有精確測溫器具的工匠只能憑肉眼和經驗觀察。

Furnace quenching was the last process in bronze manufacturing, which was the key to determining success or failure. Among them, the temperature control was crucial. At that time, artisans without accurate temperature measuring instruments could only observe with the naked eye and experience.

銅、錫等金屬熔點不同，不同溫度淬煉時揮發(fā)的氣體顏色也各不相同。熔點低的雜質率先揮發(fā)，產生黑濁之氣。隨著溫度上升，先后產生黃白之氣和青白之氣，“青白之氣竭，青氣次之，然后可鑄也?！鼻鄽獾某霈F，代表銅、錫完全熔化，此時澆鑄的青銅器質量最佳。此后，“爐火純青”也成為工匠技藝純熟的最佳褒獎。

“王”字青銅衡·戰(zhàn)國中國國家博物館藏

Copper, tin and other metals had different melting points, and the color of gases volatilized during quenching at different temperatures was also different. The impurities with a low melting point were first volatilized, resulting in a black turbid gas. As the temperature rose, there were yellow and white gas and white gas. According to "Kaogongji" The Artificers' Record，time of green gas suggested that cooper and tin were fully melted, which was the best temperature for bronze.The saying "The stove fire is pure green" implied the supreme honor of craftsmanship.

結 語

Conclusion

得益于標準化，青銅器逐漸從皇家禮器走向尋常百姓，邁入高質量發(fā)展的巔峰時期，直至公元前5世紀才逐漸被更具效率的鐵器所取代，被譽為點燃華夏文明的火光。

Thanks to standardization, bronzes gradually became popular from royal rituals to ordinary families, and entered the peak period of high-quality development.Until the 5th century BC, bronze was gradually replaced by irons hardware of more efficiency, which was regarded as one of the greatest achievement of Chinese Civilization.