Abstract
AbstractSunzi said, “Warfare is pivotal to the state. [It is] a milieu where life and death are decided, [it holds] the path to survival or extermination and cannot be neglected.” In like manner, the Commentary of Zuo (Zuozhuan) states, “Rituals and warfare are of vital importance to the state.” From this we see that besides ritual matters, such as ancestor worship and maintaining the temples, rulers in ancient China considered warfare and military training to be of utmost importance. Consequently, much attention was paid to sacrificial implements and weapons of war. The production and maintenance of arms was an integral part of this effort as it impacted state security as a whole. The study of ancient arms therefore not only teaches us about ancient weaponry and methods of combat but also yields unique insights into the technology and organization of war. The principal short-range weapons during the Han dynasty were jian (double-edged sword)and dao (single-edged sword), while the latter gradually replaced the jian in military use as the dynasty wore on, partly as a result of the rise of cavalry. This paper contains three parts: iron smelting and weapon production in the Han dynasty; the ancient techniques of iron smelting in shaft furnace; and reconstructing the Han ring-pommel dao with ancient methods.
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