The Sword of Goujian, King of Yue, is a tin-bronze sword from the late Spring and Autumn Period, used by Goujian, King of Yue. It was unearthed in the No. 1 Chu Tomb at Wangshan, Jiangling County, Hubei Province in December 1965, and was stored in the Hubei Provincial Museum after the National Day in 1999. It is listed in the third batch of cultural relics prohibited from being exhibited abroad issued in 2013.
Form
The sword is 55.7 cm long, 4.6 cm wide, 8.4 cm long and weighs 875 grams. There are dark diamond patterns on both sides of the sword, the front of the guard is inlaid with blue colored glaze, and the back is inlaid with turquoise patterns. The sword head is a round hoop with 11 concentric circles inside. The sword body has been vulcanized, and its corrosion resistance and toughness have been greatly improved, indicating that the ancient Chinese had reached a very high level of technology in metal smelting and surface treatment. When the sword was unearthed, it was still shining with cold light and extremely sharp, reflecting the superb sword-making technology of ancient China. It is a rare treasure among ancient weapons.
There are many explanations for why the Sword of the King of Yue appeared in Hubei. Some historians speculate that after the Chu State conquered the Yue State, the sword was collected by the Chu State as a trophy; but some historians found that the tomb where the sword was unearthed already existed during the time of King Zhao or King Huai of Chu, so there is also a more accepted theory that the Yue State and the Chu State had a marriage alliance, and the sword was brought to the Chu State as a dowry by the princess of the Yue State. Later, the king of Chu gave the sword to his ministers, and it was later discovered.
Inscription
The sword body is engraved with the inscriptions “King Gou Jian of Yue” and “Zi Zha Yong Hao” in bird and insect script. According to the research of scholar Tang Lan, it means “King Gou Jian of Yue made the sword himself.”
other
In addition, a bronze sword very similar to the Sword of Gou Jian, King of Yue, was unearthed from the same tomb. It was 60.6 cm long, but had no inscription. The sword is now kept in the National Museum of China.
There are actually many swords of the King of Yue. At that time, in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Yue were at war. The King of Yue once sought sword-making master Ou Yezi to make swords in Yue. There are now four swords of the King of Yue unearthed, the others are the Sword of the King of Yue, the Sword of the King of Yue, and the Sword of the King of Yue. These four swords were once exhibited together in the Nanjing Museum. However, from the perspective of cultural relic value, the Sword of the King of Yue Goujian is more famous. It is called “the best sword in the world” mainly because it is Goujian’s “self-use” sword. There are eight beautiful seal characters on the sword, and this kind of seal character is specially beautified, called “bird seal”. The seal characters at that time could only be clearly identified with six characters “Yue Wang ** Zi Zha Yong Jian”, which can only mean that the sword was used by the King of Yue. There were ten Yue kings in Yue State, and it is impossible to confirm the exact owner. Fang Zhuangyou, an expert at the archaeological site, believes that these two characters are “Shao Hua”, who was sent to Yue State by Chu State as a “Yue traitor” and was finally named the King of Yue. However, Tang Lan, an expert in ancient characters, believes that these two characters are “Jiu Qian”, which is a homophone of “Gou Jian”. This view was eventually shared by other experts.
Damaged
The Sword of Goujian, King of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period, was damaged while on display at the “Chu Cultural Relics Exhibition of the Warring States Period” held in Singapore on August 24, 1994. Due to the carelessness of the Singaporean staff, a piece of plexiglass handle was stuck on the blade. After the sword was removed, Chinese staff found a new scar of 0.7 cm long and 0.1 cm wide on the blade. The official conclusion of the experts of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China on the damage to the sword was “minor damage”.
In the “Third Batch of Cultural Relics Prohibited from Exhibition Abroad” issued by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage on August 19, 2013, the Sword of Goujian, King of Yue, was included, which effectively ensured the safety of precious cultural relics, especially the unique and fragile ones among the first-class cultural relics.
Part of the Sword of Gou Jian, King of Yue
