British media: ancient Chinese bronze casting formula was cracked

The British media "New Scientist" Weekly on August 10, local time, the team of Liu Ruiliang, the British Museum, found that the two materials of "gold" and "tin" in the ancient Chinese bronze formulas in the "Examination Works" may be copper lead. Alloy and tin lead alloys.

Screenshot of "New Scientist" Weekly Report

It is reported that "Examination Gong Ji" 2300 years ago is the oldest technical encyclopedia in the world, which records the manufacturing method of a large number of items, including six bronze formulas that have always confused researchers.

Although it is not only bronze casting in ancient China, Liu Ruiliang said that the style and scale of the bronze in China were unparalleled. "We ask ourselves, how the Chinese people (at the time) created so many bronze wares."

The confusion of the researchers is that the ingredients of "gold" and "tin" in the formula contained in the "Examination Gongji" have not been determined. The ancients generally believed that "gold" refers to copper or copper alloy and "tin". However, the chemical analysis of bronze at that time showed that "gold" and "tin" could not simply refer to copper and tin.

Liu Ruiliang and his colleagues analyzed the data of the previous summary of the chemical composition of the knife coin. The age of these knife coins was coincided with the record of the bronze formula. The knife coins are made of prefabricated alloy.

They found that the higher the lead content in the knife coins, the lower the content of copper and tin. At the same time, the tin content with the highest copper content is also the highest. This shows that the mixed copper alloy and tin alloy constitute this bronze prefabricated alloy.

By simulating a combination of different proportions, the research team determined that after the 80:15: 5 copper -lead alloys are mixed with 50: 50 copper lead alloys, the chemical composition data of these knife coins are most consistent with these knife coins.

Liu Ruiliang believes that this prefabricated alloy is likely to be "gold" and "tin" recorded in "Examination Gongji", but he also added. "The real craftsman may not be literate, and the formula is not recorded by them, so the formula is not recorded, so I think there is a cognitive difference between the recorder and the real craftsman. "

Mei Jianjun at the University of Cambridge did not fully recognize the results of the research. He pointed out that these formulas should not be regarded as an accurate record of casting methods at that time. And ignore other materials. If you use the 'gold' and 'tin' in the text simply as copper and tin, then these formulas are still effective to a large extent. "

Source: Observer.com

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