The SWORD OF GOUJIAN
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 มิ.ย. 2022
- One of the greatest swords ever made, perhaps the greatest, is the Sword of Goujian, king of Yue, who lived in the 5th century BCE. This video examines this fascinating artifact and provides some insight into its creation and its history. Includes an interview with Dr. Olivia Milburn.
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As someone who grew up in China I can not overstate how important this sword is. Every kid have learned the story of GOUJIAN for the story. No one really thought the sword existed let alone to be found. This is almost like if someone found Thor's hammer.
Yes, and for that reason tit is not allowed to leave China. I would equate this to finding an early copy of bible or Mose's staff, if there was such an item. The story of the sword was recorded in Chinese literater for 1000's of years before the sword was found. Imagine how familiar people are with the story of the Torjan horse, then someone would find the actual Torjan horse's remain. That's how important this sword is.
@@mrmosk2011 Like if someone in the UK found Excalibur.
It would be the most famous object the country ever had.
@@mrmosk2011 you are wrong about the bible, the bible was written for thousand of years bro, there is not a first bible book by itself
Are there other similar swords of the same make? Not necessarily the same age. Thank you 🤓 are the engraved characters inlaid with gold?
Wow
Amazing that a sword can be in such good state after almost 2400 years
Thank you. I just wanted to know how old it was.
Bronze artefacts tend to survive much better than iron or steel ones, as bronze is much more resistant to corrosion. So, being a late bronze-age sword, the sword of Goujian is actually better preserved than a lot of later swords.
@@chrisball3778 Thank you. I wanted to write someting similar but you were faster ;-)
@@chrisball3778 Beat me to it. Love me some bronze. And this is a beautiful piece.
I have phd i everything like this TH-cam man;) and sword I 20years old. I know
Is there any point in history where one could experience a 30 minute presentation about an ancient sword free of charge?
I am a fan of this information era. Thank you, Dr. Miano; great video.
For free. From an expert. This is the Golden Age of scholasticism. It's awesome.
Seriously. I'm constantly amazed to be living in such an era.
That's a profound point.
@@elihinze3161 Do you also like all the boy who think they are girls and girls who think they are boys? What about the crazy radicals on the left and right? And the looting and rioting. Verge of WW3. Yeah I could think of better times.
look up the book of Aquarius
The proto industrial age of Warring states to Han China is incredible stuff. Also it's amazing that a culture that developed Steel so early, still used bronze for prestige weapons for centuries after, as their metallurgy was so advanced. The Sword of Goujian, like many advanced chinese Bronze swords was a multi alloy weapon; softer spring tempered spine with a harder high tin edge. So these swords had to be made in several castings which is just insane.
Yea real life industrial innovations in history takes time to propagate across the land, especially 2000 some years ago information isn't traveling from one side of land to the other side. Also having access to the correct raw material and tech know how on creating quality steel wasn't something easy to come by. Especially this would consider national security level secret for the warring states back then.
It's great to hear an expert talk with such passion in an area of their expertise.
Except the part when she tries to claim these swords come out of the ground sharper than any modern razor... No. We don't live in a 1990s karate movie.
Well put! 💙
@@LaneLibra Yes it is very sharp. It cuts through 10 sheets of carbon papers.
So much passion, that she believes they made steel no one else supposedly did. But other made steel too this time.
The passion of this speaker actually brought me to tears.🥺❤️
I love history.
The intros of these series are so awesome: the music, the voice, the way the photos are shown. Very nice!
My 6 year old just saw your thumbnail: “Daddy; can I have one of them?” 😂
You agreed, of course. =)P
your boi get some great taste
one epic gift that would be! :D
Well, you will likely be limited to the historical recreation market, but bronze swords are...available. With the inevitable warning labels?
@@mythosboy maybe a rubber one? also I think I have seen a mini flash drive shaped like it for sell whan I was in that museum
I wonder what else we don't know about ancients. Such a masterful creation! Salute to ancient Chinese from India.
LK Chen makes AMAZING reproductions of ancient Chinese blades at a reasonable price. Unlike most manufacturers, he actually gets access to originals in museums and can take precise measurements, weights, note the materials, etc...
Grateful that Dr Milburn is willing to share knowledge with us!
When I was in school, too little was taught about non-Western and non-Middle Eastern history and culture. If something created an interest it would have to be pursued in a library, which might also contain the scribblings of Error von Dummkopf and even earlier purveyors of superstition and ethnocentric fiction. Videos like this are adding to the available knowledge and in interesting, informative and sometimes humorous ways. Keep up the good work Professor Miano, it is much appreciated!
To be fair. There's too much history to learn and the more they add the more watered down everything that fit in that year will get watered down. Makes me sad too because I love history snd school made me think I hated it
@@knightofnut1927 The problem is they feed kids history and some other things by the same method the French feed geese slated to produce paté de foie gras. As a teacher I made every effort to tailor content in a way to promote interest and provoke research.
I once showed a video about the Japanese Yonaguni site and asked them to compare it to pyramids and other ancient structures and debate whether it was natural or man made. I consider a class successful when students make logical arguments and rational assessments in polite debates.
@@JMM33RanMA oh. You're a good teacher and I wish I had some like you. Honestly my last history teacher decided to roast me because I ditched her class a lot. In my defense I was going through a lot as a kid. Like a ton of bs
@@knightofnut1927 Thanks for the compliment.
Error von Dummkopf…LMAO! ❤
Regarding the sword: the famed sword of Wu/Yue are famed because they show exceptional craftsmanship in the sense that they exhibit a certain craft and skill to the utmost. This is not necessarily to say they were always the most practical weapon in all combat scenarios. This highly decorated sword may or may not have been used in combat; scratches and dents could as easily come from being dropped. But made for a king, that guarantees no expense was spared to create something unusual for royal consumption.
Exactly.
Perfectly reasonable to say " these are the best swords we can possibly make"
To say it is the best sword ever when it is without a pommel and is made of bronze is just Chinese cope.
Chinese cope? No, just no. No one, especially the Chinese ever said that it's the best practical sword for war or fighting ever made, or that if is undisputed number 1 best swords in the world in all of history in every way, shape, or form(ie in every criteria).
It is said by SOME to be the most BEAUTIFUL sword ever made, but since beauty is obviously subjective, that is just their opinion and nothing to do with Chinese cope.. What's not objective however is that it's definitely the oldest and most pristine quality sword(by far) ever recovered.
That's not Chinese copium, thats just you showing your own bias against China and Chinese people.
Chinese know the level of the world's sword and also the level of this sword, and they wouldn't say something so absolute like it's the best in everyway vs even modern swords without actual evidence to prove those claims.
Even the guest who was interviewed in this video chose her words carefully, she said it's one of the most beautiful or greatest, comparable to the best Japanese katanas made by the best old school masters who's blades have withstood the test off time in terms of beauty and more importantly, it's cultural significance to both the country/cultures it came from.
Then the host asked if she was talking about it being "best in the world, or best in China or whatever else. He said "so it's best in the world PERHAPS"? And she confirmed it and said yes, even compared with the rest of the world including the Japanese katana stuff I said above, this sword stacks up and many would consider it greater than any other sword for a multitude of reasons. But the most important one is that the level of detail and artistry is insane when you consider that it was built so so long ago. There's literally no other sword like it in the world from that era, and even compared to the best swords made today, they'd still struggle to equal, let alone surpass this detail, design, quality and beauty.
There's no absolute statements made, and there also was no Chinese in this video. And just to repeat, they ARE NOT including it's actual usefulness or strength as a weapon of war or in any fighting capacity.
Olivia’s a delightful guest! Would love to here more of Chinese history and archaeology from her and yourself. Reminds me of Tolkien and Jordan with swords that never dull❤
@@iridium8341 aren’t you a ray of sunshine! Happy eve day
The intricacies of material technologies in ancient and classical history really fascinate me; like, very highly specialized productive niches that create items of artifice that rival what we can create today. Roman concrete and dichroic glass, Chinese seismic machines, Greek automata, Indian metallurgy, etc.
Seismic machines? I have to google that
@@therealcancer48 He is talking about a seismometer. Ancient China built a way to measure earthquakes by surrounding a long flexible rod with levers to detect any shifting in the rod.
@@404Dannyboy
Correct! Not to mention how beautiful, ornate, and precise they were made to be. They had burnished bronze dragons that would engage with the rod mechanism to drop metal balls into the mouths of decorative frogs, to show the direction of the origin of seismic oscillations, and were very accurate considering the (relatively) rudimentary technology and materials used.
There's so much to learn about each country and civilisation that it makes more sense for countries to collaborate and develop peacefully, rather than to invade and dominate one another. The world needs peace rather than war. I hope the wealth of knowledge that your channel uncovers encourage more to desire peace and cultural exchanges instead of war and enmity.
I love how easy it is for me to find enrichment. What a time to be alive! Thank you very much, this is one of my very favorite channels on TH-cam.
Beautiful work my Guy. Love your Content. Been with you for a while now.
Strong historical Knowledge. Perfect delivery 💚🖤
I live in Wuhan, I always love to check that sword when visit museum
memba to wear a mask !
@@captainflint89 we dont have any cases for a while, still, everyone are geting test like every three days, so it should be safe
A beautiful sword, such a discovery is a real miracle!❤
Imagine what artifacts will be unearthed if they ever open the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. I'm guessing he had artifacts buried with him that were old and valuable even for his day.
This was a awesome interview. Keep these coming
I don't know why the professor wants to portray Guojian as a sinister figure.
As far as I know, King Guojian is not viewed as a sinister figure in China.
He is primarily seen as a somebody who endured hardship and humiliation during his time as a hostage and avoided any kind of luxury (going as far as tasting bile in each meal in order to not forget the misery he experienced as a hostage) after he had returned home, in order to rebuild his kingdom and take revenge on his enemies.
According to our modern standards his behaviors can be viewed negatively as nurturing grudge and vengeful, but he lived in a very different era. One in which humiliation not avenged would be seen as dishonorable and a sign of weakness.
And in Chinese history it was With Kingdom that first attacked Yue.
Great vid. Thanks for all the great work. It’s nice to have someone that debunks all the nonsense theories that are out there on ancient history on you tube. 👏👏👏👏.
Just so we are clear; the sword of Goujian is bronze, *not* steel, and is really more of what we would consider a dagger than a sword, as the whole thing is roughly 22 inches long, and most of the work I've read on the topic agrees quite decisively that it was mainly a ceremonial item, rather than a battlefield weapon.
Short for a sword, long for a Bowie Knife. But the boundary between the two is somewhat blurry. And yeah, definitely bronze, not steel. Of course, a leader could carry the item into battle, but the main work would get done with arrow and spear. Like most other places before effective firearms.
Can't wait for a debunking video then, by dr Miano himself
That's what I was wondering after she said the sword undoubtedly was in battle....How? It's bronze, and it looks totally unused. The edge looks perfect. Bronze swords, being much softer than steel, would have taken some serious damage...
Thanks for the explanation.
Fabulous interview. Thanks!
This video is seriously just incredibly interesting, well done as always!
What a beauty. Thanks for the presentation!
Fascinating discussion from Drs. Milburn and Miano.
Thank you David and your colleague, Dr. milburn.
For another informative video.
With the historical facts and research.
Thanks again.
Excellent episode!
wonderful history. Thank you for the video
Greaat work brother.bringing real history back to TH-cam one video at a time lol.
Another Great video!! Thank you sir!
Absolutely incredible! So fascinating.
I'm having a hard time reconciling the following ideas, they can't all be true: 1. This is maybe the best quality sword ever made, it was definitely used in combat, but it was found in perfect "mint" condition. And even though this "highest quality" sword survived combat in pristine condition and is definitely a completely flawless example of Chinese blacksmithing, it then cracked during handling by a museum.
I find it much more likely that this was an ornamental piece that was never used in combat, or there would be evidence of violent blows delt and deflected by the sword. Even with re-sharpening, you would have some damage. Also, the blade likely cracked along a flaw in the metal that has been there since it was cast and would have likely cracked already had it been used.
probably used in combat means brought in combat and the owner never draw his sword.
She probably meant other national treasure that got cracked accidently, not the sword of king Yue ( 越王勾践）since I personally never heard it had been outside of China once, and it could never get cracked by accident for it's remarkable quality.
Love this content! Picking an experts brain is always a fun experience.
What an awesome video, such amazing music intro.
Man, I miss so much content about ancient east. Thank you!
WOW fantastic and very informative information about this sword another fantastic video David 👍👍
There is a great TV series, "The Great Revival" about king Goujian's life. He was a great guy!
I love ancient Chinese swords, they were very pretty, especially I like the Han dynasty ones with their clean lines and sophisticated design.
I also like Bird-worm seal script. While modern Chinese writing is more utilitarian, it doesn't look as pretty as Bird-worm seal script.
Great content, ancient relics are a cool great segment to get into
I cannot understate how awesome this is.
Great work Mr Miano
Simply enjoyable.. I wait for more content.. History is so cool!
Love your uploads Dr. D🛡⚔💙
Glad you like them, Nancy.
Thank you for this talk. I had not heard of this sword before ❤️
I highly recommend Dr. Miano to also look into the recently discovered tomb of Marquis of Haihun, Liu He. It was not robbed and contained a large mount gold and coins. What's amazing is that Liu He was a deposed emperor and had a very bad reputation. Made me imagine what the more famous emperors' tomb would be like if they weren't robbed.
Wow, this was a very interesting video! It's interesting how we underestimate the people of the past, give the quality of this sword. The more I learn about eastern asia I find out how different it could often be. And how very advanced they were.
Wowee wow wow! I want to know more about these people!! Thank you Dr. David & Dr. Milburne 💕 infectious enthusiasm mixed with hands on knowledge of ancient history!!... my favorite 🤗
Brilliant, more,more!
Scholars seem reluctant at times to veer away from peer review formats and be willing to explain their work on a public program. Dr. Miano allows presentation without interruption. Hat off to him.
Thank you Dr M.
Stunning! Cheers.
Great video, thanks to both of you. That was quite interesting. There is that voice inside my head at least when i hear about some ancient priceless thing getting damaged that just says, "Damnit! It made it THIS long already, how'd you mess it up?"
Incredibly fascinating, so much to digest.
Absolutely amazing
I had no idea it was so small.
It's a bit shorter than most pirate Cutlass swords. But these Southern Chinese/Vietnamese boats might have been smaller too.
its bronze, so it can't be made too long. unlike steel, bronze isn't very springy. make it too long and it will bend easily and stay that way.
@@simonphoenix3789 European Bronze swords were longer, more akin to a Cutlass or a larger Gladius. The type of Gladius was used from 216 BC (Carthaginian wars/Greek conquests) possibly through Caesar's time. then after 100AD once the Roman Peace Pax Romana ended. The Sword of Goujian is more akin to the shorter Gladius used during Augustus's time and through the Pax Romana, it seems.
@@MarkVrem but were they made with high-tin bronze, or chromed, or given an iron interior? Comparing them without comparing materials isn't quite an even playing field.
@@MaryAnnNytowl I had no idea until today but apparently Caesar's Gladius was made out of bronze. " Caesar's sword was named Crocea Mors, Latin for Yellow Death. Crocea Mors would most likely have been a bronze gladius. Although iron had started to replace bronze as the metal of choice, it was not because it was superior, but because it was cheaper. The gladius of the common soldier would therefore have been made of iron, but the weapon of the master of the known universe definitely would have been a bronze one."
That was awesome; please have Olivia back if you can!
Wait, one Tut Ankh Amon sized discovery PER WEEK since 1949!? That boggles the mind! And she mentioned the weapon smiths wife as another famous weapon smith - I can see why you didn't catch that, but that sounds intriguing!
Awesome video, so cool thanks
Look, grafiti
Excellent told of histories.
I was waiting for this video. 👀
Great video
I’m really glad I’ve found your page, history is deeply fascinating but I have unfortunately succumbed to the barrage of alternate history ideas and the tantalising thought of ancient, ancient civilisations.
It is refreshing to watch your videos, helpful ones debunking alternate histories and completely fascinating ones like the sword of Goujian.
The ancient history we have is more than enough than having to completely fabricate a new history that might even involve aliens!
As a fan of true historical artifacts and truth of the world in general I find this video very well made and very informative. I find that china has a lot of amazing discoveries underground as the likes of the goujian sword and terra cotta warriors and the underground rock temple just recently discovered that shows a technology that is far ahead of our time that I find extremely intriguing. It poses the question as how and where the technology came from and where did it disappear to. As well as it paints images of the past that are vastly different than modern society and media present them to be. Almost to the point were mythological and fictional depictions of the past seem more the case than not. Either way thank you for this amazing presentation of an amazing artifact.
Another banger of a video by you. Do you do all the editing also? Very well done.
I also love prehistory videos. I know you only do ancient history but what do you think about doing a video on what the ancients knew about prehistory. I'm talking about dinosaurs fossils and the like.
Keep up the great work. You do an amazing job with narrating the videos you make.
Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. Yes, I do my own editing, but I leave prehistory for others.
They also found the Spear of FuChai, the rival of goujian
Wonderful, fascinating, revelatory dialogue between David and Dr Milburn - and an extraordinary sword (a Chinese excalibur!) owned by a "sinister" but also great and cunning king of an Eastern province - but found in another tomb. Wow! Thank you Dr Miano, The videos get better and better. I think you should do more of these expert led films not requiring a battle with pseudo- archaeology to put any record straight. They are great but this really opens a field to our view.
I agree! I have similar thoughts, Ancient history and archeology is so interesting and prof Milano explains things so well, I really feel like he does a good job picking which experts can help inform the topic best. It seemed to me that Professor Milburn was very credible and could answer all Milanos questions with such ease and thoughtfulness. I would love to see more videos like this! I like the ones where he dissects pseudo archaeology because he helps other people build critical thinking skills, however this video was so awesome I kept “ooo’ing” and “wow!”ing during it led me toI watch it a couple of times!
"They are sharper than any modern razor." To which David should have immediately followed with, "What sorts of scientific tests were done to allow such claims to be made?"
I have watched other videos from this channel operator, and he is usually very skeptical of such profound claims.
Obviously they tried shaving with it and it left them smoother than today's products.
#satire
I think he may have noticed but he just went with it not to grind this interwiev to a halt - I doubt she would give him the answers we want anyway, since there is no objective way to measure things like ''greatest sword ever made". I hope for a follow-up video or at least a clarification.
@@kacperwoch4368 David did follow up with a question of how it compared to other blades but didn't get much more technical information
I have noticed that a lot of researchers and archeologists for ancient cultures often use superlatives like that when talking to the public. I wonder if they spend so much time reading ancient histories that they pick up some of the non-literal aggrandizement that a lot of ancient cultures used when talking about themselves.
I have a feeling that she probably would not have said that in an academic paper, and it is pretty clearly going to be untrue. The swords *might* be sharper than some commercial razors and so it might just be a hyperbolic comparison based on personal experience. It is a poor way of speaking in my opinion, but I do not want to assume it was a claim made with the expectation that it would be taken as anything more than hyperbole without greater context of her work. She does seem to use hyperbolic language pretty often.
Not to mention that, if I'm not mistaken, swords don't need to be "razor" sharp to do their job and their ancient users were undoubtedly aware of that.
Also, her claim that "it was definitely used to kill someone" is very odd without even a hint of evidence.
Thanks!
great story and discovery how our ancient father make or build something beyond their imagination.. love the content ❤️❤️❤️and thank you for sharing something knowledgeable and remarkable
It always gives me this unexplainable rage when i hear a old tomb has been robbed, i dont have the right words to expain it but its just so maddening like whyyy
" In 1977, China filmed the documentary "Ancient Sword", they were able to film this sword. At this time, it has been 12 years since the unearthed time, and everyone is to verify how sharp the sword is. In front of the camera, the King of Yue Gujian sword not only broke 18 pieces of paper, but also broke more than 20 pieces of paper at a time!
Shortly after the test, experts used proton X-ray fluorescence to do vacuum analysis and did no damage determination on the king of Yue Gujian sword. The more shocking results came out, in addition to 80% of the copper composition of this sword, there are tin, lead, iron, sulfur and other substances, this technology ahead of the world's alloy technology at that time, so that this sword after 2500 years is still sharp. "
Excellent
there is an artifact called the spear of fuchai (King Fuchai of Wu state is the rival of Goujin in history). Notice both of their metallurgy techiniques are somehow similar but the said artifact has some discoloration. Still an impressive piece though.
Thank you..
I love this! Nice to see ancient artifacts and history that isn’t centered on the west or Europe.
Fascinating.
Love this video! Also I find ancient China interesting.
Great fun! Thanks for this. Dr. Milburn is a great story teller.
There appears to be a debate started about Dr Milburn's description of the sword of Goujian as "greatest sword ever made". Various competitor swords have been put forward and definitions of "greatest" required. But I took it that Dr Milburn was not making a scientific statement at all (how could she be?); but rather making an aesthetic judgement regarding its supreme beauty. This of course is necessarily subjective, but - as Immanuel Kant analysed in his "Critique of Judgement" (1790) - if a genuine judgement of great beauty,. it necessarily invites another to share the perception of beauty - and the great pleasure arising from the contemplative perception of the object. The judgement that this is the best sword (the most beautiful) is based on years of experience studying and reflecting on Chinese swords - and, Japanese swords to which she alluded as possible peers. In my view it is this supreme confidence of judgement that goes with great expertise growing out of experience. Kant said , "a beautiful artwork gives a sensation of completely detached pleasure". Yes, indeed! We were very privileged to glimpse for a moment this beautiful artifact with great pleasure. For this, I am grateful.
Great video...the best of Chinese culture and artisanal work is always exceptional. 🙂
It's the best high-tech sword in the world in ancient times.
Welcome back 😙😙
What a beautiful sword
when she says that this sword is sharper than any modern razor , I understand that her fascination blinds her knowledge , Modern blades can be sharpened to the atom size. It was not possible 2500 years ago. Of course this sword can be sharper than anything then but modern technology is on another level. And according to dr Olivia opinion, this sword in the moment of find was in same condition like in day of making, but some how it cracks being exposed abroad. Probably it is not so perfect like everybody thinking, specially when Chinese government will never give permission to do real metallurgy tests. In the end, this is beautiful story and really great piece of weapon.
Saying blades can be sharpened to atom size is more hyperbolic than what she said, not to mention impossible.
Now that is a pretty sword, exceptionally well made and bronze (which helps explain the over all lack of corrosion). As for whether this was the "greatest sword blade ever made": love the enthusiasm, but not a chance. It's a bronze sword, meaning it can be sharpened but will not retain it's edge after any extensive use and will undoubtedly bend in a strike against hard surfaces (i.e. like a shield's rim, or another harder blade). On the plus side, you can bend the thing back into shape, easily re-sharpen it and corrosion, the great bane of iron and steel, will leave this blade largely unblemished. Which is deeply cool, and if the argument is that this is a contender for "greatest sword ever made", if we limit ourselves to 4-5th C BCE China, why not? Again, it is helluva an artifact, no matter how advertised.
Sharper than any modern razor seems like a stretch. lol
@@twonumber22 Duller than the chipped obsidian blades off a Mexica Macahuitl, no doubt. Glass is super sharp, but makes for poor sword edges. Bronze is certainly better, but steel is better than bronze. So, yeah, a bit of a stretch. But I admire her enthusiasm anyway. And it is really is a pretty, pretty sword. I want it to have magic powers...
@@twonumber22 Any metal can be sharpened to any sharpness. What you want is a blade that can hold it's sharp edge. When she said sharper than a razor I cringed because now she sounds like a infomercial with those fake overpriced Japanese Knives scams.
@@mythosboy This. No metal blade can be sharpened even close to how sharp an obsidian blade is, it's simply impossible on an atomic level.
Fun fact: According to Chinese ancient scripts, there was a myth about the creation of god-tier swords (some of them are the Gan Jiang & Mo Ye sword and King Wu's Golden hooked swords) that before the casting of the blade, the smith must sacrifice someone he hold dear. In Gan Jiang's case it was his wife Mo Ye (she thrown herseft into the smelter so the alloy could be formed), in the Hooked swords case it was the smith's own two sons (some said he used their blood to quench the blades instead of thrown them into the fire like Mo Ye). Later Goujian heard that rumor while seeking a sword that could rival Gan Jiang (which were in King Wu's possession at that time) and they also hinted that someone could use the same method to craft the sword.
You can tell she throughly enjoys her work & is totally enamored with Chinese history
First video of yours I've seen. ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING! New subscriber now.
Thanks and welcome!
I think that the Green Destiny sword from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was a reference to the Guo Jian (勾践) sword.
I presuppose nothing other than that is an exquisite form of art and war.
It looks even more amazing. I mean with my eyes instead of the screen. It shines in the glass cabinet. I don't know how to explain it.
Its a beautiful blade.
*Great Video - I think it would be cool to do a follow-up with Matt Easton from the Scholagladitoria Channel.* -I bet he knows quite a lot about this particular sword.
@13:13 I think that Dr. Milburn is being... a little "enthusiastic" about whether the sword was used in *physical combat* to *kill* somebody - the damage to the edge (especially the softer metals), and subsequent need for resharpening would damage the pattern of a blade that was legendary for it's beauty and craftsmanship. It was also just *one* of multiple swords buried in the tomb, but... the only buried *with* the person. He was a "sword-nut" maybe. It would be interesting to examine the others for combat use.
*Did* it kill somebody in an execution or a other some such? Maybe (or even plausibly, given the behavior of kings...), but not during armed combat.
I'm not an expert on sword combat, by any means at all [why I sub Scholagladitoria] Or an expert on anything for that matter, but I know a little about weapons used in crime scenes, and from my personal use of sharp things. (With scars to prove that! LOL) Cheers!
Yeah that sword was not used in combat. Very few swords that survive to the modern era from history were actually used, that's how they survive! War breaks things. It may well have been capable of being used, and indeed looks very sharp, but any blade to blade contact would nick the edge of any bronze sword (or any sword) quite significantly and require repair that would be detectable. That sword is pristine, and very beautiful, and its condition would suggest it was treasured and well kept as a show/status piece, and never actually used in combat.
I'm sure Matt would agree with your analysis and mine, though without examining the sword it's hard to say for certain from videos/photos.
Agreed. She may be a historian, but she clearly is not a sword expert, a combat expert, nor a metallurgist.
Good video, though have a problem with the claim "best sword in the world". Steel swords already existed in China in the warring states period, but probably their steel technique wasn't as mature as that of India at that time. Over time bronze weapons became obsolete as Han China began mass production of steel weapons.
I guess the "best" also include its cultural and artistic value.
There's also an interesting story in the goujian legend, a group of soldiers under him was used as a suicide squad in a battle and the group went near the enemy and suddenly in unison slit their throats in front of the enemy, stunning the enemy and allow goujian to defeat the stunned enemy with the rest of his forces. Since this is also written by a much later historian in the same manner as Roman writers, the veracity of the story can be taken with a grain of salt.
I agree-best in the world is hyperbole. It’s a nice looking sword, but obviously “best” is subjective and depends on context and criteria. There is no single best sword or sword type.
Lovely sword: but I kind of got a hardcore fanboy vibe off the expert. Bronze swords were quite impressive, at least aesthetically. But as you say, ended up being rendered obsolete even before the Han. A similar development happened throughout Asia and Europe, at a ~roughly~ similar time.
Even beside the metallurgy, sword design is very situational and “sword” is a very broad category including weapons for a variety of uses. A rapier is very different from a long sword, and an arming sword is very different from a falchion. A zweihänder is a lot more useful for breaking through a pike formation than a long sword, but is a lot less useful in a duel. There is no “best sword”, because sword is such a broad designation for a variety of weapons.
I’m very much not a fan of describing it as “the very best”, it comes off too hyperbolic. Calling them amazing swords, especially for the time, is perfectly fine, but the exaggeration just isn’t necessary. As others have said, it comes of fanboyish rather than a rational, educated take on it.
I don't think you could claim as a specific sword as "the best", master made swords were made for a specific person, their size, strength and fighting technique so if you switched 2 of these amazing swords with their owners, it is likely neither would be as good.
But I think people are assuming bronze is a far worse material then it actually is. While it is slightly less hard then historical steel (not always, depends on how good the steel was) it often is harder to break. That is why cannons made of bronze were so beloved during the 16th and early 17th century, they were far less likely to explode.
Bronze real drawbacks is not that it is weak, particularly when you mix different tin percentages for different part of the sword, but it's weight and it's price. Tin is a relatively rare metal and was insanely expensive during the bronze age and copper already is far more expensive then iron.
You still find plenty of bronze equipment like armor among the richer Roman soldiers due to how durable it is (and of course that it is both pretty and far easier to take of then something that rusts easily like iron and the steel of the time).
I am not convinced that even the Indian steel swords at the time were more durable under battle conditions. Maybe but you would really have to make pretty extensive tests to prove that.
The reason the iron age started was initially because almost all trade routes just disappeared during the bronze age collapse and at least the western worlds tin were mainly imported from places like Cornwall, Afghanistan and Cyprus. Add the economical collapse and using a cheaper material were a must.
I am not saying that bronze is always better then steel, it isn't and I honestly think the mixing of different type of bronze in this particular sword must have been exceptionally hard to accomplish, most bronze swords have a single material for the blade which certainly is inferior.
We also have some examples of master smiths mixing different steel alloys to a similar effect, it is also rather rare and far more extensive work.
A common problem is that people don't compare the best against eachother, if you take a Masamune Katana and compare it against a common made European sword of course the Masamune sword is vastly superior.
If you compare a master made Katana against a Ulfberht sword suddenly it isn't as easy to claim one is far better then the others. They are certainly different due to different fighting styles, armors and so on but both blades are extremely well made.
I think we instead need to look on specific smiths and even then, a comparison is almost impossible.
@@loke6664 Yep, comparisons of these sort are basically impossible. Like you mention, Masamune Katanas are unquestionably masterworks, but they are a product of a particular time, economy and level of science. The process of making Katanas is impressive given that it was a highly labor and skill intensive way to make up for deficiencies in material. It was a product born of necessity, and the results are amazing.
But even the best Katana ever made is still only specialized for the specific purpose for which it was made. If you tried to parry repeated blows from a longsword with inferior craftsmanship, the Katana would be significantly damaged in the process. Worse still would be if someone struck it with a hammer or mace. They just were not built to handle weapons that were designed to combat rapidly advancing armor technology. Weapon design is an iterative process of specialization. Moved out of its sphere and suddenly it is a much worse weapon.
Shows like "The Deadliest Warrior" reveled in comparing things that could not be compared directly, in situations where its intended use was absent. There is just no way to divorce a weapon from the reasons it was made and designed.
I know next to nothing about ancient Chinese history so this made for a refreshing change. Dr Milburn is a very endearing and interesting person to listen to. I do have a question though, why has the tomb of Emperor Qin never been excavated ?. They dug up the terracotta army and stopped. There are legends of lakes and mercury and what not. Anyway, great stuff WOA.
It's because so much of the tomb was destroyed in the first excavation, and they're waiting for technology to preserve as much as possible in the rest of the tomb.
@@dahkdm8787 That along side some cultural issues.
They're scared of corrosion, like the terracotta warriors were actually painted but the paint oxidized and corroded within minutes or hours immediately after excavation. Also they're scared of the supposed mercury contaminating the rest of the find. Lastly, and I guess probably the real reason, is that they want to keep it unexcavated for political leverage or something.
Damn it looks like Louis Vuitton
lol 😊
Chrome plated edges are unusual because you can't keep the sharp. They are ceremonial only.
Does it come when I order 200 knives? With a Tanto sword and Bowie knife too.
Is there a picture of the damage?