In the developed Bronze Age, why were there so few bronze farm tools found?

Because they are all rotten in the long river of time! Bronze can be in a natural environment.

How long has it been in existence? Decades? Hundreds of years?

Thousands of years? It is a strange thing that bronze farming tools have been handed down since then. Some people may say, "Then why are there other bronzes that have survived for thousands of years?"

The answer is that "the bronzes are extremely precious works of art, carefully preserved, or enclosed in tombs without wind or air." "Who's going to collect it, to keep it carefully and carefully? Who would choose to be buried with farm tools?

No one would do such a thing, so in modern times there are very few bronze farming tools found, and very few finds are accidental.

In the era of bronze development thousands of years ago, although it was claimed to be developed, it could not be compared with today's high technology. The development of that time seems very crude today, and because there were no factories for mass production, the popularity was not as great as it is today. At that time, metal smelting was still mainly forged by manpower and blacksmiths, so at that time, people could live and live a very nourishing life by striking iron, but they can't do it today.

However, the metal forged by manpower has a very obvious defect, that is, there are too many impurities, not to mention that it is used to make agricultural tools, so it is even rougher. As a result, this kind of agricultural tools, which are of very poor quality, are even more difficult to survive under the corrosion of time.

In fact, those metal farm tools that have been well preserved for thousands of years can be roughly divided into two situations: one is deliberately well preserved, such as the royal family with a special collection habit, when he dies, descendants will choose funeral goods according to his preferences, so if there is an important royal family who likes to collect farm tools, then it will be specially created for burial; The second is that a certain agricultural tool was placed in a very special natural environment by chance, and has been well preserved to this day, but this is almost invisible.

Generally speaking, the main reason why bronze agricultural tools are rarely found today is that bronze tools are not suitable for preservation in the natural environment, they are easy to corrode, and because of their low value, no one deliberately spends a lot of effort to preserve, so there are fewer handed down.

Because no one would choose to use agricultural tools as their funerary goods, then bronze as a metal is difficult to preserve for thousands of years under natural circumstances.

Because the material of bronze is relatively brittle, it is not suitable for making agricultural tools to work in the field.

Because bronze is generally not used as agricultural tools, bronze is a symbol of power.

Generally, the development of Chinese bronze culture is divided into three stages, namely, the formative period, the heyday period and the transformation period.

1. Formative period.

4500 4000 years ago in the Longshan era, which is equivalent to the era of Yao Shunyu legend. Ancient texts record that people began to smelt bronze at that time. In the Longshan period ruins in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, bronze artifacts have been found in dozens of ruins through archaeological excavations.

Second, the heyday.

The heyday was the Chinese Bronze Age, which included the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn periods and the early Warring States period, lasting about 1,600 years. The bronzes of this period are mainly divided into ceremonial instruments, weapons and miscellaneous objects. Musical instruments are also mainly used in the festival activities of the Jongmyo Temple.

3. A period of transition.

The transition period generally refers to the period from the end of the Warring States period to the end of the Qin and Han dynasties. The traditional system of etiquette has completely collapsed, and iron products have become widely used. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, ceramics had been greatly developed, and the daily bronze vessels were further excluded from life.

As for weapons, tools, etc., iron tools had long been dominant at this time. The bronzes of the Sui and Tang dynasties were mainly all kinds of exquisite bronze mirrors, which generally had various inscriptions. Since then, it can be said that there has been no development of bronze ware other than bronze mirrors.

What are the characteristics of different periods of bronze development? The Xia Dynasty was the beginning of the Bronze Age, and the bronzes of this period were generally few in type, small in shape, thin in texture, and not well developed. In the late Shang Dynasty, a relatively complete range of bronze ware was formed, which was divided into four categories: ritual vessels, musical instruments, weapons, tools, and chariot and horse vessels.

In the later Shang Dynasty, the casting process was more exquisite, and the shape was dignified and solid.

The ornamentation is gorgeous and majestic. By the Qin and Han dynasties, it was the end of its development. The late Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty were the first peak periods for the development of bronze art. The middle of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Warring States Period was the second peak period.

The glorious achievements of these two periods represent the aesthetic pursuits of different eras.

Not widely used.

Bronze agricultural tools appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but they could not be used on a large scale due to the preciousness of bronze and the lack of hardness. Stone hoes and ploughs are still the main agricultural tools.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the improvement of productivity, iron farming tools and ox ploughing appeared in large quantities and gradually spread them.

The Western Han Dynasty cocoon car combines ditching and sowing, and the power is increased dozens of times, which is the prototype of the modern seed drill. Zhao Guo of the Western Han Dynasty promoted the coupling plow, and gradually developed from two oxen and three people at the beginning to two oxen and one person in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The production efficiency has been greatly improved.

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the quyuan plough appeared, which was equipped with a plough evaluation, which could adjust the depth of the plough and adapt to various soils and different field cultivation requirements.

Bronzes were not widely used in the Shang Dynasty. There are three main reasons.

1. Bronze is a symbol of power and status, and those who can afford it are princes and nobles and ordinary people.

It is unaffordable and not allowed.

2. Bronze ware is mainly used for ritual utensils for sacrifice and for the daily life of nobles.

3. Due to the complex smelting technology of bronze ware, and the high production cost and low hardness, it is not suitable for making agricultural tools.

In the three periods, the Xia Dynasty began to have bronze vessels and weapons. By the middle Shang period, the variety of bronzes was already abundant, and inscriptions and fine patterns appeared. From the late Shang period to the early Western Zhou Dynasty, it was the heyday of the development of bronze ware, with a variety of types, thick and dignified, gradually lengthened inscriptions, and rich patterns.

Subsequently, the bronze carcass began to thin and the ornamentation was gradually simplified. From the late Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period, due to the popularization and use of ironware, copper tools became less and less. During the Qin and Han dynasties, as porcelain and lacquerware entered daily life, the variety of copper vessels decreased, the decoration was simple, most of them were plain, and the carcass was thinner.

The splendid period of bronze ware is really the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods.

During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, China's bronze was very developed, so the three dynasties are called the Bronze Age.

But the real prosperity began in the Shang Dynasty, such as: Simu Wuding.

Bronze originated in Xia, flourished in the middle of the Shang Dynasty, that is, after Wuding, and flourished in the late Shang and Western Zhou dynasties.

Later, in addition to the decorative pieces and small pieces of bronze of daily necessities, ritual utensils, cooking utensils, and weapons were basically replaced by other forms. In addition, the study of bronzes cannot be summarized simply in terms of rise, prosperity and decline, because the content of bronzes can be said to be all-encompassing. The composition of bronze, the content of the ritual system, the casting process, the scope of use, etc., all of them are advanced with the times, and the world has moved.