Two Thousand Year Old Chinese Sword Shows No Tarnish

[Conley]

The sword was found sheathed in a wooden scabbard finished in black lacquer. The scabbard had an almost air-tight fit with the sword body. Unsheathing the sword revealed an untarnished blade, despite the tomb being soaked in underground water for over 2,000 years.

The Sword of Goujian still has a sharp blade and shows no signs of tarnish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian

How is it they can make something like this? They had advanced technology. Don't make them like this any more, especially in China

[MMC]

From its origin in 510 BCE to its demise at the hands of Chu in 334 BCE, nine kings ruled Yue, including Goujian, Lu Cheng, Bu Shou, Zhu Gou, and others. The identity of this king sparked debate among archeologists and Chinese language scholars. The discussion was carried out mostly in letters, and it involved famous scholars such as Guo Moruo. After more than two months, the experts started to form a consensus that the original owner of the sword was Goujian, the King of Yue made famous by his perseverance in time of hardship. So the entirety of the text reads "越王勾践 自作用劍", meaning "(Belonging to) King Goujian of Yue, made for (his) personal use".

Chemical compositionThe Sword of Goujian still has a sharp blade and shows no signs of tarnish. To understand why, scientists at Fudan University and CAS used modern equipment to determine the chemical composition of the sword, as shown in the table below.

Chemical compositionThe Sword of Goujian still has a sharp blade and shows no signs of tarnish. To understand why, scientists at Fudan University and CAS used modern equipment to determine the chemical composition of the sword, as shown in the table below.

Chemical compositionThe Sword of Goujian still has a sharp blade and shows no signs of tarnish. To understand why, scientists at Fudan University and CAS used modern equipment to determine the chemical composition of the sword, as shown in the table below.

Chemical compositionThe Sword of Goujian still has a sharp blade and shows no signs of tarnish. To understand why, scientists at Fudan University and CAS used modern equipment to determine the chemical composition of the sword, as shown in the table below.

Chemical compositionThe Sword of Goujian still has a sharp blade and shows no signs of tarnish. To understand why, scientists at Fudan University and CAS used modern equipment to determine the chemical composition of the sword, as shown in the table below

Amount of element by percentagePart examined
Copper Tin Lead Iron Sulfur Arsenic
Blade 80.3 18.8 0.4 0.4 – trace
Yellow pattern 83.1 15.2 0.8 0.8 – trace
Dark pattern 73.9 22.8 1.4 1.8 trace trace
Darkest regions 68.2 29.1 0.9 1.2 0.5 trace
Edge 57.3 29.6 8.7 3.4 0.9 trace
Central ridge 41.5 42.6 6.1 3.7 5.9 trace

The body of the blade is mainly made of copper, making it more pliant and less likely to shatter; the edges have more tin content, making them harder and capable of retaining a sharper edge; the sulfur decreases the chance of tarnish in the patterns.

It is likely that the chemical composition, along with the almost air-tight scabbard, led to the exceptional state of preservation.....snip~

Awesome Sword.....his Arch nemesis the King Fuchai of Wu fought with a Spear.

[Mister D]

Seriously, how could they make a sword like that? How could they have had the technology?

[Conley]

Awesome Sword.....his Arch nemesis the King Fuchai of Wu fought with a Spear.

Wu Tang clan aint nuttin to F wit ;D

Seriously D as a collector of fine weapons you gotta admit this sword is bad ass

[Mister D]

Sure. I'd love to have an antique like that.

[Conley]

Sure. I'd love to have an antique like that.

I wonder how much a new one would cost. It seems like it should be able to be mass produced.

[Mister D]

Sure. I'd love to have an antique like that.

I wonder how much a new one would cost. It seems like it should be able to be mass produced.

I cdertainly could be. I'd be wary of big ticket items.