Cultural relics have experienced the baptism of the times, the changes of dynasties, and the changes of history, and it is not easy to preserve them to this day. And those antiquities that have been forgotten in the long river of time are even more precious. These antiquities are what we call "intangible cultural heritage" today. The so-called "intangible cultural heritage" refers to traditional cultural expressions with distinct national and regional characteristics. Their existence is not only the condensation of the wisdom of the ancient working people on the mainland, but also a bridge connecting the ancient and the modern and the medium of dialogue between the ancient and the modern.
Artifacts don't speak, but they speak silently to us, telling their own stories in their own colors, textures, shapes, etc.
Artifacts are important to us and they bring us a wealth of knowledge. Many of these precious collections are precious cultural relics of historical and artistic value. They not only record the bits and pieces of people's lives at that time, but also reflect the cultural level and development status of that era. In particular, those precious cultural relics represent the distinctive characteristics of this dynasty. By understanding them, we can indirectly deepen our understanding of that dynasty.
The Yellow River Iron Bull sounds like an ornament standing on the edge of the Yellow River, but is it?
In fact, the Yellow River iron bull casting was cast by Tang Kaiyuan thirteen years ago, with the nicknames of "Tang Dynasty Iron Cow" and "Kaiyuan Iron Bull", which is a famous town water god beast on the bank of the Yellow River, which plays the role of fixing the bridge cable.
So why did the Tang Dynasty forge iron bulls instead of other animals? Because cattle, like horses, have good defensive functions and can also be used for grazing. But why is that? There's another reason for this. The ancients said, "Wood can produce gold, and stone can produce iron." This is because "soldiers will block, water will cover the soil", cattle represent the soil, so people believe that cattle have the role of calming water and driving disasters.
The iron bull comes in all shapes and sizes, with a length of about 3 meters, a width of 1 meter, a length of 1 meter 9, and a weight of 70 tons. There are many such large iron cattle in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Songhua River, which is the famous "iron cow" - Chinese sturgeon. The Chinese sturgeon is one of the world's endangered species, and it is distributed in China, Russia and other places. Their heads were facing west, facing the East River, their front legs were pedal legs, their back legs were squatting, and their heads were raised high, looking very energetic.
The iron man pulled to the side, and the imposing look reminded him of the idyllic scene of a group of cattle herding. On the surface, they represent different nationalities, which is also a sign of the great national inclusiveness of Chinese civilization. And the kind of tenacity and tenacity embodied in the iron man is worth learning and learning. In ancient times, people have begun to use metal casting tools to make weapons. The advent of iron made mankind enter the mechanical age. Iron Bull is not only huge in size, but also exquisite in production.
The Tang Dynasty used the mature fire pure green iron smelting technology to bring each iron cow to life. The inventor of this technique was Li He, a famous metallurgist of the Tang Dynasty. He invented an iron horse made of copper or iron. This iron horse was originally used to carry salt and grain. Ancient craftsmen also coated it with a thick coating to prevent rusting.
The Yellow River has changed, and so has the iron bull of the Yellow River. In the 1940s, during the dry season, cow horns could be touched in the water. Because of this, bull horns often scratch the bottom of passing vessels. Since there were no advanced tools to salvage the bottoms of these boats, people had to throw them into the river or on the river beach. Later, people used this method to clean up rocks, weeds and other debris in the bottom of the boat and the riverbed. By the 1950s, the Yellow River's iron cattle were buried so deep in the mud and sand that they could no longer feel their horns.
Because the Yellow River has a long history of iron cattle, long-term erosion has a certain corrosive effect on the surface of the river. Because the tail of the Yellow River iron bull is thicker and soaked in water for a long time, it is prone to rust, so that the Yellow River iron bull tail loses its original toughness and elasticity, and even fractures. This makes the Yellow River iron bull more fragile and more difficult to excavate.
In order to maximize the protection of the Yellow River iron bull, after careful study and detailed discussion, the experts decided to adopt the method of "local protection". They installed many devices such as sensors and alarms on the iron bull, and these devices will immediately sound an alarm in the event of a flood, reminding people to pay attention to safety. The Yellow River Iron Bull was bred by Liu Hongyi, a farmer on the outskirts of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. Experts raised the base of the Yellow River Iron Bull and used a series of tools to place them on the surface.
The excavated Yellow River iron cattle also have vivid iron men, they have clear ornaments on their bodies, which shows that the casting process is very good, which can not but be amazed.
Plans are publicly demonstrated, but experts are afraid to protect them
The authorities decided to salvage the iron bull from the river to prevent it from disappearing, but when it was successfully salvaged ashore, why were experts hesitant to protect it?
This is because the past situation in the field of cultural relics protection was very bad. For example, although some cultural relics have been used for a long time, there are still some problems, and some have even been damaged to the point where they can no longer be repaired. Therefore, the effective management and protection of cultural relics is a very important task. For example, the "Zhenhai Roar" iron lion in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, has not yet rusted after thousands of years of wind and rain. But when the staff tried to protect it, it became rusty and badly damaged.
This is the result of poor protection technology, which is a pity. We know that any new product needs to be rigorously demonstrated and tested before it can enter the market. If the product itself is defective, it will affect the consumer's evaluation of this new product, thereby reducing its market share. Therefore, in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past, without the support of mature technology, experts dare not act rashly.
Therefore, what experts are worried about is not the protection of cultural relics, but the protection of cultural relics in the case of uncertain, even imperfect and immature technology.
Because instead of risking secondary damage to cultural relics, it is better to put them aside and wait for the time to come. In this process, we can see the unique value and artistic charm of cultural relics, and also feel its profound impact on human lifestyle. The cultural relic itself is a living organism, and its life course is long and tortuous. Perhaps unscathed is the best protection for these thousand-year-old artifacts.
The method of protecting iron artifacts has always bothered experts, and when excavating, they have to consider various unexpected situations, what method to choose, what kind of tools to use to excavate, and even how to prevent rust.
How to successfully protect and preserve iron artifacts is a big problem in the world, and I hope that one day this problem can be solved. In this process, we must learn to respect history and cherish the present, while also paying attention to the inheritance of traditional culture. In this way, we can protect the hearts of the ancients and make the classics come alive.