In the Nanjing Museum, one of the three major museums in China, there is a "treasure of the town hall" - the wrong silver and bronze cow lamp. What does this 2,000-year-old lamp look like? What's different?
The silver and copper cow lamp consists of a cow-shaped base and a lamp
and the smoke pipe
01 Western Han Dynasty version of the lantern
Human beings learned about fire in nature, and after a long period of contact and exploration, they made lamps. It can be said that the firelight illuminates the pace of human civilization towards civilization.
Although there is no definite date on the specific time when the lamps were formed, in the first collection of romantic poetry in China, Chu Ci and the Conjuring of Spirits, there is a description of "blue anointing bright candles, Chinese lanterns are wrong" (how brilliant the bright candles with orchid incense are, and the gorgeous lamps are scattered). This shows that during the Warring States period, there were lamps that used blue paste as fuel.
In 1980, the wrong silver and bronze cow lamp unearthed in the Eastern Han Dynasty tomb in Ganquan Town, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, is the Western Han Dynasty version of "blue paste bright candle, Hua lantern is wrong".
02 A rare one-of-a-kind product
The wrong silver copper bull lamp is cast in sections and can be disassembled and washed
The word "wrong" in the silver bronze bull lamp has the meaning of painting and applying, that is, the surface of the bronze is inlaid or painted with silver decoration.
In addition to the lampshade, the bronze cow lamp adopts the wrong silver process throughout, with flowing cloud pattern, triangular pattern and spiral pattern as the ground pattern (full of auxiliary patterns in the area other than the main body decoration), decorated with dragons, phoenixes, tigers, deer and various rare birds and beasts, the lines are elegant, the shape is vivid, it is a rare and unique product (a unique item, particularly precious, very rare).
03 Year of production: Probably earlier than the age of the tomb
The silver craft was popular from the Warring States period to the early Western Han Dynasty, and it was not very popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The overall shape and craftsmanship of the silver and bronze cow lamp are more inclined to the early Western Han Dynasty. Why is there a relic unearthed in the tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty that does not correspond to that era?
This phenomenon is called early relics unearthed from late tombs in archaeology, and the production age of relics is earlier than the age of tombs, especially practical exquisite objects, which are passed down and used for a period of time after being made, and "sleep" underground with the last owner.
There are several other cases of this situation in Jiangsu: in the Western Han Tomb of Sanlidun in Lianshui, Jiangsu, many wrong gold, silver and bronze artifacts from the Warring States period have been unearthed; In the tomb of Biyuan, the champion of the Qing Dynasty, the unearthed jade is divided into the Neolithic Age, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
In addition, because there are few inscriptions on the excavated relics that mention the specific time of production, it is difficult to clearly distinguish between the tomb and the burial goods from different ages if the characteristics of the era are not very obvious.
04 A typical representative of the Western Han Dynasty cylinder lamp
The ancients called the hollow lamp with a smoke guide tube cylinder lamp, which was the most advanced invention in the lamps at that time. In the West, the iron smoke guide lampshade invented by Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance was more than 1,000 years later than the invention of the cylinder lamp.
The silver and copper cow lamp is a cylinder lamp, which conducts smoke and removes smoke (tái, smoke and dust), clean and environmentally friendly, reasonable in height and suitable for lighting, and the adjustable lampshade can play a windproof role, and the segmented casting is easy to disassemble and wash.
The design of the silver bronze cow lamp not only performs well in the lighting function, but also shows the excellent level of ancient science and technology and production technology in the mainland.
01 The cow "gas" is not soaring
After testing and analysis, the fuel used in the bronze lamps and lanterns of the Han Dynasty is butter and beeswax, which belong to the synthetic fuel of animal fat or animal organic matter. When this type of fuel is burned indoors, the soot will rise with the flame and permeate the entire room, polluting the air.
The wrong silver and copper cow lamp cow belly is hollow and can store water. When the lamp is lit, the smoke is lighter than the cold air and flows upward; When the highest point of the hood is reached, it continues to flow down the smoke duct under the impetus of the subsequent smoke pressure. In this way, a siphon-like phenomenon will be formed in the smoke guide pipe - the smoke passes through the smoke guide pipe, is introduced into the belly of the cow, and dissolves in water to avoid polluting the air; At the same time, the air convection is strengthened, so that the combustion is more complete and the energy is saved.
02 The ancients also talked about ergonomics
During the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, people often "sat on the ground", and the table (several furniture that people relied on when they sat in ancient times, and the case was the furniture used by people when eating, reading and writing) also belonged to the low type, with a height of about 30 cm, so people's line of sight was relatively low.
The silver bronze bull lamp is 46.2 centimeters high, the height of the light is basically suitable for the line of sight when people kneel and sit, and it weighs 8.2 kilograms, and it is not easy to tip over on the desk.
03 Adjustable light and dark
The lampshade of the silver bronze bull lamp is composed of two arc-shaped plates, which can be closed to form a circle. By fastening the round earrings on the outer wall of the lampshade, you can move the position of the two lampshades left and right.
The lampshade and dome-shaped lampshade cover have the function of reflecting and concentrating light, and by moving the position of the two lampshades, the intensity of the light can be adjusted and the direction of the lighting can be changed.
The diamond-shaped oblique lattice hole engraved on the lampshade has the effect of heat dissipation and light leakage. When the light passes through the diamond-shaped diagonal lattice hole, the light shines farther and expands the illumination range of the lamp.
05 Those famous lamps of the Han Dynasty
01 Changxin Palace Lamp · Western han dynasty
Unearthed in Hebei in 1968, the overall shape is a kneeling palace maid, holding a lamp holder in her left hand and a lampshade in her right hand, which is now stored in the Hebei Provincial Museum.
02 Feather Pattern Bronze Phoenix Lantern · Western han dynasty
The whole adopts the shape of the phoenix bird, unearthed in Hepu County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1971, with a height of 33 cm and a length of 42 cm, and is now stored in the Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
03 Suzaku Bronze Lamp · Western han dynasty
The overall shape is a winged red bird, beak with a lamp plate, and a pedal dragon, which is now in the Hebei Provincial Museum.
This article is excerpted from the magazine "Knowledge is Power", "More than 2000 Years Ago, Environmental Protection Lamps Wrong Silver and Bronze Bull Lamps".
Nowadays, with the help of modern technology, the Nanjing Museum has rejuvenated the silver and bronze cow lanterns: no matter where visitors are, they only need to enter the Nanbo digital cultural relics display platform to separate the lamp holder, lamp and cigarette pipe; Click on the belly of the lamp to see the light and the green smoke entering the pipe in the hollow part of the lamp; With your fingers, you can zoom in, zoom out or rotate the Copper Cow Lantern at any angle online, and watch the use process and working principle of the Copper Cow Lantern. The development of science and technology has also added "modern fuel" to the Tongniu lamp, making it shine for thousands of years.