During the Warring States period, the style of aristocratic swords was very prosperous. In order to show their identity, many noble swords were beautifully decorated. There is a saying in The Songs of Chu that "the land where the spear is long is far away in Xi, and the crown is interrupted by the cloud", which is the description of this situation at that time ("far away" refers to the gorgeous decoration on the sword). Many people had long swords at that time. When Tian Dan attacked Germany, it took a long time but failed. Someone made up a song to laugh at Tian Dan, including a sentence "A sword can reach your chin".
At that time, the sword was an important ritual vessel. At that time, men needed to be crowned as adults. When describing Ying Zheng's pro-government, Historical Records regards the sword as the same etiquette as the crown (the original text is "self-righteous, crown, sword." ), the importance of the sword can be seen. Because the sword is a weapon after all, courtiers have to take off their swords when they see the king.
When ordinary people get together, in order to show respect for each other, people attending the meeting will take off their swords, but if they force others to take off their swords, it means contempt for each other. When entering the sword (when holding the sword for others to see), the hilt should face left, which is convenient for the other party to hold the sword.
At that time, fencing was also used to judge the value of swords. After observing the appearance of the sword, the swordsman can judge the value of the sword according to his own experience. For good luck, craftsmen also choose auspicious days when casting swords. At the same time, the sword is also a standing weapon. There are many records about swords in ancient books, and there are also many patterns of soldiers fighting with swords on unearthed bronzes.
Some patterns about war are cast on the bronze sword with the pattern of land and water attack and war unearthed in Shanbiao Town, Ji County, Henan Province and the bronze pot with the pattern of attack and war inlaid in Baihuatan Middle School in Chengdu. Judging from the pattern, both archers and spearmen needed swords at that time, and holding a sword to meet the stab was a common means of combat for soldiers in melee.
Bronze swords from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period were mostly unearthed in aristocratic tombs. During the Warring States period, bronze swords were also buried in some civilian tombs. 10, 1975, 165438+ jiangling county started the longqiao river diversion project. Shortly after the construction began, the staff found a large number of tombs on the river. These tombs are Chu tombs in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and most of them are tombs in the Warring States period. Because it is located in Yutai Mountain, Yutai Village, it is called Chu Tomb of Yutai Mountain.
According to statistics, this cemetery consists of 558 tombs, among which a large number of bronze weapons were unearthed, including 172 bronze swords. Many Chu tombs with bronze swords unearthed are single-coffin tombs or coffins-less tombs. At that time, Guo was used in the tombs of the literati. It can be seen that the owners of these tombs are civilians or slaves.
The tombs of these civilians and slaves are very small. Some tombs have only a bronze sword, or only a bronze sword and a bronze dagger. This shows how prosperous the wind of swords was at that time. During the Warring States period, people who practiced fencing were called swordsmen. Many swordsmen devote themselves to the noble family in the political struggle, eliminating dissidents for their sons, which is called private swords. There are also some swordsmen who don't want to be bound by their masters and wander around the rivers and lakes with their swords, so they are called Xia or Ranger. What Han Feizi said: "Chivalry is forbidden by force" is "Chivalry".