Warriors of Ancient Ba Tribe

Excavations of the sites of the Ba people began in the 1950s. Large quantities of bronzes were found from the numerous sites of the Ba culture in eastern Chongqing, western Sichuan, western Hubei, western Hunan and Hanzhong that cover a large area. Most of the bronzes were weapons. Other bronzes were also related with war. The Ba people were probably the only ethnic group in the world what wrote its history with wars. The history of the Ba was a history of wars. The bronze weapons were the staff of life for the reproduction of the ethnic group and the measurement of the world.

Ezhou City Museum

53-year-old Dong Yawei made reproductions of the sword of Gou Jian , Prince of Yue and the sword of the Prince of Qin. He used the ancient method of casting bronze weapons. In December 2001, Dong Yawei showed us the making of a Ba sword, bringing us back to the remote Bronze Age.

Dong Yawei (Director Cultural Relics Reconstruction and Reproduction Research Institute, Ezhou Museum, Hubei Province):

In his writing 鈥淔or a Powerful State鈥 Xunzi , a noted philosopher of the Warring States Period, explained the administration of a state with the casting of bronze swords. He said that exact matrixes could be made with exact moulds.

With the guidance of Dong Yawei, workers made bronze sword moulds, including the shapes, scales and decorative patterns of swords. Fine clay was filled in the moulds and rammed.

The raised part of the mould and the filled clay formed the matrixes of a sword. The two matrixes were joined to form a complete clay matrix. The matrix was baked in a kiln at a temperature of 1,050-1,100 degrees centigrade. The baking temperature rose gradually until the crystal water in the clay matrix was thoroughly decomposed.

Dong Yawei:

The degree of smelting must be well controlled. The alloy must be well proportioned. The casting must be done by skillful craftsmen.

The matrix and mould were baked into pottery ones and then taken out of the kiln. Molten alloy of copper, tin, lead and other metals smelted in a crucible were filled in the pottery matrixes. After the molten alloy became solid, the craftsman opened the composite matrix and took out the embryonic form of a bronze sword.