Foreword
Wherever gold leaf is made, it is made into thin slices, wrapped in black gold paper, and beaten as hard as possible.
In this life, people are always accumulating wealth, going from time to time, and from time to time, always thinking of having more. No one wants to see their wealth shrink. However, there are many things that have shrunk in this world. For example, the clothes we wear are easy to shrink if we can see and touch, and there are also invisible things, such as inflation, currency devaluation, and the market will shrink. Even the gold leaf that we often say "real gold is not afraid of fire" will shrink. Believe it or not, there was once an old farmer who dug up 11 catties of gold leaf. He lost 3 catties in half a year. Why is there so much gold leaf missing? Where did the missing parts go?
The old farmer dug out 3 jars
On October 5, 1970, in the Hejia Village of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, several old farmers were laying foundations. Everyone knows that Xi'an is an ancient capital for a thousand years. One after another tomb, pile after pile of cultural relics. People jokingly call this city "a city built on a tomb". In the same way, these old farmers also found treasures while laying the foundation. They accidentally dug up two large clay pots and a silver pot. After opening, the contents hidden inside are dazzling.
These three jars seem unremarkable, but they contain mystery and are full of treasures. There are all kinds of precious materials, such as golden basins, silver plates, jade belts, glass bottles, crystal cups, and even some ancient coins, which are very valuable at first glance. At that time, the old farmer did not dare to be careless, and immediately reported the discovery to the local museum. The museum immediately dispatched experts to visit the site for guidance. After some appraisal, it was discovered that these treasures were daily necessities that could only be used by the court during the Tang Dynasty. The cultural relics are of great significance and can be called national treasures. Some of these treasures cannot be found globally. There are more than 1,000 cultural relics in these three jars, but this is not the most surprising to the experts.
Found gold leaf
Experts opened one of the jars and found that this jar not only contained water, but also a considerable amount of gold leaf was floating on the water. Even the gold leaf was standing on top of it in an orderly manner. These little golden dragons have a total of 12,In addition, in the water, people also found some red, blue and green gems.
Gold foil is actually a thin sheet beaten with gold. This material has good ductility and plasticity. It was not our country that was first discovered to make gold foil, but the Nile River basin in ancient Egypt. After being spread to China, it gradually became a traditional craft. Gold foil is stable in nature, not easy to change color, and also has good anti-oxidation, anti-mold, corrosion resistance, and other excellent characteristics. The higher the purity, the more complex the production process, and the higher the value of preservation, collection, and appreciation. In the history of about 3000 years ago, people have already had gold leaf products. During the Tang Dynasty, Qin Taoyu wrote the poem “Hate the golden thread every year and make wedding clothes for others”, and those women who wear expensive dresses make clothes all night long, and they only do it for others in exchange for a little meager. Income.
After half a year, it was discovered that the gold leaf became less.
Now these unearthed cultural relics, the four gold leaf floating on the water is of great reference value. People fished out the gold leaf floating in the water, but because of the undeveloped technology at the time, the staff directly weighed the weight at that time after drying it, and recorded it directly after the weighing, which was 11 kg. Half a year passed in a flash. When the museum staff took it out again, they discovered a strange thing. 11 catties of gold leaf had shrunk to 8 catties. Where did the 3 catties of gold leaf go? Some people suspect that the staff stole part of it. The most suspected expert is Han Wei, because he is directly responsible for the archaeological matters of the gold leaf. At that time, he had worked alone on these gold leaf many times, and he was most suspicious.
The museum faithfully reported the reduction of gold leaf. During this period, two of the four gold leaf groups were transferred to the Forbidden City for exhibitions. The higher-level instructions requested that the 4 groups of gold leaf be checked again. This time, the museum staff put the remaining two pieces together with the two pieces returned from the Forbidden City exhibition, and weighed them again, and found that the weight of the gold leaf had decreased this time.
Obviously, none of the two groups of gold leaf used for exhibitions had the opportunity to do tricks. Could these ancient gold leaf really shrink? In order to be able to prove his innocence, Han Wei did research again. He put 4 balls of gold leaf into the water again.After soaking for three days and three nights, after drying it out and weighing it, I found that the weight of the 4 pieces of gold leaf magically returned to 11 kilograms. It turned out that the gold leaf would really shrink by itself. As for why this is the case, people suspect that the thickness of the gold foil is too thin, and the layers are stacked, so the inside is stained with water, and it will have more weight if it is not dry, and this time Han Wei finally proved himself. Innocent.
Concluding remarks
If you have the opportunity, you may wish to take a walk in the museum and appreciate the rich cultural wisdom of the ancients. As for why the gold foil shrinks, what do you think of the screen? Everyone is welcome to discuss together and solve the mystery that plagues people.
References: "Tiangong Kaiwu"
Qin Taoyu of the Tang Dynasty "Poor Girl"
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