The author of this article: Li Xiuxian, created and published by Craftsman Workshop, please indicate the source for reprinting.
Speaking of the world's three most famous blades - the Damascus sword, the Malay Kris sword, and the Japanese samurai sword, even people who don't play cold weapons have heard of it. The term was formally proposed by Zhou Wei, an Asian ancient weapon scientist in modern times. But in fact, if we go back to ancient times, we will find that their reputation has long been traced, and it is much more interesting than the simple name. In the Yuan Dynasty, the poet Zhang Xian composed a song "North Court Xuanyuan Jiexi Fan Sword Song". He wrote: "Java embroidery is soft and melodious, and Eastern Japanese pure steel is not touched. Xian Hou shows me Xifan. The name of the sword is the record of the ancient and modern swords.” This includes the three famous swords very accurately, and he also made a rare comparison of the western sword (that is, the ancient Damascus sword), the Japanese sword, and the Java sword. The Japanese sword is too hard, the Java sword is soft, the Damascus sword in Central Asia and West Asia is the best, and the name is the record of ancient and modern swords.
△The hand-forged Damascus knife in the artisan workshop
As the first of the three famous blades, the Damascus knife indeed gives people a majestic sense of ups and downs in terms of history, culture, popularity, including performance and appearance. There is a painting in the living room of the R&D laboratory of the Indian Iron and Steel Association. It depicts such a scene. As far back as 330 BC, the ancient Indian king Puru greeted Alexander the great. Sabre, and behind him, the servant carried a golden box as an additional gift, which contained the ancient Indian wuzi steel (Damascus steel) that was more valuable than gold at that time, which was used to make Damascus swords.
△Artisan workshop hand-forged Damascus knife
The reputation of the ancient Damascus knife is actually the result of a cultural collision. It was first born when the top Persian Damascus craftsmen in ancient times re-processed Uzi steel from northern India and cast in crucibles, which was also a very rare high carbon steel at that time, and it appeared. It plays its role silently and sharply in local social life and military equipment.
△The hand-forged Damascus knife in the artisan workshop
Until the Third Crusade, Europeans met the machete used by the Arabs for the first time in Damascus. The surface pattern of this knife is extremely beautiful, and the veins are like silk texture. , dazzling, and most importantly, it is also extremely sharp. The famous Scottish writer Walter Scott described a scene in his novel "Amulet". When the thin and pale Saladin fought Richard the Lionheart, he cut the silk with his machete. In reality, the collection of high-ranking officers and nobles in Europe has even set off a wave of Damascus knives. shows how much Europeans marvel at Damascus knives. It is since then that the Damascus knife has become famous all over the world.
△Saladin volleyed to cut the silk
But the brilliance of the Damascus knife did not last forever. It was mysteriously "lost", and there are different opinions about the reasons for its loss, and there is no conclusion until now. Because during this period, there was a large-scale western expedition by Mongolia, which brought great misfortune to the city of Damascus. Some people say that this war brought a devastating blow to Damascus craftsmanship. Of course, the facts are unknown, but the only certainty is that the Yuan Dynasty, established by the Mongolian people, indeed took a group of Damascus craftsmen to Central Plains for infrastructure construction, and set up a special management agency to manage all kinds of craftsmen. In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a "Pan and Iron Bureau", which was located in the Zhili area, and it was specially made for the nobles to make iron and steel swords. and the term "titanium iron" first appeared in the Northern Wei Dynasty, which refers to the wuzi steel that came in as an important material. It can be seen that there is indeed an indelible connection between the Iron and Steel Bureau and the Damascus knife.
△Pan-iron pattern
The craftsmanship of the artisan workshop is the family craftsmanship inherited from Master Zhang Yong's grandfather, which can be traced back to the Yuan-dynasty Pan-Iron Bureau. Moreover, after the iron sword and the so-called Damascus sword craft arrived in the Central Plains, there was actually a process of localization, and it became an overall excellent patterned blade craftsmanship, which is the folding and forging pattern steel inherited from the artisan workshop today. craft. The evolution process of is also very interesting. If you are interested, we will talk about it next time.
△Hand-forged Damascus knife in a craftsman's workshop
The Damascus knife born from the fire is also immortal in the fire. The world kissed the cold light on its blade, and threw the blood of a lifetime on a piece of land. The blade licked the blood spurting from the enemy to maintain its immortal glory.
