There is a weapon in the Xiang Family Ancestral Hall in Suqian, Jiangsu Province. Judging from the introduction, this weapon is called the "Overlord Halberd" and it was a weapon used by Xiang Yu back then.
Everyone knows that Xiang Yu can carry a tripod, and the weapon he uses is naturally very heavy, reaching a full 130 kilograms.
Isn’t it scary? Most people can’t even lift such a weight, let alone playing with it. Therefore, many people who have visited the Xiang Family Ancestral Hall feel that human beings today may have degenerated.
In fact, don’t be fooled by the weight in the introduction. The ancient weight unit is different from today’s weight unit.
Converted according to the weight units of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the weight of this weapon is a little over 30 kilograms, which is about 60 kilograms.
However, even if it weighs 60 pounds, it is extremely difficult to hold it in your hands and play like a tiger.
What's more, if ancient military commanders started a fight, they couldn't stop for a while. It was normal for the fight to last all day and all night. So were ancient generals really able to carry weapons weighing dozens of kilograms for long periods of time?
Ancient War
Whether it is a literary work or a film and television work, the description of the process of ancient war is basically just a few sentences, and at best it will be described in one or two chapters.
However, the real war in ancient times was much more complicated.
Generally speaking, before the start of an ancient war, it took a long time to prepare grain, grass and various materials. At the same time, the commanders of both sides would deploy troops, send reconnaissance troops to spy on the military situation, and conduct small-scale trials.
When everything is ready, the two sides will spread out their formations to fight.
Due to the backward communication capabilities in ancient times, the commander needed scouts to report back and forth when commanding the battlefield. In this way, the commander's orders are conveyed from the general to the captain, then from the captain to the captain, and finally to the tun, shrine, and corps, so that each soldier can know how to fight.
can be said to be very time-consuming.
However, this is just the beginning. After that, the two sides will continue to adjust their formations and look for each other's flaws until they find the other's flaws and launch a general attack.
However, before finding a good way to defeat the enemy, the two sides will repeatedly engage in small-scale wars. Therefore, it is not uncommon for a battle to last for days, months, or even years.
Of course, before the general offensive is launched, neither side will devote all their troops to it. Unless the fight is very stalemate, they will fight for a day or two. Generally speaking, the battle will be resolved within half a day, or at most one day. After all, soldiers are not machines. They need to rest, eat and use the toilet.
Needless to say, under normal circumstances, in those battles that lasted for a day or even several days, how could the generals continue to carry out weapons weighing dozens of kilograms in their hands?
Ancient Weapons
Speaking of ancient weapons, everyone is familiar with the " Eighteen Weapons", the heaviest of which should be the hammer, followed by the long knife or iron rod.
From a literary point of view, ancient weapons often weighed hundreds of kilograms, such as the 800 kilogram hammer in the hands of Li Yuanba , the 130 kilograms double mace in the hands of Qin Qiong, and in the hands of the Three Kingdoms Guan Yu and the Water Margin Guan Sheng The weapons also weighed more than 80 kilograms.
Of course, literary creators will deliberately exaggerate the weight of weapons in order to heighten the atmosphere. But if you look through official history books, you will find that many weapons in ancient times were also very heavy.
The weight of weapons in various dynasties in history has always been around 30 kilograms, and some can even reach hundreds of kilograms. Putting aside the overlord's halberd mentioned above for now, it means that the contemporary historian Ying Tingji clearly recorded in his work "Qing Phosphorus Chips" that the iron rod in the hands of Ming Dynasty general Gao Jie weighed 18 Jin, and it makes the wind blow when you play.
If the iron rod in Gao Jie's hand is a bit light, then the "History of Song Dynasty·Yue Yun Biography" records the weight of the two hammers in Yue Yun's hand, totaling 80 kilograms. As we all know, the weight unit in the Song Dynasty was heavier than today, and 80 kilograms is equivalent to about 100 kilograms today.
In addition, foreign historian Wei Feide recorded in his book "Hong Ye" that Wu Sangui, King of Pingnan in the Qing Dynasty , had a Daguan Dao similar to the Qinglong Yanyue Dao. This Daguan Dao weighs 32 kilograms and is one of Wu Sangui's favorite weapons.
However, after Wu Sangui's defeat, the long iron handle of the Daguan Dao was broken and was later replaced with a long wooden handle. Today, this Daguan Dao is displayed in the exhibition hall of the Golden Store of Taihe Palace in Kunming.
But even so, this Daguan knife weighs 12 kilograms.
From the perspective of historical records, ancient weapons were indeed very heavy. Is it true that as mentioned above, today's human beings have degenerated?
The answer is of course no, which can be confirmed by the unearthed ancient weapons. After all, written records can be whatever you want, but physical objects cannot lie.
Ancient weapons unearthed
Judging from the weapons unearthed so far, their weight is generally about 1 kilogram.
The most famous one is Yue Wang Goujian's sword . This sword is short and powerful, weighing only 1 kilogram. However, this sword is a decorative sword and has little reference value. But the Tang Dynasty sword decorated with gold and silver is different. It was a very common weapon in the Tang Dynasty, but it only weighed 1 kilogram.
In addition, the ring-headed iron knife commonly used by Li Xian, the general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty , unearthed in Ningxia, weighs 2.1 kilograms. You must know that Li Xian was a famous general in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and experienced many battles in his life. The weapons in his hands were not decorations, but life-saving weapons.
In addition to the above, the seven famous swords that have been unearthed so far, various broadswords , as well as whips, maces, hammers and other weapons, all weigh between 1-5 kilograms. Even the "Pumpkin Hammer" of the Ming Dynasty only weighed Just over 2 pounds.
As for the Overlord Halberd and Wu Sangui's Daguandao mentioned earlier, they should not be actual combat weapons, but a weapon for training arm strength.
This is related to records in the Ming Dynasty's " Armament Chronicles ". In the military camp of the Ming Dynasty, there were some very heavy weapons specially used to train the arm strength of soldiers and officers.
Since ancient weapons were not heavy in kind, ancient generals would naturally not feel particularly tired if they held them in their hands for long-term battles.
Reference material: "Military Bei Zhi"
