"Kaogongji" Weapon Sparse Certificate

Kao Gong Ji (the Artificers'Record) is the earliest document to comprehensively introduce technology and handicraft industry in pre-Qin dynasty, and is a work well-known throughout the ages and all over the world. It gives a detailed description on the form and manufacturing of the implements, revealing mature mathematical theories, a newly emerging scientific capacity, and the advanced handicraft technology of the pre-Qin era. During their long historical evolution, these implements have not changed greatly, and although many of them have since withdrawn from the historical stage, evidence still shows traces of their resplendent past. Current research on historical implements continues to place great emphasis on the Kao Gong Ji.Since the 20th century, plenty of excavated materials have provided much new evidences for ancient historical research. In light of such evidence, Wang Guowei put forward "the method of double evidences"-combining the study of ancient transmitted documents with that of newly excavated materials, and afterwards Rao Zongyi presented "the method of triple evidences"-wherein the excavated materials are further subdivided into the unearthed objects themselves and the paleography which is recorded on them. These two methods have come to be applied to the practice of the document research with increasing regularity. In recent years, the archaeological objects unearthed have offered us both real and intuitive material evidence. Much of the received literature is difficult to fully understand without the aid of visual and concrete objects, while archaeological materials make them clear at first glance. Correspondingly, the unearthed wares which could not otherwise be identified find their theoretical basis in the records of ancient documents. Therefore, using unearthed cultural relics to corroborate the objects recorded in ancient documents, are both important research methods in studying the Kao Gong Ji. The achievements of paleography are also very important in this study, as some characters in this book have retained their ancient original forms, different from those adopted in later orthography. Thus we can use the inscriptions on oracle bones, bronze, bamboo slips, silk and other materials to provide collateral evidence in this study.In the Kao Gong Ji, the description of weapons (including offensive and defensive weapons) is especially thorough and specific, which shows the importance of warfare in the society at that time. Scholars have laid particular emphasis on metallurgy in Kao Gong Ji. It is one of the earliest heritages on bronze foundry to be found among ancient tests. The manufacturing of spears, ges (dagger-axe with a cross blade, made of bronze or iron, with a long handle), halberds, arrowheads, and swords, reflected the outstanding foundry technology that existed in ancient Chinese society. Gong Ren (Bow Artificer) is the longest section in the Kao Gong Ji, and describes in detail the manufacturing of the compound bow in the pre-Qin era.In my dissertation, I divided the study of weapons of the Kao Gong Ji into two parts:Offensive weapons and defensive weapons.The first part includes three sections:?. Long weapons:axe, Ge (dagger-axe with a cross blade, made of bronze or iron, with a long handle) and halberd (an ancient weapon with a pointed bronze or iron head and a sharp blade fitted on the head of a long handle), spear (an ancient weapon with bronze or iron head fixed on a long pole), and Shu (an ancient weapon made of bamboo, with ridges but no blade).?. Short weapons:sword and Dao (an ancient weapon for cutting, mowing, hacking or chopping).?.Long-shooting weapons:compound bow, crossbow, and arrow.The second part also includes study of leather armor and shields.In each section, according to the order of the original content, I undertake textual research on the weapon, including its name, form, manufacture and development, and the question of the languages that is employed to describe it. There are three research methods employed:reference to relevant documents (the relevant contents of the Zhou Li and the other documents from the pre-Qin era); verification from archaeological materials (the use of archaeologically unearthed objects to verify the implements in Kao Gong Ji); and diagrammatic confirmation (inserting pictures or diagrams to enhance understanding).My research on the Kao Gong Ji has involved collecting and integrating the results of previous research and the evidence of archaeologically unearthed materials. As I attempt to solve problems in the work, I endeavor to base my own conclusions on the solid foundation laid down by prior scholars, elaborating on this basis by reference to evidence that can be gleaned by the further study of new materials.