Chinese
Nine Tripod Cauldrons
九鼎
The legitimacy to rule all under heaven. They rest with dynasties of virtue.
VesselFirst recorded c. 400 BCE
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Photograph: A Chinese bronze sword of the fifth to fourth century BCE, with a ridge along the center of its straight double-edged blade and rings around the grip.
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3,000 × 1,688 PX3000×1688
ArchiveChinese · Weapon
Gan Jiang and Mo Ye
干將 · 莫邪
A male and female pair of swords that cut iron like mud.
- Owner
- King Helü of Wu
- Maker
- The sword-making couple Gan Jiang and Mo Ye
- First record
- Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue50
- Gallery
- Chinese
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
According to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, King Helü of Wu ordered the smith Gan Jiang to forge famous swords. But after three months the metal would not melt.
Gan Jiang's wife Mo Ye, having heard that smiths of old had given themselves when iron would not melt, cut off her hair and fingernails and put them in the furnace. The iron melted and became two swords, and the couple named the male sword Gan Jiang and the female Mo Ye.
The Jin-dynasty Soushen Ji tells a different story, in which the king of Chu kills Gan Jiang after receiving his sword, and Gan Jiang's son gives his life for revenge. "Gan Jiang and Mo Ye" came to mean any famous sword.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Sword(Chinese, 5th–4th century BCE), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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