Chapter 1,791 A unique treasure from the Tang Dynasty
Since the third millennium BC, golden millet technology (or welding bead technology) has been around.
From about the ninth century BC to the first century BC, the Intruscans in central Italy developed it to a perfect level.
With the opening of the land and maritime Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, this exquisite skill was introduced to our country.
It also shined in the metalworking of the Han and Tang dynasties and became one of the eight major gold crafts in China.
The fried bead craft was an important inlay and decoration technique for gold products in the Tang Dynasty in my country. People in the Tang Dynasty vividly called it "golden millet".
Although it is called golden millet, these gold beads are much smaller than corn, usually about 1 mm in diameter.
Fried beads - cut equidistant pure gold into small line segments, sprinkle them on charcoal, and melt them with fire to form a round bead shape.
The larger particles are then screened and densely spread on the metal embryo, welded and joined to form a decorative texture on the surface of the utensil, also known as "bead pattern" or "fish egg pattern".
Why fried beads need to be placed on charcoal to melt? The purpose is to use charcoal ash as a base to support the condensed gold beads so that the particles can form a complete spherical shape.
High-purity gold does not cause oxidation when melted, so pure gold can be joined by directly melting and contacting the two ends without relying on solder.
Modern jewelry technology developers, while developing new products, have also not stopped focusing on the integration and innovation of traditional craftsmanship, and are creating more jewelry products that are rich in cultural heritage and charm, and in line with contemporary aesthetics.
The first step in the bead-explosion process is to melt low-purity gold at low temperature and then place it under a wooden barrel filled with water using a metal filter.
At the same time, the vessel must be rotated, and the heated gold beads will form a round shape when rolled over. In this way, real "golden millet" can be produced.
Moreover, they were all daily necessities of the royal family at that time, such as various silver pots and gold cups, incense burners, coins, jade belts and gold ornaments, etc.
To this day, you can still see a small number of Yinba handicrafts using metal bead technology.
Except for pure gold or silver of low fineness, other metals such as copper, iron, tin, etc. cannot be used because the surface is wrapped by an oxide layer before being melted. The characteristics of the metal are conducive to the passage of water and melting and dissolving into beads, and there are ways to use it.
Come and do the bead blasting process.
Of course, there are not many skilled craftsmen in your country who can use that kind of craftsmanship to produce very few exquisite works.
According to records, as early as the 1st century AD, metal bead technology was widely used in jewelry making.
Step 7: Pour the melted liquid gold into the filter while it is cold, so that the liquid gold will stop dripping.
For example, Yinba jewelry craftsmen have developed and passed down the technology.
In the Xishan History Museum, the "Little Tang Heritage" has always been one of the exhibition halls that people hate checking in to the most.
That is the most common jewelry decoration technique after metal welding technology is widely used.
Come here, after some investigation and appraisal, and based on the inscriptions under some gold vessels, we can determine the burial time of the treasures.
But that also requires the goldsmith to have a good grasp of the temperature, so it is difficult for the gold millet to collapse.
After observation, the old masters discovered that Chai Ningzheng was made using an ancient gold craft, namely fried beads.
For example, the exquisite cultural relics unearthed from the Hejiacun cellar amazed countless admiring audiences.
It originated in the Han Dynasty, but due to its relatively low manufacturing difficulty and low requirements for welding technology.
The back of the gold comb has been around for less than a thousand years, but it can still be seen that the large gold beads are extremely exquisite and have not become loose or fallen off at all.
This phenomenon of melting without producing an oxide layer is called "water leakage", and fried beads are produced by applying such metal properties.
There are not even some skilled craftsmen who can reproduce small batches of ancient exquisite jewelry.
For a while, the experts had no clue. They came to consult several masters of goldsmiths and finally solved the mystery of the manufacturing of the gold comb back.
Before contacting the water, large gold beads with clear particles are formed, and then the gold beads are picked up and the small and large ones are selected for use.
Traditional craftsmanship is the treasure left to you by your ancestors, and the spirit of craftsmanship is tangible wealth.
Combining ancient craftsmanship with modern design concepts can create a wonderful collision between tradition and innovation.
For example, "When you dance, the spring breeze blows to the ground, and when you return, you will be given a comb" (Wang Jian's "Gong Ci"), "Your hair is combed with a big comb, and you will apply round dimples in front of your face" (Yuan Zhen, "Hate Makeup").
The eighth step is to arrange the gold beads into corresponding patterns on the surface of the gold comb, then put them under charcoal and heat them up for welding. In August, in Hejia Village on the outskirts of Chang'an City, a villager was digging the foundation for a new house.
Two small pottery urns were dug out.
After an inventory, a total of less than 1,000 cultural relics were discovered that time.
Among them, the large pure gold comb is particularly eye-catching.
According to the initial measurement, the back of the gold comb is about 7.9 centimeters long, about 1.5 centimeters low, and about 0.34 centimeters thick.
Charcoal ash can also be subdivided into three methods. The first is to melt gold and then drop it into the charcoal ash.
Even the gold jewelry itself will have orange peel lines, which affects its appearance.
Therefore, it makes some experts wonder, how did ancient craftsmen make it?
Metal bead craftsmanship has been widely spread in the seven ancient civilizations.
The third method is to beat the gold into thin slices first, then cut it into large pieces, put it in charcoal ash and cool it.
Through the study of the inscriptions, it is inferred that its owner may have been Liu Zhen, the minister of state at that time, who fled the war and buried it.
The back of the gold comb is in the shape of a half-moon, which was a kind of headgear worn by women and men at that time.
Those things only had very low artistic value and represented the lowest level of gold and silverware manufacturing in the Tang Dynasty at that time.
The most surprising thing is that there are countless large and fine gold beads welded on its surface, and their diameters are all about 0.5 mm.
It was made of two pieces of gold beaten together, and there was no exquisite trimming inside.
What kind of magical craft is it? If it is a craft of knowledge.
Naturally, Chen Wenzhe hates antiques the most, and the processing and production of gold and silverware should be avoided in the Tang Dynasty.
The Xiao Yue was buried by its owner during the Jingyuan Mutiny during the reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty's "Tiangong Kaiwu", there was no mention of fried beads when explaining the manufacturing process of goldware.
Therefore, until the Tang Dynasty, as the exchanges with the West continued to deepen, craftsmen learned the welding technology that the West had retreated from, and then the rise of fried beads came to an end.
At that time, the back of a gold comb was considered an eye-catching decoration, so it had to be beautiful if made.
The most important thing is that the outside is filled with all kinds of exquisite gold, silver and jade articles.
But the operation must have been successful. The golden millet stood under the gold surface, round and three-dimensional, shriveled and vivid, which was extremely useless for the depiction of some flower patterns.
Arrange the chai ning under the gold ornaments, then take the whole thing to cool.
The second method is to directly use natural gold sand, heat it and then place it in a pot filled with charcoal ash.
For example, a gold comb back is one of the representatives.
Although it looks unattractive, its manufacturing process is unique.