If you combine tin and copper you get bronze. Take a look at the bronze things you have at home, I have found that almost everyone has bronze keys or ashtrays, and think that at some point in our development as a species we invented this alloy and it was the first important alloy, so much so that He even gave a name to one of our ages, the Bronze Age.
It is a period of Prehistory characterized by the minting and use of this metal. Such technology was born in the Middle East and there are many examples in ancient China. When we talk about the Bronze Age we are talking about three moments, the formative, the development and the turning and in relation to the first moment and China we are talking about the Longshan culture, between 4500 and 400 years ago, and if we talk about the Last we get into the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, XNUMXth century, a period in which the use of bronze reached great mastery.
It was during these dynasties that the Chinese learned to use bronze and to give it magnificent shapes: in musical instruments of the temples, riding a weapons of war and in vessels for everyday use. Decorative designs were the order of the day and the most popular were those of real and mythological animals such as phoenixes or dragons. Over time, semi-precious stones such as jade, turquoise or other metals such as copper and iron were added to the bronze vessels.
Time has bequeathed us true bronze treasures now on display in various museums throughout Chinto. Finally, bronze vessels were replaced by iron and ceramic ones, and bronze was mainly relegated to mirrors, but luckily there are still examples of how the Chinese came to dominate this metal. Where can you see examples of Chinese bronze work? Well in the Yunan, Hebei and Hunan provincial museums, in the Shaanx History Museumi and the Tomb Museum of King Nanyue, in Guangzhou.