216 Chinese Clay Figures 



cast-iron swords (Plate XXI), the latter being cast in the same shape as 

 the former. The process of transformation is identical with the one that 

 we observe in the antiquities of Siberia. The excellent plates of ancient 

 Siberian bronze and iron swords published by W. Radloff, 1 in which 

 bronze is colored green and iron brown, afford a good object-lesson for 

 the study of the gradual transition from bronze to iron: here, for 

 instance, we note that the hilt is changed into iron, whereas bronze is 

 retained for the blade (Plate XII, No. 4) ; or that the blades become iron, 

 and the hilts remain of bronze (Plate XIII, Nos. 1-3), until ultimately 

 there spring up types purely of iron which faithfully preserve the forms 

 and ornaments of the more ancient bronze swords. We know from 

 literary documents that the Han still turned out weapons of bronze, 

 that under the Former Han the latter were gradually superseded by iron 

 weapons, and that these were definitely established under the Later 

 Han: the year 219 may safely be regarded as the term when weapons 

 were made exclusively from iron, and when bronze was discarded for 

 this purpose. 2 It will therefore be in general correct to assume for 

 archaeological purposes that bronze swords bearing the characteristics 

 of the Han, with greater probability belong to the period of the Former 

 Han dynasty (b.c. 206-23), while cast-iron swords of the same features 

 most probably range in the period of the Later Han dynasty (25-220 

 a.d.). The casting of iron for implements of e very-day use is peculiar 

 to that age : the Chinese then ingeniously applied to iron the same pro- 

 cess as formerly to bronze, casting it in sand moulds, and perpetuating 

 in the new material their ancient bronze forms. Thus we have large 

 bulging vases (of the type styled hu) with movable lateral rings and 

 inscriptions in Han style cast in high relief on the exterior of the bot- 

 tom, 3 — of the same shape as the corresponding vases in bronze and pot- 

 tery. There are, further, stoves, large cooking-kettles, cooking-pans, 

 coin-moulds, bells, lamps, chisels, knives, and mountings for chariot 

 wheel -naves, — in style and decoration breathing the spirit of Han 

 culture, and the complete decomposition of the thick iron core testifying 

 to their great antiquity. The cast-iron spears shown on Plate XXI, 

 owing to the decay of the iron substance underground, have almost lost 

 their original forms. The swords are in a somewhat better state of 

 preservation. They are two-edged, like the older bronze prototypes, 



1 Siberian Antiquities (Materials toward the Archeology of Russia, No. 5, in Rus- 

 sian, St. Petersburg, 1891). 



2 See the interesting observations of F. Hirth (Chinesische Ansichten uber Bron- 

 zetrommeln, pp. 18-22, and The Ancient History of China, pp. 234-237). 



s It is the well-known formula i hou wang ("may it be serviceable to the lords!"). 



