Development of bronze nails for ancient city gates;
First, the origin of the copper nail: The doornail originated from the "Zhuo Yi" mentioned by Mozi, which is two inches long and one inch long, that is, it is nailed into the door panel for about one inch.
It was originally used to prevent the enemy from attacking the city with fire, so it was covered with mud to prevent fire.
Second, the significance of copper nails:
1, reinforcement: the earliest doornail only reinforced the door panel.
Because a door is often made up of several boards, it is easy to spread out over time.
In order to avoid scattering, I put a belt on the door panel, so I reinforced it with a doornail for fear that the belt was not strong.
2, representing the level: Later, the doornails became more and more neat, and the number of nails became a symbol of the level.
The number and arrangement of doornails were not stipulated before the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing dynasty had certain regulations on the use of doornails.
In the royal building, the doornail of each door is 998 1 nail.
Nine is the pole of yang number, the largest of which symbolizes the highest position of the emperor.
Because the imperial temple is dedicated to emperors of past dynasties, it also uses nine-way doornails.
3. Decoration: The doornail is an important decoration for the gates of ancient buildings, and it is also used for the gates of pagodas.
The golden doornail nailed to the red painted door is both spectacular and firm.
Usually, it is installed and used on boards located at city gates, palace gates, courtyard gates and bond gates.
Extended data:
Classification of bronze nails in ancient city gates;
First, the doornail is divided into four types according to the texture: iron, copper, wood and stone.
1, iron gate nails were generally used on the wooden doors of early temple buildings, mostly in the Tang and Song Dynasties;
2. Copper door nails were widely used in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and gold was distilled on copper, which was golden yellow and matched with the color of Zhumen;
3. In the late Qing Dynasty, wooden doornails occasionally appeared. They are spun from logs and painted yellow. Generally speaking, they are small in size and used for some unimportant small doors.
In addition, there is a kind of stone chest nail, which is used on the stone door of the underground tomb.
In the underground palace of the mausoleum, wood is perishable, so the underground entrance of the mausoleum is mostly stone. Stone breast nails are carved into nails on the stone gate, and occasionally useful doornails are found mixed with sand.
Sometimes, in order to show its noble status, the stone chest nails are painted with gold.
Archaeological excavations have proved that there were brown-green doornails in the Tang Dynasty.
There were black doornails in Liao Dynasty.
Second, the doornail is divided into two types according to its shape: round and petal.
1. Seen from the longitudinal plane, the round doornail is thick at the bottom and thin at the head, with a two-way platform in the middle, which is more masculine;
2. The petal-shaped doornail also has a two-way platform, and the upper part has five petals, six petals and eight petals. Lotus petal-shaped golden hammer, like a woman's * * *, is more feminine and delicate.
The nail and the cap of the doornail are made separately, and then cast together with lead and tin to form a whole, which can be used directly.