The eternal mystery of the invention of gunpowder is expected to be solved. A "Scientific Investigation Expedition of Ancient Chinese Gunpowder Raw Materials" composed of more than 30 experts from the cultural relics and exploration fields recently concluded their investigation at Laojun Mountain in Jiangyou City, Mianyang, Sichuan.
Experts announced that they have discovered the mining and refining base of nitrate, my country's largest gunpowder raw material so far, and this discovery will help uncover the eternal mystery of China's gunpowder invention.
According to historical records, during the long process of refining elixirs, ancient Chinese alchemists discovered that a mixture of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal could burn and explode. This gave birth to gunpowder, one of the four great inventions of ancient China.
In 808 AD, Qing Xuzi, an alchemist of the Tang Dynasty, wrote "Secrets of the Golden Pill of the Supreme Saint", in which the "method of subduing fire and alum" is the earliest written record of gunpowder in the world. Therefore, Chinese academic circles believe that the invention of gunpowder is not
Later than 808 AD.
But where is saltpeter, the main raw material of gunpowder, boiled?
It has always puzzled experts engaged in this research.
At the end of November, the "Scientific Investigation and Expedition of Ancient Chinese Gunpowder Raw Materials" composed of the Sichuan Northwest Sichuan Geological Engineering Survey Institute, Beijing Huacheng Jiuzhou Cultural Research Institute, Sichuan Mianyang Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau and other units conducted a five-year expedition to Laojun Mountain.
days of fieldwork.
It was found that there are more than a dozen artificially dug caves in the Laojun Mountain area, such as Chaoyang Cave, Tianyu Cave, and Gaoguan Cave. The depth of the caves ranges from a few hundred meters to nearly ten kilometers.
In caves such as Chaoyang Cave, the expedition team discovered orderly nitrate ponds used for production, as well as mountains of scraps, waste and domestic stoves.
Among them, Yanzi Cave is about 60 meters wide and 50 meters high. In the cave about 1 kilometer long, four working surfaces of hundreds of square meters have been artificially formed. Each working surface has several saltpeter ponds and large and small
There are a large number of broken porcelain from before the Ming Dynasty scattered in the cave.
After inspecting the nitrate ponds, stoves, and water tanks in the cave, experts believed that the technology for refining nitrate was quite mature at that time, and preliminarily calculated that 8 to 12 taels of nitrate could be extracted from a load of soil.
In addition, the diameter of the small stove is 0.6 meters, and the diameter of the large stove is 1.5 meters. The large stove can feed more than 100 people for a day.
"Experts from the expedition team have preliminarily confirmed that these caves in Laojun Mountain were dug for saltpeter collection, no later than before the Qing Dynasty." Xu Xiangdong, one of the organizers of the expedition team and former director of the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum, said, " We found that Laojun Mountain is a rich area of ??cultural relics related to the invention of gunpowder, and is the largest gunpowder raw material base discovered so far in my country. This is of great significance for thoroughly understanding the invention and production process of ancient gunpowder." Experts have studied Laojun Mountain. An investigation of the surrounding environment and culture of Junshan revealed that Chonghua Town has limited products and inconvenient transportation. However, it has gathered guild halls from Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Zhejiang and other provinces. Some guild halls are still well preserved.
Experts agree that it is very likely that merchants from various provinces who deal in saltpeter gathered here and built provincial guild halls.
Next to these guild halls, there is still an ancient street called "Cannon Street". Local residents say that this street was used to sell gunpowder raw materials and firecrackers in ancient times.
Experts also believe that Sichuan is the birthplace of Taoism, a local religion in China. Taoist alchemy was popular around the Han Dynasty, and gunpowder was a Taoist invention. There are four Taoist temples built in the Song Dynasty in the deep forests of Laojun Mountain. There must be a reason for this.
contact.
As the basic raw materials for gunpowder, nitre, charcoal, and sulfur are also readily available locally, which provides the basic conditions for gunpowder production.
Xu Xiangdong said that Luo Zhewen, leader of the expert team of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, after reading the expedition's written inspection report and photos, thought "this is a major discovery. It would be very exciting to find physical evidence of the invention of gunpowder."
Rong Dawei, director of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, also believes that "this is a major discovery with far-reaching significance, and protection must be done well."
If further investigation and verification prove that Laojun Mountain is the place where gunpowder was invented in China and the largest mining site for gunpowder raw materials in Chinese history, it will be one of the most significant discoveries in the archaeological community in China and the world.