Researchers decode metal-making recipes in ancient Chinese text

The ancient Chinese text contains mysterious recipes for metal-making, and researchers have deciphered them.

The Kaogongji is a Chinese text that contains six chemical formulas. Archeologists have been trying to decode The World's Oldest Encyclopedia of Technologies since the 1920s.

The emperor may have been reassured that everything was under control. Prof Mark Pollard said that it is part of a manual for how to run the empire.

Scholars have wrestled with the meaning of the two components of the recipes for a century. Researchers think they've identified the missing ingredients.

A study published in the journal Antiquity suggests that Jin and Xi could refer to pre-made alloys used in the production of early Chinese bronzes.

Different metals are mixed together to make an alloy. The researchers are confident that Jin and Xi are referring to blends of several metals.

Pollard said that the composition looked like genuine early Chinese bronzes.

A discovery was made by looking at Chinese coins. The researchers noticed that the coins contained two pre-prepared metals, one copper-tin-lead and one copper-lead.

Pollard said that if youreinterpretation what Jin and Xi mean, they probably describe pre-prepared alloy.

Early Chinese metal production had unexpected complexity. Pollard said that it means a new stage of metal preparation and supply.

A better definition of Jin and Xi could help researchers decode Chinese historical texts.

The idea of pre-prepared alloy was introduced by this research. Pollard said it could give them an insight into how people view the natural world.

According to Prof Lothar von Falkenhausen, from the University of California, Los Angeles, the idea that Jin and Xi referred to alloys rather than metals is worth considering.

Bronze production may have been controlled by the Kaogong Ji. Pollard believes that there was some control over the production of bronze. Bronze was used as a strategic material in China. It was important to control it.

On a huge scale, bronze making was done. A form of regulation and standardisation is needed to make sure that everyone works together.

The Kaogongji is a document that describes what people want and what they don't want. Pollard said that it is telling them about human behavior.

It might not represent the reality of Chinese bronze production. It is a kind of administrative fiction. Pollard said that nobody was truly in control.