The ancient lock is the witness of history. In ancient times, intelligent human beings have learned to wrap personal valuables with animal skins, bind them with ropes outside, and finally tie a special knot at the opening. And this knot can only be removed with a tool called a "bone file". Knots and bone files are the rudiments of locks and keys.
According to records, the earliest wooden locks were fragile and could only be used as symbolic locks. The metal lock in China first appeared in Han Dynasty, which is a kind of reed lock. Ming and Qing dynasties were the heyday of ancient locks, which were mainly made of copper and iron. In 1950s, low-cost hook locks, blade locks and latch locks entered the China market one after another, and ancient locks in China withdrew from the historical stage. Through the vicissitudes of ancient locks, we can appreciate the profound history and culture of China.
Primitive humans lived in caves. In order to prevent the invasion of wild animals and protect things, they blocked the cave with heavy stones, which can be said to be the earliest and most direct primitive safety device.
With the evolution of materials and the development of appliances, the types and functions of safety devices are gradually increasing and upgrading. With the rope, ancestors often tied it with delicate and reliable knots in order to protect valuable property, and designed a kind of animal tooth called dog tooth to untie the knot; Broadly speaking, "knot" can be said to be the earliest lock in ancient China, and "tie" can be said to be the earliest key in ancient China.
In addition, some locks are not designed to lock, but use the appearance of fierce animals to deter thieves. This is a symbolic and scary lock.
Wooden locks should be the most concrete locks in early ancient China, which can be traced back to the slave society in the Stone Age. However, the contemporary authentic products have not existed in the world, and there is no official literature record. The original wooden lock has a simple structure, and there is a hole in the door, so that cross pipe tools such as bamboo poles can enter from the outside to actuate the wooden peg on the door to close or open the door. This is also the reason why the key was called a tube or a clam in the Spring and Autumn Period.
The relatively simple bronze locks in Gu Zhuo appeared in the Bronze Age, and the locks were equipped with leaf springs. The geometric relationship and elastic force between the key and the leaf spring are used to lock and unlock it. In the spring and autumn period, the design of locks began to be complicated, and some of them were equipped with mechanisms. As for the widespread use of locks, it is said that it is because of the great improvement of Luban during the Warring States period.
The widespread use of metal locks began at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with bronze as the main material, and there appeared patterns engraved with biological shapes such as unicorn, butterfly, tiger, leopard and …. The lock-making technology was quite developed in the Tang Dynasty, and the use of metal reed locks became more and more common. Most of them are made of bronze, some of them are made of brass, iron, silver or gold, and their shapes and carvings are more and more diverse. Some locks and keys in this period are quite beautiful, not only artistic, but also diverse in form. In addition, locks and keys in this period are also symbols of wealth and authority. Dignitaries and wealthy families will carve exquisite patterns on the lock body, and some even totem symbols; Most poor families only use wooden locks. In addition, the key at that time was also used to distinguish married or unmarried women. The so-called "people who go out with keys" refer to married women; And "people who go out without keys" refer to unmarried women.
Since 1970s, the metal reed lock has been the main lock used by people in China. For thousands of years, although the appearance of ancient locks in China has changed, the internal structure has not been greatly improved. After 1930s, the spring pinball locks in the west were widely used, and the reed locks in ancient China were gradually eliminated.
From a modern point of view, "lock" is a kind of safety device operated by keys, dial keys, circuits or other appliances, which is used to prevent items from being opened or removed, and has the functions of protection, management and even decoration. However, in different dynasties and documents in ancient China, there were different titles and definitions.
Ancient book padlock-exhibition of three gifted scholars
Cihai interprets the lock as "a seal that can only be exempted with a key", Ciyuan as "so the door is locked and people can't open it" and Shuowen Jiezi as "lock, iron lock and door key".
"Zhou Li's Warring States period? Sheriff? There is a sentence in Four Doors, "Open and close the country with the palm of your hand", Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching? There is a saying in Volume 27 that "harmony is not critical but cannot be opened". Dai Sheng's Book of Rites in the Western Han Dynasty? There is a saying in Meng Dong Moon, turn off the key and be careful. " Shangshu? There is a saying in Jin Qi's book that "reading is inspiration", and "Ci Yuan" explains that "the present is the key". There is a proverb in Lu Zhitian in Han Dynasty that "the key is fish". In Zhengzitong in Ming Dynasty, Zhang Zilie explained that "the key is closed and the key is opened", and the etymology said that "the lock name is also a key" when explaining the word "Yu". Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty was in Hanshu? In Xiao Er Ya, the key refers to the cymbal, while in Shuo Wen Jie Zi written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the cymbal is locked, and in Guang Shao written by Chen Pengnian and others in the Song Dynasty, it is said that the cymbal is used to close the house and the axe is prepared for extraordinary things. The Book of Rites annotated by Zheng Xuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty? The moon order says, "Key, male; Pass, still, the Book of Rites by Confucius in the Tang Dynasty? "Moon Order Sparse" explains: "Whoever locks the device inside is called a stag, and the receiver is called a stag". Cai Yong in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in "Preface to Zhang Sentence and Month": "Key, also. The door is closed, or moving, which means the door is locked, so it can also be called a bolt.
In addition, the Chinese characters "Hu, Key, Guan and Guan Hu" represent drum flute or horizontal flute, and also represent lock and key.
Ancient locks with different titles and special functions have also appeared in some documents; Such as the Book of the Later Han Dynasty? The hammer lock mentioned in the chapter "Punishment" is a padlock combined with a metal chain to lock the prisoner. Ancient locks also had special names because of their appearance; For example, it is mentioned in Du Guangting's Records of Different Records that a padlock can be called "Solomon Seal Lock", so it is named because it is similar to the tubular rhizome of this plant, and contains integrated metal sheets, which can be compressed or stretched freely.
The charm of lock
The collectors' collection of ancient locks is not measured by quantity. The locks in ancient China were all made by hand, and the exquisite artistic modeling and profound folk culture behind them were one of the important reasons for attracting collectors to collect them.
Some collectors travel all over the country, or buy ancient locks in antique shops, or study ancient locks in frontier minority settlements. Some collectors want to buy a large number of ancient locks with uneven quality, and then go through the painful process of selecting gold from sand.
Zou Yongsheng, an antique lock enthusiast in Guangzhou, collected many antique locks with different shapes in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. "Pay attention to the material fate when collecting. The collection has reached the realm of forgetfulness, and I can't remember the specific collection. " Zou Yongsheng said. He likes to put the ancient locks with good shape, personality and characteristics under his command. Open his boxes of ancient locks one by one, and the ancient locks of various shapes are dazzling. There are solid round locks, semi-circular locks, rectangular locks, and octagonal white copper carved locks as soft as ancient rouge boxes, showing a beautiful streamlined gourd lock, homophonic "Fulu lock", full of meaning. The three-dimensional shapes of dogs, horses and monkeys in the zodiac lock are lifelike; In animal locks, the lock shaped like a shrimp is hooked with a key, while the lock shaped like a fish is pushed open.
The ancient locks were particularly shaped like fish. It is said in the street that fish can't close their eyes at night. Even if they are asleep, they will keep their eyes open. If they use the shape of a fish in the lock, they can watch the door for others. Zou Yongsheng's smallest lock is less than 15 cm long and about 13 cm high, which is more practical than decorative. It was bought with precious pieces of mahogany after giving up what it loved. His five-piece series of cylindrical locks vary in size, the largest of which is 40 cm high and 1 1 cm in circumference, which he gradually collected.
In addition to exquisite patterns, ancient locks also have straightforward words. Carving the characters written by cursive script, official script, big seal script and small seal script on the front, side and even the locked key has the charm of ancient calligraphy. The cultural connotation of ancient locks adds auspicious folk colors to the original hard metal. When the bride gets married, she uses the "Zodiac" lock on the dowry box and hangs an auspicious lock around her neck. Lock the birthday party with "Flo Xi Shou"; Children will use a long life lock on their birthdays.
Unlocking is like solving a puzzle, but there are many kinds of lock holes in ancient locks, such as rectangular, serrated, round and square ... and there are more similar "one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one. Zou Yongsheng's poetry lock is a horizontal cylinder with five copper hoops of the same size arranged on the shaft, and the surface of each copper hoop is engraved with exquisite Chinese characters. The copper hoop can only be opened when it is transferred to the poem reserved by the lockmaker. This kind of poem-hiding lock is equivalent to a modern coded lock, and I have to admire the cleverness of ancient man-made locks. There is also a mysterious "keyless lock" that doesn't need a key at all. The key to opening lies in the tacit cooperation of thumb, index finger and middle finger and the unified hand shape.
Ancient smells hidden in ancient locks
From the collection value, locks without keys will be greatly discounted. Some ancient locks can be matched with keys, some cannot be matched with keys, and some need several keys to open. Different locks have different ways of opening. It seems that unlocking really stumped many collectors with "sinister" eyes. However, collectors are addicted to this process, and the lock that can't be opened is like an unsolved mystery. Words can't express the excitement when the tricky ancient lock is opened.
The collector is also half a locksmith, with various key supporting tools such as file, big iron scissors and vice. When you encounter a simple lock, you can handle it yourself. Zou Yongsheng said: "To match the key, we must first find the unlocked structure, and then match the appropriate key according to the concave and convex position of the lock." He used to clean an old lock with a key, but he couldn't open it. Later, he knew that the key was not strong enough, so he thickened it and finally could not open it. Disappointment hung over him. "This can't be urgent. It always takes countless failures to succeed. " Even if you try your best to open the old lock, you should deliberately make the new key old and form a "fairy couple" with the old lock.
Cang Xie Jia road
Q: Which ancient locks are worth collecting?
Answer: Tri-color copper locks in the Ming Dynasty, white crane locks, coded locks, hidden locks, four locks, inverted locks, figures, animals and figures locks in the Qing Dynasty are all worth collecting. As for the tattered staple foods bought by those vendors from the countryside, they have no collection value.
Q: What are the styles of ancient locks?
A: According to materials, there are wooden locks, gold locks, silver locks, copper locks, iron locks and cloisonne locks. According to the form, there are round locks, square locks, pillow locks, character locks, animal locks, coded locks, hidden locks, inverted locks, barrel locks and so on. According to the purpose, there are padlocks, door locks, box locks, cabinet locks, box locks, drawer locks, warehouse locks and so on. From the process point of view, there are flat carving, through carving, hollow carving, carving, gold plating, bronzing, inlaying and die casting.