Quick Answer: What Was Chinese Iron Casting?
Chinese iron casting (铸铁, zhùtiě) shaped molten iron by letting it solidify in a mold. Warring States and Han artifacts show that workers used casting for implements and other objects. Archaeologists can often learn more by comparing the mold, the finished object and the metal’s internal structure.[1][2][3]
- An iron mold in the National Museum of China formed two sickles.[1]
- Researchers found several forms of cast iron among late Warring States objects from Xi’an.[2]
- An excavated Han ploughshare (犁铧, líhuá) contains distinct structures in different parts of the same object.[4]
The mold explains how the object got its shape. The metal can preserve clues to other choices made during production.
An iron shape that looks simple from the outside can preserve a record of cooling and solidification inside. A casting mold (铸范, zhùfàn) preserves a different record. Its shape can show the object that a workshop intended to produce.
Casting, Smelting and Forging
Smelting separated iron from its ore, as at some historical Chinese blast furnaces. Casting used liquid metal to take the shape of a mold. Forging shaped solid metal by working it. Studies of late Warring States Qin artifacts identify both casting and forging, along with ways of treating the metal for different uses.[3]
The excavated Han workshop at Tieshenggou preserves traces of several stages. That makes it possible to study the broader organization of Chinese iron and steel production at one place.[5]
A Mold That Made Two Sickles
The National Museum of China records a Warring States casting mold that could produce two sickles. The mold itself was made of cast iron. It preserves the intended forms directly, even when the items cast in it were carried elsewhere.[1]
Other molds were made from clay. Comparing those mold materials and shapes shows that the choice of a mold depended on the object and the workshop. Bronze mirror casting offers a comparison in which a mold captured decoration as well as the overall outline.[6]
What the Metal Itself Preserves
A study of objects from two late Warring States cemeteries near Xi’an found that most of the pieces examined were grey or mottled cast iron. These terms identify internal structures seen in metallurgical examination. The researchers interpret the evidence as deliberate control of how the metal solidified.[2]
A museum summary of a Han ploughshare from Mancheng identifies different structures, including mottled iron at the tip. The examination revealed differences that could not be read from the outline of the share.[4]
From the Workshop to the Fields
A plough invited different decisions about shape, weight and material from another household or craft object. Surviving metal objects from other contexts, such as historical locks and keys, need separate evidence for how they were made. Identifying the material is one step in that investigation.
FAQs About Chinese Iron Casting
Was casting the same as forging?
Casting shaped molten metal in a mold. Forging shaped solid metal by working it.[3]
Could a historical iron mold be reused?
The National Museum of China records reusable iron molds in the Warring States tradition.[1]
Were all early cast-iron objects alike inside?
Metallurgical studies identify several structures, including grey and mottled iron, in early Chinese finds.[2][4]
Sources
[1] National Museum of China. Iron mold for two sickles
[2] University of Cambridge Repository. Cast a different iron
[3] University of Cambridge Repository. Iron production in the Qin state during the late Warring States period
[4] National Museum of China. Exhibition on the Mancheng Han tombs
[5] Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics. Tieshenggou ironworking site
[6] University College London Discovery. Iron production in the state of Qin during the Warring States period