Chapter 111 European Bronzes Came from China

When Zhang Yang met Anna's mother, she was still wearing the windbreaker she had worn at the archaeological site.

It seems that people abroad are also very superstitious. Some wear leather jackets, some wear gray suits, and some wear hoodies.

This thing is like a battle robe and cannot be changed easily.

Anna pulled Zhang Yang and wanted to sit in the first row to help show support.

However, when Zhang Yang was in college in his previous life, he never sat in the front row for four years, and today would certainly not be an exception.

What's more, Professor Li was sitting in the first row, so it was even less likely that he would show his face.

Zhang Yang forced Anna to sit in the last row and told her:
"In China, the higher the status of a person, the higher the seat they sit. Now, we are the people with the highest status in the entire auditorium."

"The King of the Hall for short."

Anna was indeed moved by Zhang Yang's sincere words, and sat happily in the last row, waiting for the show to begin.

Zhang Yang sat quietly beside her, watching everything on the stage.

The Germans are very prone to expansion, something he had learned when he was studying the history of World War II.

He now wants to see how people from the History Department will question and criticize.

On the stage, Anna's mother introduced the topic of her presentation today in not-so-fluent English.

Zhang Yang didn't understand most of the content.

However, there was one sentence that she repeatedly emphasized, written on the PPT, and almost everyone present understood it:
"Now we can prove that when the Shang Dynasty was just established, the ancestors of Germany were already able to cast exquisite bronze swords."

"So we can conclude that West Asia and Southeast Europe are the source of bronze civilization, and that China and Western Europe are two branches. The development speed of bronze ware in Western Europe is significantly higher than that in China."

"It's just that there are too few copper mines in Western Europe, so there are not many bronze artifacts left. But if we only talk about bronze casting technology, China is far inferior to Western Europe."

Zhang Yang finished reading it and thought:
This speech is so explosive!

If it is posted on the forum, it will immediately attract criticism.

When Anna's mother showed this page of PPT, Zhang Yang looked around.

He was waiting for someone to stand up and say loudly, "Funny!"

But until the end of the display of this page, no one expressed any opinion.

Including Professor Li in the first row, he just shook his head and looked at his notebook, not knowing what he was recording.

Ah? Did you accept it?

Is this France? Raise the white flag when you see Germans?

Zhang Yang didn't understand at all.

Based on his many years of experience in surfing the Internet, netizens can argue with each other for a thousand floors over the idea implied in the PPT that "China's bronze technology is imported."

And can be divided into three factions:

They believe that technology came from the West, and that without the Western bronze ware technology, China would not have entered the Bronze Age.

I think that bronze technology was indeed influenced by the West, but the ancestors of China carried forward this technology;

It is firmly believed that bronze ware technology was created locally, and by the time bronze ware was introduced from the West, the local level had already reached an unpredictable level.

"What's going on?" Zhang Yang asked in a low voice to a male college student next to him.

"What's going on?"

"This person's views are so explosive." Zhang Yang pointed at the PPT on the stage, "Why is there no one who refutes it?"

"What are you refutating?" the male student asked. "Her point of view makes sense. The history of bronze ware technology is controversial in world historiography..."

"Eh? Brother, you are not from our school, right?"

"We are from the international class." Zhang Yang pointed at Anna next to him and explained.

"Oh, no wonder you're so bad at history."

"..."

Zhang Yang turned his face away speechlessly.

His history knowledge is really not bad. Anyone who can get into a museum must have a bad knowledge of history.

It’s just that the bronze sword on the stage as evidence was made by him.

Zhang Yang seems unable to look at things from a very objective perspective.

Is it possible to deduce the correct answer from an incorrect question?

To this, Anna’s mother’s answer is: Yes.

And it's very simple.

She showed everyone some photos of the excavations at the site, mainly photos of human remains and bronze artifacts buried in the soil.

Then, a carbon 14 report issued by an authoritative German organization was shown, proving that the human remains found dated back to around the 16th century BC.

That is 3600 years ago.

At this point, she has presented all her theoretical knowledge.

Next is the physical display of bronze ware.

Fifteen bronze swords were all placed in glass display cases and pushed up on a cart.

Zhang Yang exclaimed that he had learned this trick.

It is placed in a display case and you can only see it through the glass.

If bronze ware is not handled, the probability of discovering problems is reduced by at least two-thirds.

Is this what Professor Li and others think?

It's really not their fault.

During this session, students on site can take turns to go on stage to appreciate the bronze sword.

The male college student next to Zhang Yang was the most active. He rushed over first and was among the first to finish watching.

After returning, he sat and sighed:
"3000 years ago, Western Europe's bronze technology was indeed more advanced than China's!"

After saying this, Zhang Yang couldn't help it anymore.

Before coming here, he put himself in the perspective of Anna's good friend, so he felt that he was going to jail here.

Now it does seem a bit like being in jail, but in the opposite way.

"No, how do you know it's advanced?" Zhang Yang couldn't help but ask back. "Brother, you can tell at first glance that you don't understand bronze swords!"

The male college student analyzed very professionally:

"Their swords are from 3600 years ago. The length of the swords is generally more than 40 centimeters, and some are even 50 centimeters."

"But in China, bronze swords from 3000 years ago were generally only about 30 centimeters long."

"An inch longer, an inch stronger, you've heard this before, right? Early bronze wasn't strong enough, and weapons that were too long would break easily. The fact that they were able to make something this long shows that their bronze smelting technology was good!"

"It is more than 600 years ahead of us."

"I..." Zhang Yang clenched his fists.

"Zhang Yang, are you OK?" Anna leaned over and whispered in his ear.

Zhang Yang typed a reply:
"I'm fine, my butt is a little uncomfortable after sitting for so long."

"Excuse me, can I help you massage it later?"

"No need, let's just watch it in peace."

Just as Zhang Yang sent the message, the "hero" he was expecting stood up.

A student who was on stage to see the bronze sword cleverly walked behind the stage and said to everyone through the microphone:
"No way? You people present here don't really believe that Western Europe had such a good bronze sword 3600 years ago, right?"

"You didn't see it just now. There was a picture when the bronze sword was unearthed. The sword was close to the bone, but there was no green on the bone. Does this make sense? Could it be that the molecules didn't move for thousands of years?"

"I know you history students don't understand what molecular motion is, but you must know the word dyeing, right? When copper rust sticks to clothes, it will dye them, so why don't the soil and bones unearthed from the ground dye them?"

“Because the pixels are not high!”

The male college student next to Zhang Yang stood up and answered:

"Student, it seems you have never been to an archaeological site! There is usually a lot of moisture at the site, and it is difficult to take clear photos with a camera."

"I think you should focus more on the bronze sword itself and the carbon 14 test results of the human remains nearby."

"I have just discussed this with the guy next to me..."

The male college student pointed at Zhang Yang and repeated his theory about the length and forging technology of bronze swords.

Zhang Yang was listening nearby and his hands were itching to move.

This person assumed that the bronze sword was real.

Then a series of outrageous conclusions were drawn from this.

However, the student on the stage was obviously quite capable and immediately asked back:
"Since bronze smelting technology was so advanced in Europe back then, why are there no large-scale smelting sites?"

“Because there are no copper mines.”

"Without copper mines, how could they improve their smelting technology? Did they have such good smelting technology from birth?"

"It came from West Asia and Southeast Europe!"

"I'm sorry, but no one in Western Asia or Southeast Europe has discovered such good smelting technology at the same time. Yours has surpassed all cultures of the same period."

"Not at the same time. Oh, you don't understand what I mean. For example, the technology from West Asia was 5. After 300 years, Europe developed to 50, but West Asia was only 30 and China was only 25. At this time, Western Europe's technology was of course ahead of its contemporaries."

"So what you mean is that in a region with scarce copper mines, where the number of copper artifacts unearthed is less than one percent of that in other places, their technology is improving faster than other places?"

"Yes, these bronze swords are proof of this..."

"You are reasoning in a circular way."

"No, I'm telling the truth. How else can you explain these fifteen bronze swords?"

"..."

The scene Zhang Yang imagined finally appeared.

As the two people were arguing, other students began to join in and the scene turned into a debate.

But what was a little unexpected to Zhang Yang was that the majority of people supported the male college student next to him.

Instead, the student who spoke first on the stage was labeled as a "pseudo-historian and folk scientist".

Being attacked madly.

The reason for this is that there were fifteen bronze swords at the scene that could be called "ironclad evidence".

"Zhang Yang, they are discussing so intensely. Are we at an advantage or a disadvantage?" Anna asked Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang did not answer this question.

He typed back:

"Will the sponsorship you have obtained be taken back? I feel like your mother and her friends are a bit too high-profile. This might lead to people finding out."

Anna immediately replied:
"It's okay. If we find that there are negative effects at the end of the show, we won't report it. Slowly, everyone will forget about it."

"Oh my god, you should have told me earlier." Zhang Yang muttered to himself.

It turns out that the Germans also use the "amnesia technique". My worries were in vain.

At this time, the male college student next to Zhang Yang was tired of talking, so he sat down and patted Zhang Yang on the shoulder:

"Brother, can you lend me a sip of your mineral water?"

"I want to kill that man on the stage. After so many years, the Chinese people still can't get rid of their pigtails. Today I want him to kneel down in front of me!"

As the male college student said this, he was about to reach out to take Zhang Yang’s water.

Of course Zhang Yang didn't agree.

He picked up the bottle of water, stood up, put on a mask, patted Anna on the shoulder and said:
"It will be over soon. Please wait for me outside. I will go say hello to everyone."

After watching Anna leave, Zhang Yang walked straight to the podium.

He first handed the water to the boy who had just been accused of being a "pseudo-historian and a folk scientist".

Then pick up the microphone:

"The last row, the boy with glasses on the left of the two empty seats, step out!"

"You just kept talking about pseudo-history, which made me, a true pseudo-historian, very uncomfortable!

Well, I'll give you a wild theory today:

Western European bronze ware technology originated in China!"

(End of this chapter)