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Things You Didn’t Know About China’s Terracotta ArmyRead

11 points by webista 14y ago

dsrguru 14y ago
"Though both the Germans and Americans invented this chrome-plating technology in 1937 and 1950, respectively, it existed in China 2,200 years ago." Assuming all three forms of that technology are identical as the article makes it sound, that's awesome.
- sakai 14y ago
  Yes -- would love to hear thoughts from anyone familiar with chrome plating. Wikipedia has no historical details, and a quick Google search + China reveals a bunch of junk and a handful of "Warning Malware" sites. :(
  - ars 14y ago
    I suspect they are simply wrong. Chrome plating requires electricity, which I don't think they had. Search for chrome plating plastic and you'll see - I didn't find any processes at all that did not require electricity. Usually they will plate with something conductive first, then chrome on top. They may have plated it with other things and Time doesn't realize it's not all called "chrome". See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating for an example method - although probably not the one they used. And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating for a larger list of metals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinplate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinplate seems most probable due to its long history and that tin is one of the earlier metals that humans mined.
- ars 14y ago
  China invented an amazing number of things before anyone else - and then promptly forgot each one. To put it in modern terms, China of old had amazing engineering skills but terrible execution.
  - astrodust 14y ago
    As but a singular example: Although claims of the size and power of the Chinese navy at the height of its extravagance are surely exaggerated to some degree, the sophistication of these ships is incredible even if they were executed on a smaller scale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_ship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_ship The world would be a radically different place today if this fleet hadn't been scrapped. The ability of the colonial powers to conquer large parts of the world virtually un-checked would've been seriously impeded.
  - batista 14y ago
    >To put it in modern terms, China of old had amazing engineering skills but terrible execution. Or, to put it in terms I prefer more, China had amazing engineering skills but wasn't obsessed with exploiting each every thing for financial gain and milking inventions.
    - ars 14y ago
      You might like your terms more, but they are not historically accurate. They were very happy to exploit things, they just didn't see how certain things could be exploited. Most of the things were invented "for fun" and when that worse off (for example the emperor lost interest) they were forgotten. I guess it's one drawback to the patronage system - it lets you jump ahead of the curve and invent amazing things (due to all the funding), but you don't look for economic reasons to do it - all you care about is making your patron happy, and when he looses interest the project is canceled. Going to the moon is a modern example of this. We went to the moon because the patron (the Government) wanted it, and funded it. But there was no actual reason to do it. So someday when there is a huge economic reason to go to the moon (if I knew what it was I'd be rich :) people will wonder how the US squandered the opportunity.
      - batista 14y ago
        >You might like your terms more, but they are not historically accurate. They were very happy to exploit things, they just didn't see how certain things could be exploited. I don't think they were stupid (the inventions prove it in the first place). They were perfectly capable of seeing how they could be if they focused on that dimension. They just didn't focus on that dimension, which is what I'm saying. >Most of the things were invented "for fun" and when that worse off (for example the emperor lost interest) they were forgotten. Which corroborates what I'm saying. They didn't event them to exploit them in the first place, but with a playful attitude towards them.
janzer 14y ago
Two legends, namely: "While he awaited a tonic, Qin turned to mercury tablets." and then a map where: "rivers of quicksilver represent the kingdom’s waters" finally some modern evidence: "Modern investigations have been able to corroborate this legend with some chemical evidence. In 2005, a research team led by Chinese archaeologist Duan Chingbo took 4,000 samples from the earthen mound to test for Mercury, and all of the samples came back highly positive." Which legend would you think that should be supporting? Sometimes I just don't understand the thought process going into an article.

11 points by webista 14y ago

"Though both the Germans and Americans invented this chrome-plating technology in 1937 and 1950, respectively, it existed in China 2,200 years ago." Assuming all three forms of that technology are identical as the article makes it sound, that's awesome.

sakai 14y ago
Yes -- would love to hear thoughts from anyone familiar with chrome plating. Wikipedia has no historical details, and a quick Google search + China reveals a bunch of junk and a handful of "Warning Malware" sites. :(
- ars 14y ago
  I suspect they are simply wrong. Chrome plating requires electricity, which I don't think they had. Search for chrome plating plastic and you'll see - I didn't find any processes at all that did not require electricity. Usually they will plate with something conductive first, then chrome on top. They may have plated it with other things and Time doesn't realize it's not all called "chrome". See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating for an example method - although probably not the one they used. And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plating for a larger list of metals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinplate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinplate seems most probable due to its long history and that tin is one of the earlier metals that humans mined.
ars 14y ago
China invented an amazing number of things before anyone else - and then promptly forgot each one. To put it in modern terms, China of old had amazing engineering skills but terrible execution.
- astrodust 14y ago
  As but a singular example: Although claims of the size and power of the Chinese navy at the height of its extravagance are surely exaggerated to some degree, the sophistication of these ships is incredible even if they were executed on a smaller scale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_ship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_ship The world would be a radically different place today if this fleet hadn't been scrapped. The ability of the colonial powers to conquer large parts of the world virtually un-checked would've been seriously impeded.
- batista 14y ago
  >To put it in modern terms, China of old had amazing engineering skills but terrible execution. Or, to put it in terms I prefer more, China had amazing engineering skills but wasn't obsessed with exploiting each every thing for financial gain and milking inventions.
  - ars 14y ago
    You might like your terms more, but they are not historically accurate. They were very happy to exploit things, they just didn't see how certain things could be exploited. Most of the things were invented "for fun" and when that worse off (for example the emperor lost interest) they were forgotten. I guess it's one drawback to the patronage system - it lets you jump ahead of the curve and invent amazing things (due to all the funding), but you don't look for economic reasons to do it - all you care about is making your patron happy, and when he looses interest the project is canceled. Going to the moon is a modern example of this. We went to the moon because the patron (the Government) wanted it, and funded it. But there was no actual reason to do it. So someday when there is a huge economic reason to go to the moon (if I knew what it was I'd be rich :) people will wonder how the US squandered the opportunity.
    - batista 14y ago
      >You might like your terms more, but they are not historically accurate. They were very happy to exploit things, they just didn't see how certain things could be exploited. I don't think they were stupid (the inventions prove it in the first place). They were perfectly capable of seeing how they could be if they focused on that dimension. They just didn't focus on that dimension, which is what I'm saying. >Most of the things were invented "for fun" and when that worse off (for example the emperor lost interest) they were forgotten. Which corroborates what I'm saying. They didn't event them to exploit them in the first place, but with a playful attitude towards them.

janzer 14y ago

Two legends, namely: "While he awaited a tonic, Qin turned to mercury tablets." and then a map where: "rivers of quicksilver represent the kingdom’s waters" finally some modern evidence: "Modern investigations have been able to corroborate this legend with some chemical evidence. In 2005, a research team led by Chinese archaeologist Duan Chingbo took 4,000 samples from the earthen mound to test for Mercury, and all of the samples came back highly positive." Which legend would you think that should be supporting? Sometimes I just don't understand the thought process going into an article.