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2k-year-old wine and the uncanny immediacy of the past

(resobscura.substack.com)
244 points benbreen | 1 comments | 15 Jan 25 21:35 UTC | HN request time: 2.954s | source
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abeppu ◴[16 Jan 25 16:22 UTC] No.42727372[source]▶
The inscription on the Sword of Goujian, the translation for which is displayed in the article, says that the King of Yue made and used the sword himself. How literally do people with knowledge of the period take that? Is it surprising / unlikely for a king of that period to make anything themselves, especially something so ornate, rather than commission it?
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1. klik99 ◴[16 Jan 25 17:46 UTC] No.42728409[source]▶
Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if he actually made it himself (though I agree the inscription is hardly proof). We have this view of Kings as fat, lazy bureaucratic blowhards because we're closest to the tailend of the history of monarchy. When this King was around there were a lot more regional leaders who fought and strength was admired the most, if a King was seen as weak he had just as much internal attempts that were way more physical than the political coups of today. You could not be a king or survive being a king without being a good fighter and knowing a bit about how weapons are made and used.