The World's Most Powerful Dragons

Hey Everyone!

Dragons are generally perceived as being benevolent in the East but as evil destructive creatures in the West. Whether you agree with this or no, I think we can all agree that most if not all dragons are very powerful, which Mathew Mcconaghey learned the hard way. Ooooooh, not smart, never bring an ax to a dragon fight. Anyway here are some other powerful dragons based on mythologies from around the world that you should never try to fight with anything less than the black arrow.

1. Bakunawa

the Bakunawa was a giant dragon/serpent. He has two sets of wings, and a mouth ‘the size of a lake, yeah a lake, try chopping at that Matthew McConaughey. The Bakunawa is also believed to be the god of the underworld and is often considered to be the cause of eclipses.

According to Filipino mythology, the Bakunawa lived in the sea at a time when the world had seven moons and it was so fascinated by the moon’s glow, that it would rise out of the sea and consume the moons. But each time it swallowed a moon, the moon would melt in its stomach, thus it consumed another.

To prevent the world from becoming dark the people would run out of their homes, taking their pots and pans, to make the most noise they could in order to scare the Bakunawa so it would stop eating the moons and give them the moonlight back. Interestingly, the name Bakunawa can be translated as ‘moon eater’ or ‘man-eater,’ because come on, if it can eat the moon it can certainly eat people. The term Bakunawa is also used to descript a greedy person or corrupt government official.

So this dragon was pretty powerful, I mean it could swallow the moon, but also kind of a coward. Pots and pans? come on!

2. The Need-Hawg

The need-hawg which means Malice Striker or Striker in the Dark is a powerful dragon found in Norse Mythology. So there’s this ash tree called Yggdrasill Yi Dra Sil also known as the world tree. This tree is so big, it holds the 9 realms of Norse mythology together and of course one of these realms is Asgard where Thor lives. But this crazy dragon is so powerful it’s trying to topple Yggdrasill and destroy all the realms because the root of the world tree is the only thing trapping him. Oh also there’s apparently an eagle that lives at the top of the world tree and this dragon and eagle are basically saying bad thing to each other, you know just trolling each other, and if you're wondering how they are able to communicate, well there’s this squirrel that basically deliver messages for both of them. So this is like an instant messaging insult match where instead of phones, we have a squirrel. And this squirrel is prob not helping things, he’s prob going up to the dragon,  hey need-hawg the eagle said you ain't nothing.. and uh...he said your mama looks like a T-Rex.

Anyway, If need-hawg does chew his way through the root of the World Tree, it then heralds the arrival of Ragnarök Rog Na Rock and the subsequent destruction of the world. the Norse Judgement day. you know In the next Terminator movie, john conner should send a terminator back in time to team up with Thor to destroy this bad mouthing squirrel and prevent nose Judgment Day, they may have to go and kill that dragon too, Terminator 6 Terminator vs Norse Dragon, and squirrel...

3. Typhon

Typhon was considered the mightiest and deadliest monster in Greek mythology. He was the last son of mother earth Gaia and Tartarus, created as a last attempt to repel the Olympian gods from defeating the Titans.

Known as the "father of all monsters", Typhon was a fire-breathing dragon who had one hundred heads that never slept.

Typhon was the largest and most grotesque of all creatures that have ever lived. He was so tall that he towered over the highest mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. He was of human form down to his thighs, but he had huge snake coils instead of legs.

A hundred dragons’ heads sprung from his shoulders and his body was covered with feathers. His also had wings: and fire flashing from his eyes.

After the defeat of the Giants against the Olympian gods, Gaea wanted to punish Zeus for imprisoning her Titan children in Tartarus; thus, Typhon was born.

When Typhon challenged the heavens, the gods were so frightened by that they fled to Egypt and disguised themselves among the wild.

Zeus had to defend Mount Olympus so he threw bolts of lightning at Typhon. Typhon fought back with force and cut off several of Zeus' muscles from his hands and feet, leaving him helpless.

Hermes managed to get the muscles back to Zeus, who eventually trapped Typhon underneath Mount Etna. It is said to this day that the flames and steam that rise from the volcano are from this monster.

4. The Cockatrice

OK, this thing is crazy, the cockatrice is a mythical two-legged dragon with a rooster’s head. the cockatrice was supposed to be born from an egg laid by a chicken and incubated by a toad or snake. But just because this thing is a chicken, doesn’t mean it is Chicken if you know what I mean, this thing is ferocious and it is powerful. It has the ability to kill people by either, breathing on them, touching them or just looking at them.

It was said that the weasel is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a cockatrice. Apparently, the only way to kill it would be to let it hear a rooster crow of getting it to look itself in a mirror.

5. Dragon Kings

In China, as well as in South Asia, the Dragon or Long is commonly the symbol of nobility, solemnness, holiness, and good fortune. 

Chinese dragons are strongly associated with water in popular belief. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. In traditional Chinese beliefs, there are four major Dragon Kings, representing each of the four seas: the East Sea (corresponding to the East China Sea), the South Sea (corresponding to the South China Sea), the West Sea (sometimes seen as the Indian Ocean and beyond), and the North Sea (sometimes seen as Lake Baikal).

Because of this association, they are seen as "in charge" of water-related weather phenomenon. In premodern times, many Chinese villages (especially those close to rivers and seas) had temples dedicated to their local "dragon king". In times of drought or flooding, it was customary for local officials to lead the community in offering sacrifices and conducting other religious rites to appease the dragon, either to ask for rain or to ask for the rain to stop. These dragon-kings are also known to have a fierce temper and when that happens, crazy weather and floods could occur wiping out entire villages.

You know I wonder what would happen if all these dragons just got together and had dragons only fight club, I wonder who’s gonna win. Maybe the Cockatrice because all it has to do is look at other dragons, but then any of the other dragons could just bring a rooster. The Bakunawa could just try and swallow the other dragons, but then the dragon kings could just floor his stomach full of water. I really don’t know. I’m just gonna go ahead and bet on the squirrel.

Who do you think would win?

Strange Consequences of Heart Transplants Baffles Scientists

 

By Stephanie Lam and Wang Yuanfu

CELLULAR MEMORY: Researchers hypothesize that organ recipients' personality change is due to memory being stored in cells.

Legend has it that about 2,500 years ago, during China’s Warring State Period, two men went to see a great doctor by the name of Bian Que. Bian cured their sickness very quickly but discovered that they had another problem that had been growing more serious over time. Bian said that they would both get well if they exchanged their hearts, and they agreed to let Bian perform the surgery.

Bian had the two men drink some anesthetics and they lost consciousness for three days, during which Bian opened their chests, exchanged their hearts, and applied medicine. When they regained consciousness, they had already recovered and were as well as before.

But something was wrong: When they returned home, they were both baffled because their wives couldn’t recognize them. It turned out that they had both gone to the other person’s home and thought that the other person’s wife was their wife.

It seems inconceivable that such a surgery could have been performed 2,500 years ago, but this story is unbelievably similar to the situation observed in some modern heart transplant cases.

The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported that, after a heart transplant, Sonny Graham of Georgia fell in love with his donor’s wife and married her. Twelve years after their marriage, he committed suicide the same way his donor did.

In another Daily Mail report, a man named William Sheridan received a heart from an artist who died in a car accident, and suddenly he was able to produce beautiful drawings of wildlife and landscapes.

Claire Sylvia, the recipient of a heart and a lung in 1988, wrote in her book A Change of Heart: A Memoir that after the transplant she started to like beer, fried chicken, and green pepper—all of which she didn’t like before but her donor, an 18-year-old boy, liked.

She had a dream in which she kissed a boy she thought to be named Tim L., and inhaled him into her during the kissing. She later found that Tim L. was the name of her donor. She wondered if it was because one of the doctors mentioned the name during her surgery, but was told that the doctors did not know the name of the donor.

In a paper published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies, Dr. Paul Pearsall of the University of Hawaii and Dr. Gary Schwartz and Dr. Linda Russek of the University of Arizona discussed 10 cases of heart or heart-lung transplants in which the recipients were reported to have “changes in food, music, art, sexual, recreational, and career preferences, as well as specific instances of perceptions of names and sensory experiences related to the donors.”

In one of the cases that they described, the donor was an African American, so the recipient thought the donor would like rap music and therefore didn’t think the transplant was the cause of his new preference for classical music. However, it was found that the donor was a violin player and loved classical music.

This case suggests that changes in organ recipients’ preferences occur without the recipients anticipating them. Thus these cases are unlike the placebo effect, in which patients’ health conditions change in the direction of their expectations.

In addition, the researchers pointed out that like the above recipients, there might be other recipients who dismiss the idea that they adopted their donors’ preferences because of their expectations of the donors, so the number of organ transplant recipients who experienced a personality change similar to that of their donors might be underrepresented.

Pearsall, Schwartz, and Russek concluded that it is unlikely these cases happened out of coincidence, and hypothesized that it is because of cellular memory, meaning that memories and preferences can be stored in cells.

However, it is currently unknown whether this form of memory exists.

Chinese Religions Throughout Chinese History

bhoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu

China is one of the most ancient civilizations on Earth and religious practices in this country date back to more than 7000 years. In modern times, we recognize three major Eastern religions in China – Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. However, long before the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Confucius and Lao-Tzu and the arrival of the wisdom of the Buddha in China, religion in China has always thrived in one form and several others. And today, Chinese religion has become a complex amalgamation of folk religion, the Three Religions, and the anti-religious sentiment of the Communist doctrine.

Hence, the term “Chinese religion” as we know it now refers to a diverse and complex collection of many traditions and beliefs. And for us to understand the modern expressions of Chinese religion, it becomes necessary for us to learn how and when various religions formed and reigned supreme, and how much they developed and influenced Chinese civilization throughout its long history.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER VIDEO

Neolithic China

Phys.org

Orthodox Chinese religions are products of continuous historical development since prehistoric times. Ancient China was inhabited by many nomadic tribes that eventually developed agriculture, and archaeological records indicate that these small villages and communities gradually progressed toward more sophisticated technology and social stratification. There is also some evidence for prehistoric religious activities, particularly involving the dead, who were often buried in segregated cemeteries, with the bodies’ heads positioned toward a single cardinal direction. There was also some concern over the precise ordering of ritual acts, which is perhaps an early version over the importance placed on universal order and pattern in later Chinese cosmology. There is also evidence of people who acted as divination specialists as early as the 4th millennium BCE, while the 3rd millennium BCE saw the rise of interest in building tomb rams and coffin chambers. Early forms of ancestor worship also began during this period.  

Shang Dynasty: 1600 BC – 1050 BCE

Ancient Chinese Dynasties: Advancements and Achievements

By the time of the Shang Dynasty, religion developed to the point that the people established a definite “king of the gods” referred to as Shangti along with many lesser gods of other names. The people also held a strong belief in ghosts, proven by evidence in the form of amulets and charms and the written ghost stories during this time considered to be the earliest form of Chinese literature. Divination also became a significant part of Chinese religious beliefs during the Shang dynasty, with some individuals performing mystical and psychic abilities by telling another person’s future through oracle bones.

 

Religion in the Zhou Dynasty: 1046 – 256 BCE

Pinterest

During the Zhou Dynasty, various regions of China started to become more unified, turning into a single civilization. At the same time, religious ideas from different regions of the area interacted with each other and began to assimilate. Both commoners and the elite believed in gods, ghosts, ancestors, and omens, and they practiced divination, sacrifice, and exorcism. Zhou ancestors were believed to live in a celestial court presided over by the Zhou high god Tian. During the Zhou Dynasty, the Mandate of Heaven concept developed and this Chinese civilization also eventually gave way to the teachings of Confucius and Mo-tzu whose teachings emphasized virtue, humanity, the value of social relationships, and just leadership.

Qin Dynasty: 221 – 206 BCE

In the time of the Qin Dynasty, the emperor Shi Huangti became infamous for his suppression of religion and other philosophical perspectives. During his reign, legalism was the state philosophy of the Qin government and the citizens were subjected to harsh penalties for violating even minor laws. The emperor also banned any books which were not about his family line, his dynasty or Legalism. Though he suppressed his people’s religious beliefs, he was obsessed in conquering death by searching for the key to achieving immortality. However, he failed to succeed in accomplishing this feat, having died in 210 BCE while searching for immortality on tour through his kingdom.

Han Dynasty: 206 BCE – 220 CE

The Han Dynasty was the first dynasty in China to embrace Confucianism, which became the ideological foundation of all regimes from then on until the day Imperial China met its end. The reign of the Han Dynasty was a period of great prosperity, with the emperors of this period having supported and encouraged the development of art, science, technology, literature, and religion. The emperors were seen ruling under the Mandate of Heaven with the important responsibility of mediating between the gods and the people. Then, sometime during the 1st century CE, Buddhism reached China, probably through the travelers who took the Silk Road from northern India. By the 2nd century CE, a variety of other beliefs, practices, and disciplines arose, which eventually gave rise to alchemy, scientific experiments and the Taoist religion.

Six Dynasties Period: 220 – 589 CE

The fall of the Han dynasty began a period of disunity referred to as the “Six Dynasties,” and during this time, Buddhism flourished and became a major religion in China ever since. While this period was almost in constant political upheaval, it is also considered to be an important time for religious development.

The uncertainty and brutality of the period influenced Buddhism in China and Buddhist monks had to meet the people's spiritual needs by developing rituals and practices of transcendence. And so, in the sixth century, new schools of Chinese Buddhism sought to adapt Buddhism to Chinese ways of thinking.

Sui Dynasty: 581 – 618 CE

After three and a half centuries of political fragmentation, China was reunified by the Sui dynasty in 581. The founder of this short-lived dynasty supported Buddhism, particularly the Tiantai school, and used this religion and philosophical movement as a unifying ideology shared by many of the citizens in both North and South.

 

Tang Dynasty: 618 – 906 CE

However, after four decades of rule, the Sui was overthrown in a series of rebellions and ended up getting replaced by the Tang dynasty – a time regarded by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization. The royal family of this dynasty officially supported Taoism because of them claimed blood relations to Lao-Tzu. However, Buddhism also enjoyed great favor and imperial patronage throughout the period. The T'ien-t'ai, Ch'an and Pure Land schools of Buddhism continued to rise in popularity, and many monasteries and temples were built during this time.

Sung Dynasty: 960 – 1279

After a short unstable period, the “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,” the Sung Dynasty rose to rule China. Sung intellectuals sought answers to philosophical and political inquiries in the Confucian Classics, and this renewed interest in the Confucian ideals arose alongside the decline of Buddhism. The Sung Neo-Confucian philosophers found a certain purity in the originality of the ancient classical texts and wrote commentaries about them. However, the rigidity of the state’s official creed and philosophy led to the inhibition of societal development in pre-modern China. While this resulted to several generations of political, social and spiritual stability, it also decelerated cultural and institutional advancement in the country up to the 19th century.

When the Mongols conquered North China and established the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, they did not attempt to impose their religion – which consisted of a cult of Heaven as well as nature and shamanistic practices – on the Chinese people. And so, the existing three religions in China enjoyed comparative freedom under these foreign rulers. During the Yuan dynasty that a large number of Muslim people were brought in to help in the administration of China. During this time that Islam spread all over the empire, establishing major population bases in the western provinces of Yunnan and Gansu.

Ming Dynasty: 1368 – 1644

The populace’s strong feelings against the rule of foreigners led to the peasant revolt that forced the Yuan dynasty out of Chinese territory and the subsequent establishment of the Ming Dynasty in 1368. During this period, Taoism and Buddhism had become poorly-organized popular religions, which led to the rise of new blends of Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist elements so, this paved the way for the rise of many private academies in the 16th century, opening an avenue for widespread philosophical discussions and conflicts.

With the eventual collapse of the Ming empire, the Qing Dynasty came to power - an empire that was founded by the semi-nomadic Manchus. In public policy, the Manchus were strong supporters of Confucianism, but in their private lives, the Qing rulers were devoted to Tibetan Buddhism. Most religious developments during the Qing dynasty were continuations of Ming traditions, except Protestant Christianity as well as the Taiping movement – which is the most significant innovation in Qing religion. The teachings of the Taiping Tianguo or the Celestial Kingdom of Great Peace combined the motifs of Christianity, shamanism and popular sectarian beliefs. Then, in the 19th century, traditional Chinese religions were subjected to waves of persecution, and many religious and institutional religious temples ended up getting destroyed.

The Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911, and with the fall of imperial China, Chinese intellectuals became free to invest themselves in new ideas and political forms. They also were given a chance to avidly study and translate Western writings, including those that spoke of Marxism. The result of this Westernization and secularization left Confucianism and other Chinese traditions vulnerable from attacks which led to the destruction or occupation of thousands of temples. Nevertheless, while these new ideas heavily affected the larger cities, the majority of the Chinese people continued to practice popular religions and traditions as before.

People’s Republic of China: 1949 – present

After the Communist Party’s triumph in the Chinese Civil War under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949. In the early parts of its governance, the People’s Republic of China kept a hostile stance toward religion, which was considered to be emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism. Places of worship were then converted into non-religious buildings intended for secular use. Religious beliefs or practices were discouraged because and labeled as "backward" and "superstitious" by the government, later being completely condemned during the Cultural Revolution. Millions of innocent people were killed by the military or injured by fellow citizens poisoned by communist propaganda. It was only in the late 1970s that this attitude relaxed because the 1978 Constitution of the People’s Republic of China supposedly "guaranteed" religious freedom, with a number of restrictions, and as long as religious practices were not perceived to challenge the communist authority of the state.

Today, popular, or folk, religious practice in China has combined elements of the old ancestral rites of previous dynasties and is marked by a propensity for syncretism. For most people in China, there is no problem with combining different beliefs and religious practices, unlike some other cultures that condemn those who follow religious or philosophical movements that are different from their own. While religion in China has several millennia of tumultuous periods of decline and prosperity, what has remained constant is the Chinese people’s ability to select the religious practices and teachings that work best for them at a particular point in time. They have always exercised the freedom to choose which religion could help them in their journey toward a harmonious life.

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Sources:

• http://www.religionfacts.com/chinese-religion/history
• http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/china_timeline.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_China#Proto-Chinese_and_Xia-Shang-Zhou_culture
• http://www.ancient.eu/article/891/
• http://www.patheos.com/Library/Chinese-Religion
• http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Writings/Chinese%20Religions%20-%20Overview.htm
• http://asiasociety.org/chinese-religions-and-philosophies
• http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinrelg.html
• http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2013/10/01/what-is-religion-in-china-a-brief-history/

Perfectly Preserved Body Found of 1,000-year-old Buddhist Master Ci Xian

Something mysterious has been discovered at the Dinghui Temple in Wu'an in the Hubei province of China. A golden mummy, the preserved remains of Master Ci Xian that is over 1,000 years old, underwent a CT scan on July 8, 2017, that was witnessed by monks, media and prayers . To everyone's surprise, researchers found that he still had a complete brain and that his bones were also really healthy.

According to Dr. Wu Yongqing who conducted the scan:

"We can see his bones are as healthy as a normal person's...The upper jaw, the upper teeth, the ribs, the spine and all the joints are all complete...It's incredible to see this."

According to historical records, Master Ci Xian was a well-respected monk from India who had translated 10 major sutras into Chinese and traveled from India to the Kingdom of Khitan (which is in modern day northeastern China) in an effort to promote Buddhism. Some of his translations were carved into stone tablets that can still be seen today. After his death, Master Ci Xian’s disciples preserved his body well. But over the years, the body was somehow lost, never to be found until it was rediscovered in a cave in the 1970s. 

Master Ci Xian’s remains were worshiped at the Dinghui Temple since 2011, and in 2016 the temple covered his body in gold paint as a sign of respect. According to Master Du at the Ding Hui temple, elderly monks can feel when they are about to pass away and will instruct their disciples to either cremate or preserve their remains. If preserved, his remains would be placed in a massive ceramic jar filled with natural preservatives. If the spiritual level of the monk is high enough, or there is a lot of cultivated energy within the monk’s body, then it would be soaked in the liquid for about 3 years. After that, the body will be removed from the liquid and covered in rice paste.

This may seem really strange to a lot of people but it is believed that all monks are cultivators with the goal of reaching enlightenment. And as they are cultivating, they are generating energy within their bodies. As the energy grows, it will start to change the cultivator’s body from a fundamental level. Often times, when a monk cultivates to a high level, pearl-like substances are left behind his ashes when he is cremated. The pearls are called sarira and are considered sacred and precious. Throughout human history and its billions of cremations, it was only high level cultivators who were able to leave sariras behind.

Goujian - The Ancient Chinese Sword that Defied Time

Over fifty years ago, a rare and unusual sword was found in an ancient tomb in China. This ancient weapon is known as “The Sword of Goujian,” and though it’s supposed to be over 2,000 years old, its blade is said to not have a single trace of rust. The sword’s blade has managed to retain its sharpness, drawing blood when a person’s finger is tested on its edge, as if it was completely immune by the passage of millennia. But aside from this strange quality, its craftsmanship has been praised for being intricately detailed for a sword that was forged in a supposedly technologically-limited era.

Discovery of the Sword of Goujian

The discovery of the Sword of Goujian dates back in 1965, during which an archeological survey was being performance along the second main aqueduct of the Zhang River Reservoir in Jingzhou of Hubei province. More than fifty ancient tombs of the Chu State – a successful hegemonic and expansionist state during the Spring and Autumn Period in the early 8th century BCE -  were found in Juangling County.

And so, an archeological dig was initiated, beginning in the middle of October 1965 and ended in January 1966. In December 1965, 4.3 miles or 7 kilometers from the ruins of Jinan, an ancient capital of Chu, the archeological team responsible for the excavation discovered an ancient tomb. In its casket was a skeleton, and next to it was a near air-tight wooden box. From inside this box, they removed a perfectly preserved bronze sword in its scabbard.

This sword is now identified as the Sword of Goujian, and it was unearthed by these archeological researchers along with 2,000 other artifacts.

To their amazement, upon unsheathing the bronze sword, its blade was revealed to be untarnished. And the fact that the sword appeared to be in perfect condition despite being buried in damp conditions for more than 2,000 years was astonishing. A test conducted by the archaeologists showed that the sword’s blade could easily cut a stack of twenty pieces of paper.

Construction of the Sword of Goujian

The Sword of Goujian is among the earliest known Jian swords. A Jian sword is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. Jian swords are among the earliest known sword types in China, and these bladed weapons are closely associated with Chinese mythology. In Chinese folklore, this type of sword is referred to as "The Gentleman of Weapons," and is considered to be one of the four major weapons, along with the staff, spear, and the sabre.

“The Sword of Goujian” is relatively short compared to other historical pieces of its kind. It is a bronze sword with a very high concentration of copper, which made it more malleable and less likely to break apart. The blade’s edges are made of tin, which not only made the sword harder, but also made it more capable of retaining a sharper edge. The sword also contains small amounts of iron, lead and sulfur. The sword’s high proportion of sulfur and sulfide cuprum is revealed to be what gives the weapon its rustproof quality, as sulfur decreases the chance of tarnish in the blade’s patterns.

Weighing 30.9 ounces or 875 grams, the Sword of Goujian measures 21.9 inches or 55.7 centimeters long, including its 3.3.-inch or 8.4-centimeter handle hilt. The blade, on the other hand, is 1.8 inches or 4.6 centimeters wide at its base.

Repeating black rhombic etchings cover both sides of the blade, while blue crystals and turquoise are imbedded on the sword handle.  The grip of the sword is bound by silk while its pommel is composed of 11 concentric circles. 

Inscription on the Sword of Goujian And Subsequent Identification

The owner of this ancient sword was determined through the inscription etched on the its blade. On one side of the blade, eight characters arranged in two columns of text are visible. These characters found near the sword’s hilt are written in an ancient Chinese script known as Bird-worm seal script or “Niǎo Chóng Zhuà”, which literally means “birds and worms characters” because of the writing system’s intricate decoration to the defining strokes. It is a variant of “Zhuan” or seal script, which is very difficult to read. 

Initial analyses deciphered six of the eight characters.  The characters translate to: “King of Yue” ("越王") "made this sword for (his) personal use" ("自作用剑"). According to experts, the remaining two characters are likely to be the name of the king. 

From the sword’s origin in 510 BC to the Yue State’s demise at the hands of Chu in 334 BC, nine kings ruled Yue, including Goujian, Lu Cheng, Bu Shou, and Zhu Gou, among several others. Identifying the correct king that owned the sword sparked debate among archaeologists as well as Chinese language scholars.  Eventually, the experts reached a consensus and decided that the original owner of the sword was Goujian, who reigned between 496 and 465 BC, making the sword around 2,500 years old. 

Goujian was a well-known emperor in Chinese history who reigned over the Yue State during the Spring and Autumn Period. King Goujian’s reign coincided with what is arguably the last major conflict of this period, which is the struggle between the Wu State and the Yue.

The story of King Goujian and Fuchai, King of the Wu state, contending for hegemony is famous throughout China. At some point, Yue was defeated by Wu and Goujian had to serve as Fuchai’s servant for three years before he was allowed to return to his native state. However, after ten years of economic and political reforms, Goujian eventually led his army to victory in the last phase of the war, annexing the rival state.

As a ruler, Goujian never relished in kingly riches, and instead, he ate food suited for peasants and even forced himself to taste bile as a reminder of his humiliations serving under the Wu State. Hence, as a monarch, he was made famous by his perseverance in times of hardship and his ruthlessness during battle.

Unique Properties of the Sword of Goujian

Apart from its historic value, many scholars have wondered how the Sword of Goujian managed to remain rust-free in a humid environment for more than 2,000 years, and how it became possible for it to be as sharp today as when it was originally forged. They were also impressed with the delicate decorations carved into the sword, and by the fact that not a single spot of rust can be found on its body today.

In the hopes of replicating the technology used to create the sword, researchers analyzed ancient bronze shards, and they found that the sword is resistant to oxidation due to sulphation on the sword’s surface. Combined with an air-tight scabbard, this allowed the legendary sword to remain in such pristine condition even after more than two millennia.

The swordsmiths of the Wu and Yue regions in Southern China during the Spring and Autumn Period was also determined to have reached a high level of metallurgy to the point that they were able to incorporate rust-proof alloys into their blades. Their skill in sword-making aided ancient weapons of the time like the Sword of Goujian to survive through the ages relatively unblemished. 

Since its discovery, the Sword of Goujian is regarded as a state treasure in China, and is deemed as a truly legendary sword that defied the rigors of time. This archeological artifact continues to be revered by the Chinese people, much like the fascination over King Arthur’s mythical Excalibur in the West.

The Sword of Goujian was lent to the National Palace Museum in Taipei where it was on display until 2011, along with various other bronze pieces from the 1965 excavation. Presently this archeological artifact is in the possession and care of the Hubei Provincial Museum.

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Sources:

http://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/goujian-ancient-chinese-sword-defied-time-003279?nopaging=1
http://printarchive.epochtimes.com/a1/en/sg/nnn/2015/09%20Sep%202015/516/September_4-17_23_lowres.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Goujian_of_Yue
https://youtu.be/M6wcFzBTa7Q
http://en.hubei.gov.cn/culture/heritage/201305/t20130521_450099.shtml
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