摘要
目前科技史家对中国古代的"黄铜"几乎都一概解释为铜锌合金。其实,这样的理解是不全面的。确切地说,从明代始,"黄铜"才指的是铜锌合金,在此以前,则或是泛指黄色铜合金;或者相对于胆铜而言,是指以黄色铜矿石（CuFeS<sub>2</sub>）为原料所冶炼出的赤铜;而对铜锌合金,长期则称之为"输石"、"输铜"。正由于对"黄铜"一词理解上的片面和考证上的疏失,以至不少学者就把古代文献中"黄铜"一词的出现做为我国利用锌的开始或作为判断利用锌广泛程度的依据,于是做出了不合乎实际情况的错误结论。本文将对我国各历史时期中"黄铜"一词的含义以及我国利用铜锌合金的演进情况进行考释,以匡正科学史研究中这方面存在的错误。
The appearance of brass is an important basis for researches on the history of zinc. However, the meaning of the term 'yellow copper' varies with different dynasties. Not all of the 'yellow coppers' are Cu-Zn alloys, so confusions usually arose. For example, the alloy of Cu-As was considered to be 'yellow copper' in the Han dynasty. The Cu-Zn alloy arose during the Northern and Southern dynasties, and was known as 'tou shi' (鍮石) or 'tou tong' (鍮铜) until the Yuan dynasty. The title 'yellow copper' was assigned to metallic copper produced from yellow cupric ores in Southern Song. It was only from the Ming dynasty that 'yellow coppor' became a special term for Cu-Zn alloy. This paper is a systematic research of the evolution of the meaning of 'yellow copper'.
出处
《自然科学史研究》
1987年第4期323-331,共9页
Studies in The History of Natural Sciences
