[Bronze and Iron Artifacts]

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China began using metals in the late Neolithic period, with bronze artifacts appearing during the late Xia Dynasty (Erlitou culture). The Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the peak of bronze production in China, highlighted by the Houmuwu Cauldron, the earliest known and largest bronze vessel in the world. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, iron tools became widely used. By the late Warring States period, iron tools were integrated into many aspects of social production and daily life. Iron farming tools increasinglyreplaced wooden, stone, bone, shell, and bronze implements, establishing a dominant position.

The collection of bronze and iron artifacts at the Jilin Manchu Museum mainly includes items allocated by the government, private donations, and acquisitions from the Liao, Jin, Qing, and Republic periods. These include tools for production and daily life such as iron sickles, iron shovels, iron pots, stirrups, iron knives, copper mirrors, and copper braziers.

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[Iron Agricultural Tools of the Jin Dynasty]

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The Jin Dynasty was established by the Jurchen people, an ancient ethnic group living between the Songhua and Heilong Rivers in northern China. Over its more than one hundred years of history, The Jin Dynasty coexisted with the Southern Song Dynasty, drawing influence from its advanced agricultural economy.  A developed agricultural economy was the backbone of the Jin's survival. After the mid-10th century, the Jurchen people rapidly developed, with the northern Wanyan tribe settling along the Hu River and beginning to "cultivate and plant trees." Influenced by the more advanced agricultural economy of the Song Dynasty and the importance of agriculture in the national economy, Jin rulers increasingly emphasized agricultural development. In the early Jin, during campaigns against the Liao, they viewed the "farming tools" abandoned by the Liao army as significant war trophies to be distributed among the Meng'an and Muke Jurchens. The widespread use of iron agricultural tools was a key factor for the rapid development of agriculture during the Jin Dynasty.