Perfect and Poisonous

龍泉寶劍 🗡️ The Longquan Sword: An iconic Chinese weapon

✏️The Long Quan sword, also known as Longquan or Lóngquán, is undoubtedly the most well-known sword in China. History says that Ou Yezi, the great master of making swords, made it about 2,600 years ago. It is said that it is the first iron sword.

The Long Quan sword has four distinct characteristics that Chinese swordsmiths describe as “simple, elegant, chilling, and with a specific hard softness.” To make a Long Quan sword, there were a total of 28 different steps that had to be done accurately. The Longquan Sword is one of China's most iconic weapons in history. Listed as a national intangible cultural heritage, to this day Longquan Swords are still made by master swordsmiths who follow the ancient traditions of forging.

浙江龍泉有兩個文化遺產，即龍泉青瓷和龍泉寶劍。浙江龍泉寶劍鍛造技藝是中國首批非遺之一。唐代時「龍泉」就是劍的代名詞，鑄劍師們代代相傳，經驗的累積與技藝的創新讓龍泉寶劍得以生生不息。「十年磨一劍」，學藝十年鑄劍師才能打造出自己的劍。

N.C. Wyeth, mural paintings in The First Bank of Boston, 1923 - 1924

2.fun fact this bat isnt being eaten; like, its roosting there for the night. this is Nepenthes hemsleyana, a pitcher plant species in a mutualistic relationship with the local tiny bat friends Kerivoula hardwickii (Hardwicke’s woolly bat)!! it works like this:

- the pitchers are shaped to make a special distinctive reflection of the bat’s echolocation. so like, the bats can hear where the pitchers are and go to them for roosting. 

-the bats enter the pitchers and sit on this special rim inside that holds them above the water line so they dont get eaten on accident. 

-up to two teeny bat friends can fit in an average pitcher at a time lmao

-the bat friends poop when they sleep and the plant eats the poop when it falls into the digestive fluid

-bat friends get a safe place to sleep, pitcher plants get food!