Did ancient password locks also use numbers as passwords?

China has used locks for over 5000 years. At first, the lock was not equipped with an organ, but was made into the shape of fierce animals such as leopards and lions to achieve the purpose of shock and awe. Later, the structure of the lock became more and more complicated, and various security technologies were used. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there appeared a combination lock with complex structure, which is as complicated as the current combination lock.

In the Qing dynasty, there was a kind of lock that was particularly popular. It is usually made of copper. No keyhole, no key. How to open it? It turns out that this kind of lock is similar to the modern password lock, with hidden poems as the password, and it is called the bronze lock of text password, also known as the hidden poem lock. Half of this lock code looks like a horizontal cylinder, but in fact it is several movable copper wheels juxtaposed together, usually three or five, and seven are rare. Each copper wheel is engraved with different Chinese characters, and the code for unlocking is a poem composed of these Chinese characters.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese character coded bronze lock made in Yuekou Town, Tianmen, Hubei Province, was made of white copper, weighing 303 grams, 6.3 centimeters long and 4.2 centimeters high, and the word "Yuekou" was engraved as the origin of the lock. There are four brass wheels on the lock, and each wheel is engraved with four Chinese characters in turn, namely, God's will to live a long life, the official day is like this, giving the southeast high, and blessing the sea and mountains to rise.

If the words inscribed on each round are arranged and combined, 24 sentences can be formed, such as "God bless the people", "The rising sun rises", "Life is better than the South Mountain" and "Happiness is like the East China Sea". Only "Tianguan Goldman Sachs" is the password, and "Tianguan Goldman Sachs" must be aligned with the locked "Yuekou" to unlock it.

In ancient times, most password locks used five characters as passwords. The lock body has five wheels, each wheel has four groups of Chinese characters, and * * * has 120 combinations. For example, there is a brass coded lock with a pair of symmetrical tiger heads with two open mouths. There are four groups of Chinese characters on each wheel, namely: auspicious deer and peace, bamboo reports peace, prosperity, wealth and prosperity, and the year of peaceful passage. After turning the wheel, the lock can only be opened if the Chinese characters on the wheel are combined into a group of words "He Zhu Feng Gui An" and aligned with the midpoint at both ends of the lock.

Another example is a password lock. Five words of congratulations are engraved on the five wheels, which are "Qing Ji is more than enough", "Children and grandchildren are full", "Wuzi has been admitted to the department", "Chunhua Qiushi" and "Sanyang Kaitai". When people spell the words on the five wheels into "Celebrating Man Ascending to Heaven and Huatai" and keep these five words in a straight line, the lock will be opened. If there is a slight deviation, the bronze lock still needs to be tattooed.

Summary: These Chinese code locks are beautiful in appearance, just like a work of art.. They are both beautiful and practical, reflecting the wisdom of ancient China people.