12 / 84
11
In this period, some locks and
keys were not only very beautiful
and artistic colorful, but also with
various shapes. Also, locks were one
of the symbols of wealth and power.
Pretty pictures were engraved on the
locks of the nobles and riches; some
of them even bear totems. While in
the same era, poor people used only
wooden locks. Furthermore, in Tang
Dynasty, a woman carrying a key in
the outdoors indicated that she was
married, and a woman carrying no
keys meant that she was not married.
Ever since the late Eastern Han
Dynasty, metal spl i t t ing spring
padlocks had always been the most
wide ly used locks by Chinese
people. Though the shapes of
ancient Chinese locks diversified,
t he i nne r s t r uc t u r e s have no t
changed much for the past two
thousand years. And, Chinese locks
faded gradually after the western
pin-tumbler cylinder locks were
introduced into the country in the
1940s.
再者，此時期的鎖與鑰
匙，不乏美麗者，除富含藝術
色彩之外，且形態相當多樣化。
此時期的鎖與鑰匙也是財富與
權威的象徵，達官顯要與富貴
人家，會在鎖體刻上美麗的圖
案，有些更富含象徵意義；但
大部份的平民百姓，仍只使用
木鎖。此外，當時的鑰匙也用
來分別已婚或未婚的女人，所
謂「出門帶鑰匙者」，是指已
婚女子；而「出門未帶鑰匙者」，
則是指未婚女子。
從漢代開始，金屬簧片
鎖一直是中國人的主要用鎖。
兩千多年來，古早中國鎖具的
外觀雖然有所變化，但是内
部構
造始終沒有太大的改進。到了
一九四零年代以後，由於西方
栓銷制栓鎖的廣泛使用，古中
國之傳統鎖具才逐漸的被淘汰。
‧宋代鐵鎖
Iron lock of Song dynasty
243x30x15mm 128g
‧鑰匙
Key
145x12x15mm 84g