The Historical Source of Hardware Tools

According to the data, the word "hardware" first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period. The book "Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue Period" records that "I heard that Ou Yezi, the envoy of the King of Yue, made five swords,... a Zhanlu, the hero of hardware, and the essence of the sun." According to the note "gold, knife, turtle, and shell" in the Hanshu · Shi Huo Zhi, gold means five colors of gold, yellow means gold, white means silver, red means copper, green means lead, and black means iron.

So how do people define hardware in modern life?

According to the Modern Chinese Dictionary, "hardware" generally refers to five types of metal vessels in contemporary times: gold, iron, tin (aluminum), silver, and copper (one saying is tin and the other saying is aluminum), which are then processed through cutting, rolling, forging, and other processes to produce various metal vessels. People collectively refer to them as hardware. Hardware includes products such as manual, electric, and automotive tools, and can be divided into types such as daily hardware, building hardware, kitchen and bathroom hardware in terms of purpose. Due to the numerous classifications, people naturally refer to all products made of metal as hardware.