Hardware, as its name implies, refers to five kinds of metals. The word hardware first appeared in Wu Yue Chun Qiu He Lu Chuan: "I heard that the King of Yue often asked Ou Yezi to make five swords ... Zhan Lu, the king of hardware, is the essence of the sun." According to the notes of "Gold, Knife, Turtle and Shell" in Hanshu Food Records, "Gold is five-color gold, yellow is gold, white is silver, red is copper, green is lead and black is iron." Modern Chinese Dictionary explains that hardware refers to gold, silver, copper, iron and tin, and generally refers to metals. Today's hardware is often called metal or copper and iron products.

The further application of metals has played an important role in the development of human civilization and social history. Metal products appear in every corner of economic life, political life and military activities. For example, Yongkang, Zhejiang, has a reputation as "the hometown of all kinds of workers" since ancient times, and the hardware handicraft industry has a long history. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, Yongkang coppersmith and blacksmith have traveled all over the north and south to make a living. There has long been a saying in history that "hardware craftsmen travel all over the world, and officials and counties cannot do without Kang".

History has entered the modern industrial society, and the hardware industry has developed rapidly. Hardware industry has played an inestimable role in the development of national economy, and hardware products have also become an indispensable industrial link in industrial manufacturing.

Second, the hardware accessories

Traditional hardware products, also called "hardware". Refers to all kinds of metal devices made of iron, steel, aluminum and other metals through forging, calendering, cutting and other physical processing. For example, hardware tools, hardware accessories, daily hardware, construction hardware, security supplies. Most hardware products are not final consumer goods. But as supporting products, semi-finished products and tools used in industrial manufacturing and production. Only a few daily hardware products are necessary tools and consumer goods for people's lives.