|
|
Post by Venom on Nov 16, 2014 22:07:37 GMT
So I have a Katana but want to get another sword. Rather than get another Katana or Japanese sword, I thought I'd get a different culture and I landed on a Chinese sword . My question is who makes the best Chinese swords?
|
|
|
|
Post by Blklasy on Nov 16, 2014 23:43:18 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Venom on Nov 17, 2014 0:07:48 GMT
Thank you, but I'm leaning more toward a han jian. I would get a dao but they all seem to have this really ugly nut on the pomel
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthur Dayne on Nov 17, 2014 0:39:49 GMT
Huawei Top Quality Han Jian, not the best quality but very well made and heavy duty. I wrote a lengthy review under the Huawei section titled Han Jian. The fittings are well formed and blade geometry + polish is uniquely beautiful.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Nov 17, 2014 1:09:31 GMT
Who makes the best Chinese swords? Hanwei makes some OK ones (and some very good ones), Huanuo makes a good range (they make swords for Dynasty Forge and Cold Steel as well as ones sold under their own name), Zhisword makes a range from good to budget. There are various ebay sellers with good Chinese swords (and plenty with bad ones). Enlightenment swords has nice swords. JKOO Sword (Sinosword). Kris Cutlery used to have good swords (currently, their only Chinese swords appear to be stainless steel taiji/tai chi jian, Traditional Filipino Weapons has a few interesting and OK looking ones which might be good value.
Plenty of dao out there without pommel nuts: ring-pommel dao, and dao with glued-on pommels (Qing/Ming dao and Tang dao, and various fantasy dao). I prefer a pommel nut to glued-on. There are some (but very few) with peened pommels.
The perils of Han jian with hollow grips have been much discussed here. There should be info on one with a well-made grip in that discussion.
|
|
|
|
Post by AlvaroWang on Nov 17, 2014 2:10:24 GMT
I always wished to ask. What is it about the han jian that so many people like it?
I never even heard of it until I started frequenting international forums.
|
|
|
|
Post by Arthur Dayne on Nov 17, 2014 2:52:22 GMT
For me it's the 8 sided blade geometry and thicker blade spine and edge. I have a fondness for heavy duty swords that are also beautiful and elegant and for me the 8 sided Han Jian satisfies the need.
I know not all Han Jian are made like that but the one I bought has 8-9MM spine thickness at base and tapers to at least 4mm at the tip and has a really thick mighty point that will stab through just about anything I poke at. My dream sword would be the Huawei 8 sided blade with a 9.5 inch crossguard, wheel pommel and a waisted leather + cord wrap grip.
Hmm it also looks great when posing with bulging arm muscles and after ab workouts. There's also some love for the Han Dynasty culture too, I personally find the military order of battle, technology, formations, logistics, equipment & weapons to be on par with the best the west has to offer and superior/more flexible in many respects.
Chinese culture gets a lot of contempt from the west due to CNN/FOX/MSNBC/NY Times/WA Post/UK Daily and just about the rest of the Western world in general and anything that is Chinese related is looked at as inferior/weaker/scrawnier and bashed at/focusing on BS Western Anti-Chinese propaganda and runs contrary to what I see and work with which is to say the least... very impressive and surprising.
So this is my way of acknowledging the Chinese. I'll be sure to get a sword from the Tang, Yuan, Ming, Qing and maybe Song era too in the future but most of my interest is in HEMA/ARMA and western swords so forgive me if I may get that Albion Crecy or Knight first hehe
|
|
|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Nov 17, 2014 3:16:19 GMT
I think many of the people who like (or think they would like) Han jian do so because it's two-handed. "Like a katana" is a Good Thing for some people. There are also plenty of very cheap ones, and they don't suffer from association with floppy ultralight wushu/taiji swords.
Modern reproductions tend to be very short compared to Han dynasty examples. The actual Han jian were often 120-130cm overall length - much more like European longswords than katana. (And the grips were not always round.)
|
|
|
|
Post by AlvaroWang on Nov 17, 2014 7:49:33 GMT
Tks for the answer…
Now back to the topic, I will second the zhisword suggestion. Even though my uncle bought one many years ago (and never used, just for display) and he said some pieces just fell off, he needed to glue them back. I don't know if it indicates that the sword is badly made, but, that's the only experience I have with real stuff
|
|
|
|
Post by Arwyn on Nov 17, 2014 19:35:51 GMT
Its a combination of things. For Chinese, the Han Dynasty is a "Golden Age" of Chinese history. The period stretched over four centuries, and a lot of Han inventions and standards continued on for centuries after in later dynasties. In fact, inside of China, the majority ethnic group refers to themselves as "Han Chinese" and the Chinese writing characters are "Han characters". Han currency, standards and weights, administrative policies and logistics developed in the Han period were kept and continued under the successor states in China for centuries thereafter.
Swords and metalworking in the Han period shifted from bronze in the early period, which was quite sophisticated, to iron, wrought iron, and later steel. As a part of that technological change, sword lengths grew longer over time. Partly this was to take advantage of the changes in technology, and partly this was a statement of power.
The long Han dynasty jian and dao were a political power statement as well. Most cultures couldn't make such long blades, and even fewer could replicated the heat treatment.
So, there is a certain "romance" around the Han swords in China, and they have been popular in reproduction markets for a while. As a result, there are more of them being offered to the Western markets as well. They have proven popular with a lot of folks because they are bigger blades, and they dont look like the typical "kung fu" swords that have been shown in films.
While they are popular, there are a lot of caveats about the Han Jian offered right now. The vast majority of them are offered with a round grip. Most are hollow, and that makes them unsafe to cut with. The better built ones are solid grips, which have the wood making contact with the tang, which is what you want to see.
Cutting with a Han Jian is also a bit harder. The round grip doesnt give you a good indicator of blade alignment, so they can be harder to align for a good cut. They can and do cut well, but you do have to pay more attention.
The Huawei that Arthur recommends is a good one. The Huano offered at Seven Stars are quality Chinese swords as well. The Huawei is probably the most reasonable commonly available Han Jian offered. Jin Shi also makes an excellent quality Han Jian, but they are very limited in availability.
Outside of Han Jian, there are later dynasty types, like the Tang dynasty blades that are available for several manufactures. Huano has some excellent tang pattern blades, as does Dynasty Forge. The Tang style swords all come with oval grips, as opposed to Han round grips, and are much easier to cut with.
|
|
|
|
Post by soonann on Dec 2, 2014 15:37:58 GMT
Arwyn says it well. The Han and Tang dynasties are the zenith points of Chinese civilisations. The Han in a way marks the birth of the Chinese ethnic identity. Before that, China is more feudal in nature, and the Han is the first long-lived centralised Chinese empire. Tang dynasty on the other hand marks a high point in Chinese culture and the arts and sciences flourished at that period. Overseas chinese tend to identify themselves as Tang people (Tang ren) and Chinatown in Mandarin literally translates as "Tang People Street".
I was quite surprised when I started collecting swords at the popularity of the Han and Tang swords over the later periods. In chinese movies and dramas, the most common swords seen are of the later periods, and I personally feel the Song-Qing swords looks better than their earlier counterparts. My personal favorite are the liuyedao and yanmaodao.
I have a Jinshi Han Jian (the sword picture in their website), Hanwei Military Dadao, Practical Broadsword, Beile Dao & Qi Jian. In my opinion, the Jinshi has the best blade, but the fittings could be better. Hanwei has very good fittings & finishing, especially for the Beile & Qi Jian.
|
|
