The Ming Dynasty's love affair with Japanese Swords
Oct 18, 2021 17:42:54 GMT
Post by ironmonger on Oct 18, 2021 17:42:54 GMT
Greetings all!
First time posting so I thought I would make it count.
There is a lot of mentions about the Japanese going to Tang Dynasty China and retrieving swords and sword making methods. But it is ot often talked about how that process was reversed in the Ming. There was a huge collectors market for Japanese swords and their use in military, security forces, and private citizens was widespread by the end of the Dynasty. Military leaders like Qi Jiguang had incorporated Japanese swords into their forces. The Wokou raids only deepened the fasciation and added a bit of "stealing from the enemy" mystique to owning one.
Here is part one of some of the more interesting connections I have been finding by going through Ming Dynasty sources.
tplafightingwords.com/2021/10/18/katana-to-dao-part-one-saber-and-coin-the-japanese-sword-in-the-ming-dynasty/
First time posting so I thought I would make it count.
There is a lot of mentions about the Japanese going to Tang Dynasty China and retrieving swords and sword making methods. But it is ot often talked about how that process was reversed in the Ming. There was a huge collectors market for Japanese swords and their use in military, security forces, and private citizens was widespread by the end of the Dynasty. Military leaders like Qi Jiguang had incorporated Japanese swords into their forces. The Wokou raids only deepened the fasciation and added a bit of "stealing from the enemy" mystique to owning one.
Here is part one of some of the more interesting connections I have been finding by going through Ming Dynasty sources.
tplafightingwords.com/2021/10/18/katana-to-dao-part-one-saber-and-coin-the-japanese-sword-in-the-ming-dynasty/
