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					Originally Posted by VANDOO
					
				 
				THIS SNAKE LIKE CARVING IS OFTEN ENCOUNTERED ON THEIR SWORDS BUT IF THERE IS A LEGEND, NAME OR STORY I AM NOT AWARE OF IT.  BEING A ZOOLOGY MAJOR IT HAS ALWAYS REMINDED ME OF A PLANARIAN FLATWORM. WE HAD SOME FUN WITH THEM SPLIT ONES HEAD AND IT GROWS TWO HEADS VERY IMPRESSIVE REGENERATIVE POWERS. A PICTURE OF THE CRITTER WITH 2 EYESPOTS.     
			
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Barry, I only can write what I have read in the above given threads from Yuanzhumin and others. This is the "hundred pace snake" ( Deinagkistrodon acutus), "named like this because once you have been beaten you only can walk one hundred paces before fallen down, dead" *Yuanzhumin*. This is the anchestor of their nobility. Knives which have the snake on the scabbard are only allowed to be worn by nobility men.
Regards,
Detlef