Agreed, the blade is the most important aspect of ANY sword.
And I'm quite aware of the so-called Kango commerce and the importation of thousands of Japanese blades to China (and other trade which resulted in as many such blades ending up in Thailand and Vietnam somewhat later.
The point I am trying to make is that some of the key design elements on the blade of that Chinese saber are not necessarily limited to the design of Japanese swords and are indeed found on the saber blades of other cultures with no real connection to Japan. For example, the facets and ridges (shinogi) on the sides of the blades are also seen on Mamluk and Ottoman sabers of the 15th-16th cent., these derived from the same features common on saber blades of the nomad peoples inhabiting a huge expanse of territory from Siberia to the plains of southeast Europe during the Middle Ages. The curvature of the blade is also reflected in many weapons from this same expanse of Eurasia.
China was in contact with these regions on its western and northern borders for centuries before Japanese blades were imported to Ming China. A comprehensive study of Chinese arms and martial culture during the archaic and medieval periods clearly show a closer connection between China and the empires to the west than to Japan. In terms of blade and hilt aesthetics on things like sabers and daggers, it remained the case even into the early-modern centuries, as with the Persian and Indian influences which became popular at the height of the Qing dynasty.
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