Charles:
The Achang people are a Chinese ethnic minority living in Yunnan and have ties with the Shan/Tai peoples of Yunnan/Burma/N. Thailand/Laos. Those living in the HuSa and LaSa areas of Longchuan County in Yunnan Province claim to be of a different lineage to other Achangs. The Achang HuSa and LaSa claim to be descended from soldiers of the Ming Army who intermarried with local Achang women in the 14th–15th century C.E. They are said to speak a different dialect from other Achang and are more Sinicized.
This particular group is renowned for their knives and swords, and claim over six centuries of forging and weapon-making skills based on the Imperial methods that have been passed down from the original Ming soldiers. They have a history of making edged weapons and tools used by nearby groups, including the Han, Dai, Jingpo, Tibetan, and Bai.
Gavin has kindly provided the geographic location of these groups in relation to Yunnan and Burma. There are probably fewer than 10,000 Achang HuSa and LaSa.
Their edged tools and weapons are highly prized by local groups and the styles range from typical Tibetan arms, to the long swords of the Kachin/Jingpo, to Chinese dao. We have discussed these folks before in relation to the "running tiger" mark seen on a few Kachin/Burmese dha. Sometimes there is a Chinese inscription with the name "HuSa" and occasionally other struck marks such as a musket or rifle.
Nathaniel is the one who tracked down the attribution of the running tiger mark to this group.
Here are some of the other threads about these knives and swords that are collectively called
HuSa dao.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19079
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18749
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4917
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1989
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001243.html
Here is a quote from this website
http://en.dehong.gov.cn/Customs/content-102-258-1.html"Achang knife," which is also known as "Husa knife", gets its name because it is made mainly in the Husa and Lasa areas of Longchuan County where many Achangs live. This sort of knife is "well-forged and elaborately made, and very sharp, tensile, durable." Sheaths made of wood, leather, silver and other materials are extremely exquisite, too.
Achang knife varies in length and shape. There are more than ten sorts of knives for their own use. For instance, there are working knife, knife for daily use, long sword for hunting and self-protection, and dagger for butchering domestic animals, and the like. Achangs also make knife for other brother nationalities, such as Tibetan knife and Jingpo knife. Due to its exquisite smithcraft, Achang knife is not only cherished as a national legacy by Achangs, but is also favored by other neighboring ethnic groups like Han, Dai, Jingpo, Tibetan, and Bai. Now, Achang knife has gone out of Yunnan and has been sold to Beijing, Tibet, Sinkiang, and Heilongjiang, etc. Even some foreign friends would like to have an Achang knife for collection.
The Achang ethnic group has an over-six-hundred-year history of making knife and other cutting tools. Tradition says that in an army that stationed in the Husa and Lasa areas in Ming dynasty, there is a branch of men with fairly good smithcraft and they were assigned to the task of making weapons. These men married with the local people and gradually merged into them. The Achang inherited and developed the Ming army's art of smelting and forging, and came to produce many knives with their national characteristics. What's more, their techniques have become more exquisite. They have a relatively specific division of labor among villages, and every village has its own products of fame. The whole Husa area is like a factory of handicraft industry, and every village, each known for one product, is a workshop. For instance, Laifu village is known for its long black knife and Hugang knife (decorated steel knife); Mangdong village for broadsword and small pointed knife; Lajie village for saw-toothed sickle; Xin Village for carry-on-back knife; Mangsuo village for sheath. Husa knife is very durable for two reasons: first, it is made of well-chosen materials; second, the Achangs have very fine skills in quenching and hardening steel; in addition, it is carefully and beautifully ground. Because of these virtues, knives made by Achangs can be very sharp just after a little grinding. Some old craftsmen can even make knives that are both firm and flexible, of which some can even be curled up at one's will. For example, a long sword when not in use can be curled around the waist like a girdle, and when needed it will straight itself. Their handicraft is really admirable."
Ian