Hey Bill,
Very very nice jian!
It reminded me to take photos of my short jian. Mine has even newer fittings, bordering on the rather fancy side, but nice enough. The jian is very hefty, with a consumerately substantial tang. It may have been a war sword, especially with the pommel ring.
I committed the sin of letting the sword rust more than a year ago and I am still doing 'penance' for that. More than a year ago, after I discovered the rust on the polished blade, I used autosol to get rid of the new rust, which covered the blade in straight polishing marks. I had been using sewing machine oil and tissue paper to polish those straight marks off the blade. After more than a year, I think I'm only a third done. Looks like I have 2 more years of 'penance' to go...
http://www.kampungnet.com.sg/modules...view_album.php