Fullering on Chinese blades was done in several ways. The most usual was to cut them with chisels, then finish with scrapers (mounted with drawknife handles and following a jig) followed by shaped stones to adjust the width, depth, and to harmonize with the contours of the blade. There are some blades with a very wide gutter with a narrow edge bevel, apparently following the style of imported European sabers. Those fullers were probably forged in and finished as above. The forward ends of fullers terminate in an ogival point, just as you see on this example. They typically end about 5-7 cm ahead of the guard to leave a wedge-shaped cross-section which in some cases is cut to accept a shaped sleeve at the base, called a tunkou. The ends of fullers at the forte can be rounded, as you see here, or chiseled flush to a squared end. There is a great variety of fullering patterns on Chinese sabers: various combinations of wide and narrow (the latter are always on the dorsal side), some are segmented, there may be ornamental dimples drilled at various points, some channels may be cut so that their profiles lock into each other, other grooves form a hooked bend at the forte. Some of these elements were inspired by the vogue for Indian and Near Eastern motifs in many of the decorative arts during the high Qing period. By the the 19th cent., creativity and craftsmanship waned and the variety declined to just a few generic styles which remained largely static until the early 20th cent. Thus it can be difficult to put a date on a blade between, say, ca 1800 and the 1920s unless there is other context (such as the presence of original fittings, or metallurgical details in the steel if the blade has been polished or etched) to go on.
The grooves on this blade seem to have deep scratches here and there which may be from overly-aggressive cleaning.
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