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Originally Posted by Philip
Vietnamese blades are often distinguishable from Chinese ones by the simplistic vegetal scrollwork engraved on them. The motif is inspired by the inlaid floral mother of pearl inlays on the hardwood scabbards.
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I agree that the motif of the climbing plant shoots is a very distinctive mark of the blades of the Vietnamese people.
This symbol has a rather complex origin. For the Chinese, the wavy lines mean mystical power flowing along the blade, they often come from magical Taoist objects. For the Vietnamese, the tenacious young shoots of climbing plants, such as creepers, grapes, and pumpkins, reaching for sunlight, symbolize the "struggle for a place in the sun." Four-petalled creeper flowers and pumpkin fruits filled with numerous seeds in folklore are associated with the origin of some peoples of Vietnam. Therefore, we can see images of shoots of climbing plants, creeper flowers, grape and pumpkin fruits and on the scabbards of ceremonial sabers of Vietnamese officials and on the most simple and modest blades.