Having stayed away from the vast world of Nihanto I am a bit confused by the discussion. I understand that many aspects of Japanese swords came from China, but the faceted tip is not found on Chinese swords as far as I know. I have seen the pictures posted of what may be a Chinese tribute blade (what do you call a present from one emperor to another?), but that is the only one I have ever seen. There are modern Chinese sword makers making "Han" style zheibeidao with tips like that, but I don't see them in actual Han examples. As HOS has some very good pictures of early iron and bronze pieces, can anyone site an example of a faceted tip? The zheibeidao form of the Tang dynasty that was copied by Japanese sword makers was preserved by Tibetan peoples and does not have a faceted tip.
Here is an example of a Chinese/Tibetan zhiebeidao. It is unusual in that the tip seems to have been separately applied, but there is no evidence of faceting.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j6...duation285.jpg
http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j6...duation293.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j6...duation275.jpg
Josh