Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Formosa Hill Tribe Swords ( for Yuanzhumin )

yuanzhumin · 17th September 2005, 03:57 PM

I'm happy and flattered to have created such an interest in Taiwanese knives. Congratulations to all of you that showed me pictures ! You have all very nice knives from Taiwan. If one day you want to depart from them, don't forget to tell me first ! http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/images/icons/icon12.gif

Well, I don't know from where to begin.

The first that was shown to me (Rick's one) was from the Rukai tribe, one of the Paiwan sub-group in the south of the island. It was straight, and straight is the way to recognise between the southern tribes' knives and the northern' ones. All the knives you have shown me after Rick's one are curved (even if it is slightly), so they are from the northern tribes. The common point to all the taiwanese tribes knives (southern, central and northern) is the one-sided sheaths and no guards.
-So this is for Ian :
Example A: you have a nice Atayal knife. I love the 'naked handle'. It is so modern and design !
Example B and D : These are nice Bunun or Tsou knives. These are the central tribes. Their knives are not as curved as the Atayal and not straight like the Paiwan. The two tribes are very close, and their knives (and other cultural traditions) difficult sometimes to distinguish. The Bunun are the most mountainous of the Taiwanese tribes, living at the highest altitude, considering the Yushan (formerly known as Mount Morrison) as a sacred mountain. The Yushan (close to 4000 m high) is one of the highest peak in South East Asia.
C and D : Two other nice Atayal knives. The D is original for its length as you said, Ian, as usually the 'standard length' is between 50 and 60cm.

-This is for Tim : Your knife has very nice proportions, the shape of the sheath is in the best Atayal style, beautiful... except one important thing : Atayal knives, I mean their sheathes, are not colored. I'm sure, without looking carefully at the red pigments I see on it, that this is not tribal painting but chemical painting done later.

The Atayal are the principal group of the northern tribes. They are formed of three sub-groups : the Atayal proper, the Truku (Taroko) and the Seedeq. They are very close in their cultural traditions but still have enough differences, mostly in the language (half the same). The Atayal are today something like 60 000. The Atayal women are the best weavers and dressmakers of all the taiwanese tribes and they are renowned for their shellbeads clothes or shellbead jewellery.The Atayal, in opposition to the Paiwan groups, don't sculpt or carve the wood. So when the Rukai sheath is full of motives, like Rick's knife, the Atayal have none. But I would say that their beauty is not in the details but in the shape. Look at these blades slightly curved, the handles and the blades being one (example A from Ian and the one from Tim)! Their simplicity, purety is so modern. Even today the best designers with all their computers would not create a better balanced shape. Look at the sheath with the knife inside, it is not carved on it, but the whole together is like a sculpture. The sheath of the Atayal knife has the shape of a fish jumping out of the water, with the top bottom of the sheath being the tail and, on the middle edge of some sheathes (see the one from Tim), a kind of "back" fin, very slight, nearly invisible but so classy.
Well, sorry for being so long !

17th September 2005, 03:57 PM	#10
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	Answer to Rick, Ian and Tim on the Taiwan knives I'm happy and flattered to have created such an interest in Taiwanese knives. Congratulations to all of you that showed me pictures ! You have all very nice knives from Taiwan. If one day you want to depart from them, don't forget to tell me first ! http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/images/icons/icon12.gif Well, I don't know from where to begin. The first that was shown to me (Rick's one) was from the Rukai tribe, one of the Paiwan sub-group in the south of the island. It was straight, and straight is the way to recognise between the southern tribes' knives and the northern' ones. All the knives you have shown me after Rick's one are curved (even if it is slightly), so they are from the northern tribes. The common point to all the taiwanese tribes knives (southern, central and northern) is the one-sided sheaths and no guards. -So this is for Ian : Example A: you have a nice Atayal knife. I love the 'naked handle'. It is so modern and design ! Example B and D : These are nice Bunun or Tsou knives. These are the central tribes. Their knives are not as curved as the Atayal and not straight like the Paiwan. The two tribes are very close, and their knives (and other cultural traditions) difficult sometimes to distinguish. The Bunun are the most mountainous of the Taiwanese tribes, living at the highest altitude, considering the Yushan (formerly known as Mount Morrison) as a sacred mountain. The Yushan (close to 4000 m high) is one of the highest peak in South East Asia. C and D : Two other nice Atayal knives. The D is original for its length as you said, Ian, as usually the 'standard length' is between 50 and 60cm. -This is for Tim : Your knife has very nice proportions, the shape of the sheath is in the best Atayal style, beautiful... except one important thing : Atayal knives, I mean their sheathes, are not colored. I'm sure, without looking carefully at the red pigments I see on it, that this is not tribal painting but chemical painting done later. The Atayal are the principal group of the northern tribes. They are formed of three sub-groups : the Atayal proper, the Truku (Taroko) and the Seedeq. They are very close in their cultural traditions but still have enough differences, mostly in the language (half the same). The Atayal are today something like 60 000. The Atayal women are the best weavers and dressmakers of all the taiwanese tribes and they are renowned for their shellbeads clothes or shellbead jewellery.The Atayal, in opposition to the Paiwan groups, don't sculpt or carve the wood. So when the Rukai sheath is full of motives, like Rick's knife, the Atayal have none. But I would say that their beauty is not in the details but in the shape. Look at these blades slightly curved, the handles and the blades being one (example A from Ian and the one from Tim)! Their simplicity, purety is so modern. Even today the best designers with all their computers would not create a better balanced shape. Look at the sheath with the knife inside, it is not carved on it, but the whole together is like a sculpture. The sheath of the Atayal knife has the shape of a fish jumping out of the water, with the top bottom of the sheath being the tail and, on the middle edge of some sheathes (see the one from Tim), a kind of "back" fin, very slight, nearly invisible but so classy. Well, sorry for being so long !