China?Japan?

josh stout · 29th November 2007, 03:00 PM

In the book "Iron and steel swords of China" there are some very similar blades that are from the Ming dynasty. The tang is unusual, but consistent with what you would expect on a Chinese weapon rather than a Japanese one. Faceted dao blades like that are rare after the Ming, a time when there seems to have been considerable Japanese influence on Chinese weapons, returning styles that Japan had originally borrowed from China. The small hole in the guard is a bit confusing as that is found on Japanese guards, but not on Chinese ones. Still given the overall shape of the blade and style, I would guess this is a Ming period Chinese weapon.
Josh

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29th November 2007, 03:00 PM	#2
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	In the book "Iron and steel swords of China" there are some very similar blades that are from the Ming dynasty. The tang is unusual, but consistent with what you would expect on a Chinese weapon rather than a Japanese one. Faceted dao blades like that are rare after the Ming, a time when there seems to have been considerable Japanese influence on Chinese weapons, returning styles that Japan had originally borrowed from China. The small hole in the guard is a bit confusing as that is found on Japanese guards, but not on Chinese ones. Still given the overall shape of the blade and style, I would guess this is a Ming period Chinese weapon. Josh