Chokutō Swords (直刀) - Early Japanese Swords
Chokutō (直刀) - Early Japanese Swords
Three Chokutō blades: two tachi and a ken from the Met Museum.
As the name suggest it, the topic of this article would be about Japanese swords, but not the average Japanese sword people usually think about.
In fact in this post I will cover the various blades used to shape Japanese history before the Samurai were born, before Japan was united and prior to the creation of the famous Nihontō.
But before discussing the topic, I have to explain a little the nomenclature used in this article.
Although in the West people usually associate the Chokutō with one single type of sword, like for example the Katana, the Chokutō is an umbrella term used to indicate an entire family of swords, namely the ones with straight blades. The terms itself, 直刀, means straight blade; inside this category we find the Tachi (written with the characters 大刀 which by the Kofun period were read tachi instead of the modern daitō and it should not to be confused with later periods tachi, written 太刀), and the Ken or Tsurugi (剣).
Although both terms refers to two different sword shapes, namely a single edge blade and a double edge one, occasionally the word ken/tsurugi is applied to tachi swords.
These swords are also part of the Jōkotō (上古刀) time frame, which is used for swords produced prior the 10th century (despite some of these swords still being used and produced after that century)
A depiction of Prince Shotoku (聖徳) from the 8th century. He is carrying a tachi blade on his side.
In fact in this post I will cover the various blades used to shape Japanese history before the Samurai were born, before Japan was united and prior to the creation of the famous Nihontō.
But before discussing the topic, I have to explain a little the nomenclature used in this article.
Although in the West people usually associate the Chokutō with one single type of sword, like for example the Katana, the Chokutō is an umbrella term used to indicate an entire family of swords, namely the ones with straight blades. The terms itself, 直刀, means straight blade; inside this category we find the Tachi (written with the characters 大刀 which by the Kofun period were read tachi instead of the modern daitō and it should not to be confused with later periods tachi, written 太刀), and the Ken or Tsurugi (剣).
Although both terms refers to two different sword shapes, namely a single edge blade and a double edge one, occasionally the word ken/tsurugi is applied to tachi swords.
These swords are also part of the Jōkotō (上古刀) time frame, which is used for swords produced prior the 10th century (despite some of these swords still being used and produced after that century)
A depiction of Prince Shotoku (聖徳) from the 8th century. He is carrying a tachi blade on his side.
In order to understand the shape and the development of said swords, it is extremely important to learn how swords enter inside Japanese culture and explaining which role the influences from Korea and China had in the development of these swords.
Early History, I-VI century A.D.
Japan entered almost simultaneously the bronze and iron age around the Yayoi period (300 B.C - 300 A.D.), quite late compared to its neighboring countries like Korea or China, and the first iron native swords started to appear around the 1st century A.D.These swords were either produced by native smiths or immigrants from the mainland. Around this period, Japan was still quite primitive and the flow of technology and human resources from China, but especially from Korea, played an important role to development of Japanese civilization in between the 1st and 5th centuries.
It won't be a surprise to see that the design of the early swords used in Japan, which were for the majority still imported from Korea, was heavily influenced by mainland design.
These types of blades were either double edge like the Chinese Jian (劍) or single edge like the classic Chinese Dao (刀) which by this time period was still straight. These early Japanese swords had minor differences in the mountings and fittings of the blades.
The characteristic of early swords was a ring shaped pommel at the end of the tang which was also present in the Korean and Chinese swords of the same time period.
Blade's length was usually in between 60 and 70 cm although swords longer than 1 meter existed too, with double edge swords usually being the shorter ones.
Blade geometry of tachi blades was usually narrow, flat and triangular, which is known in Japanese as hira zukuri (平造り) and it's a typical feature of early swords.
For ken blades, a symmetrical diamond cross section was used, with similar properties of the one used in tachi blades; in this case, it is called ryōshinogi zukuri (両鎬造り).
Quite unique to this period is the Dakō ken (蛇行剣), a ceremonial sword that had a flamberge style of blade, although it should be classified as a short sword due to its average length; still, at least one example with a 80 cm blade existed.
Another ceremonial sword of this period is the seven branched sword or Shichishitō (七支刀) whose blade had six branched protrusions along the blade.
Tachi blades started to appear after the 2nd century and could be either above the 60 cm or below; in the latter case, the word changed characters; it was still pronounced "tachi" but it was written either 横刀 or 横剣.
By this time period, it is fair to assume that ken swords were used as much if not more than their tachi counterpart, either alone or in conjunction with a shield which were still quite popular in those years.
However, after the 6th century, Ken swords started to decline as practical swords, possibly following the same trend of usage as Korea and China, but instead this blade assumed a ceremonial status which lasted up until the Meiji period - in fact, said swords with the iconic leaf shaped geometry towards the point were produced throughout the entire period of Japanese history.
This trend is backed up by the fact that almost any ken produced beyond the Kofun period was usually fitted with the Sankozuka (三鈷柄) mounting which resemble a Japanese Buddhist Vajra.
After the 5th century, fittings started to be more complex and decorated, with the simple ring pommel being replaced by heavily decorated designs with animal or flower motives and silver inlays. The pommel also started to be a separated piece from the tang.
Pommels design is extremely important for tachi blades classifications; if it shaped like a ring which has inside phoenix or dragons, it is called kantō tachi (環頭大刀).
Other pommel shapes include a cylinder (entō - 円頭), mountain (keitō - 圭頭) and human fist (kabutstuchi - 頭椎 ).
It is also worth saying that by the late 6th century, the iconic egg shaped hand guard appeared and it was a native design, created in Japan.
A series of Japanese pommels; from left to right, kantō, kabutsuchi, keitō and a kantō .
Maturity, VII-X century A.D
During the Nara period (奈良 - 8th century), further improvements were done on the designs of the blades, particularly to the tachi which started to be the mainstream types of swords used throughout the regions controlled by the Yamato court. At this point in history, Japan started to be independent in terms of iron ingots and ores imported from the mainland.
New features were imported in Japan through the Korean peninsula, namely the introduction of a ridge in the blade.
The geometry used before, the hira zukuri, although allowed the blade to be extremely sharp, but at the cost of shock resistance.
With a ridge, known in Japanese as shinogi (鎬), the blade is stronger and could still maintain a sharp edge. More over, the body is thicker and heavier, which increase the cutting capability of the blade. This creates a five side cross section, and typical of this period is the fact that the ridge is very close to the edge, unlike later period swords. Said geometry is called kirihira zukuri (切刃造り).
Early History, I-VI century A.D.
Japan entered almost simultaneously the bronze and iron age around the Yayoi period (300 B.C - 300 A.D.), quite late compared to its neighboring countries like Korea or China, and the first iron native swords started to appear around the 1st century A.D.These swords were either produced by native smiths or immigrants from the mainland. Around this period, Japan was still quite primitive and the flow of technology and human resources from China, but especially from Korea, played an important role to development of Japanese civilization in between the 1st and 5th centuries.
It won't be a surprise to see that the design of the early swords used in Japan, which were for the majority still imported from Korea, was heavily influenced by mainland design.
Three replicas of Korean swords (劍) from the Three Kingdom period.
These types of blades were either double edge like the Chinese Jian (劍) or single edge like the classic Chinese Dao (刀) which by this time period was still straight. These early Japanese swords had minor differences in the mountings and fittings of the blades.
The characteristic of early swords was a ring shaped pommel at the end of the tang which was also present in the Korean and Chinese swords of the same time period.
Blade's length was usually in between 60 and 70 cm although swords longer than 1 meter existed too, with double edge swords usually being the shorter ones.
A ken blade from the Kofun period.
Blade geometry of tachi blades was usually narrow, flat and triangular, which is known in Japanese as hira zukuri (平造り) and it's a typical feature of early swords.
For ken blades, a symmetrical diamond cross section was used, with similar properties of the one used in tachi blades; in this case, it is called ryōshinogi zukuri (両鎬造り).
Early sword typology with hira zukuri and ryō shinogi zukuri geometry.
Quite unique to this period is the Dakō ken (蛇行剣), a ceremonial sword that had a flamberge style of blade, although it should be classified as a short sword due to its average length; still, at least one example with a 80 cm blade existed.
Another ceremonial sword of this period is the seven branched sword or Shichishitō (七支刀) whose blade had six branched protrusions along the blade.
On top a pair of Dakō ken blade, at the bottom an example of a Shichishitō.
It would be a mistake to consider such swords dramatically inferior in quality and material to the ones produced few centuries later; the majority of the blades analyzed show signs of layered structure, folding and some types of hardening just like the swords of any other cultures in that time period.
Although it is fair to point out that the technique used to fold, create the billet and harden the steel were quite different from the ones of the later periods; for example it is still debated whether or not clay coating was used, and unlike the later period lamination, continental formulas were adopted, like a hard steel edge and core with soft and medium layered steels on the side.
A modern replica of a Japanese tachi of this period
By this time period, it is fair to assume that ken swords were used as much if not more than their tachi counterpart, either alone or in conjunction with a shield which were still quite popular in those years.
However, after the 6th century, Ken swords started to decline as practical swords, possibly following the same trend of usage as Korea and China, but instead this blade assumed a ceremonial status which lasted up until the Meiji period - in fact, said swords with the iconic leaf shaped geometry towards the point were produced throughout the entire period of Japanese history.
This trend is backed up by the fact that almost any ken produced beyond the Kofun period was usually fitted with the Sankozuka (三鈷柄) mounting which resemble a Japanese Buddhist Vajra.
A Ken with the aforementioned mounting. Although it is a later period replica, the blade shape was the same as the ones used in the Kofun period.
After the 5th century, fittings started to be more complex and decorated, with the simple ring pommel being replaced by heavily decorated designs with animal or flower motives and silver inlays. The pommel also started to be a separated piece from the tang.
Pommels design is extremely important for tachi blades classifications; if it shaped like a ring which has inside phoenix or dragons, it is called kantō tachi (環頭大刀).
Other pommel shapes include a cylinder (entō - 円頭), mountain (keitō - 圭頭) and human fist (kabutstuchi - 頭椎 ).
It is also worth saying that by the late 6th century, the iconic egg shaped hand guard appeared and it was a native design, created in Japan.
A series of Japanese pommels; from left to right, kantō, kabutsuchi, keitō and a kantō .
Maturity, VII-X century A.D
During the Nara period (奈良 - 8th century), further improvements were done on the designs of the blades, particularly to the tachi which started to be the mainstream types of swords used throughout the regions controlled by the Yamato court. At this point in history, Japan started to be independent in terms of iron ingots and ores imported from the mainland.
New features were imported in Japan through the Korean peninsula, namely the introduction of a ridge in the blade.
The geometry used before, the hira zukuri, although allowed the blade to be extremely sharp, but at the cost of shock resistance.
With a ridge, known in Japanese as shinogi (鎬), the blade is stronger and could still maintain a sharp edge. More over, the body is thicker and heavier, which increase the cutting capability of the blade. This creates a five side cross section, and typical of this period is the fact that the ridge is very close to the edge, unlike later period swords. Said geometry is called kirihira zukuri (切刃造り).
The differences of the blade geometry; on the left a hira zukuri, on the right a kiriha zukuri. These two geometries are almost uniquely found on the blades of this period.
Towards the 10th century we start to see the ridge being moved towards the back of the sword, creating a much more familiar shinogi zukuri (鎬造り).
Another important development was the creation of the kissaki moroha zukuri (切っ先諸刃造り) geometry which was quite popular from the 8th century up until the 10th century among tachi blades.
In this case, the sword's tip is sharpened on both sides, while the lower part of the sword is shaped differently. Said sword could be either hira zukuri, kiriha zukuri or shinogi zukuri at the edge, although the latter was a typical feature of curved swords, thus outside the Chokutō category.
Late sword typology with kirihazukuri, kissaki moroha zukuri and shinogi zukuri.
Another important feature is that almost any tachi had a kamasu kissaki (梭魚切っ先), which is a very steep and angular point geometry, with the exception of the double edged ones.
By the late 10th century, swords of super quality were already being made, and this was the right environment that led to the creation of the native Japanese Nihontō.
As far as mountings are concerned, new pommels designs were introduced in between the 6th and 7th century, namely a very big, either rounded or squared, bulbous pommel resembling a Chinese Jade symbol called Gui (玉) which could be seen in many Korean swords as well.
The previous mountings were still used as well, and in the Nara period a new style of mounting was introduced from China; said style is called Karatachi (唐大刀) and it was seen as a very fashionable ceremonial mounting.
Although these swords played and important role in the history of Japan and Japanese swords, they are often erroneously reputed to be the direct fore runner of the Japanese Nihontō. In fact, the native warabitetō played a much stronger role in the development of later curved Japanese blades, but this is a topic for another article. Chokutō blades started to diminish around the 10th century, when curved blades originated in the northeastern Japan started to became the mainstream design. Nevertheless these swords are extremely beautiful and were both seen as utilitarian, battlefield weapons as well as status symbols, just like their successors.
The previous mountings were still used as well, and in the Nara period a new style of mounting was introduced from China; said style is called Karatachi (唐大刀) and it was seen as a very fashionable ceremonial mounting.
An example of a Kara tachi
Although these swords played and important role in the history of Japan and Japanese swords, they are often erroneously reputed to be the direct fore runner of the Japanese Nihontō. In fact, the native warabitetō played a much stronger role in the development of later curved Japanese blades, but this is a topic for another article. Chokutō blades started to diminish around the 10th century, when curved blades originated in the northeastern Japan started to became the mainstream design. Nevertheless these swords are extremely beautiful and were both seen as utilitarian, battlefield weapons as well as status symbols, just like their successors.
A late tachi blade with its iconic kamasu kissaki tip in all of its beauty, from the Nara period.
I hope that this post was informative enough; if you enjoyed reading it please consider sharing it and for any question don't hesitate to leave a comment!
Gunbai
Another article on an almost unknown topic
ReplyDeleteI hope the Warabite to will be next,but what i am really interested in is the tsurugi and his practical usage in Japan. It must be somewhat different from the chinese jian
I'm planning to cover the warabiteto soon.
DeleteTsurugi swords were used from the 1st century to the 5th, and then started to be replaced almost entirely by single edge tachi.
The tsurugi were usually short one handed sword used with a shield, but we do not know properly how they were supposed to be used since very little remained, unfortunately.
However, later period Chinese Jian are usually longer and have different blades size, they are usually thinner compared to the wide Japanese tsurugi.
Nice article,but a little short, still more informative than most website. I guess that info about sword of those period are hard to get.
DeleteI have just finished from looking at the TNM photo gallery, I noticed that weaponry of this period is quite different.
I just found that there several examples of spears with bodkin points which are absent in later Japanese weaponry until the Yari appear again.
I wonder how the myth that Japan is poor in metal come from, they have a really large collection of iron objects, just in Tokyo Museum. Iron is used quite liberally in stirrups of the period, which probably use the same amount for helmet.
Thank you!
DeleteYes it's a bit short, at first I wanted to write one single piece about all the Jokoto swords but then I decided to split it. Also it's very hard to find references and sources for these weapons as you pointed out.
About hoko spears, the problem is that we lack archaeological findings for the hoko of late centuries like during the Heian and Kamakura periods. However as far as main typology is concerned, a straight heavily tapered and pointy spear is usually believed to have been used when said weapon was around.
About iron quantity in ancient Japan, I honestly don't know why and where said idea originated. It is fair to point out that up until the 6th century, Japan heavily relied on Korea for iron because they weren't autosufficient yet.
However I have the feeling that the reason behind the misconception is that Japan started to have problems with iron supply during the late 19th and early 20th century, so people assume that it was the same in the 1500s and before.
Something you should add it's by the time of the Tang Dynasty Japan was manufacturing its own swords at least that's one website I found say, blades like the Kata Tachi were never intended for combat.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bold thing to claim.
DeleteAll 100 swords given by Empress Kōmyō to the Shōsōin treasure house were taken away in preparation for the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion, but after the rebellion was quelled only three swords were returned. Hokuso 38 Kara-Tachi (the oldest and "original" Kara-Tachi) was one of the three returned swords. Considering that it was taken to a war, the blade is likely fit for battle.
Well yes this is true, I'll add it but actually Japan started to make its own swords since the 1st century A.D. as I've written.
DeleteAlso the Kara Tachi is a style of blade fittings which was made after the ones used in China during the Tang. While it's true that it was popular among the nobles and many swords used by them didn't even have a real blade, on the other hand said mounting could have been used on a real sword for war as 春秋戰國 pointed out.
I got it from this.
Delete"In the 5th century more ornate pommels appeared such as a ring pommel with silver decoration or a dragon design in silver inlay and trefoil pommels including those with designs of single dragon or phoenix, double dragons or phoenixes, trefoils and lions, as well as mountings richly decorated with gilt bronze, gold and silver. The blades also developed into chokutô. The ornate swords, however, were not meant for any practical purpose but were used by local rulers as an acessory to add to their dignity."
http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/jokoto.htm
I have not studied the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion in-depth I really can't comment on that however Taken to war doesn't necessarily mean made for combat event in later periods certain Samurai would take elaborate swords with them that were not made for combat as these were guys not planning for battle, like the one from
Shōsōin looks way too fancy to believe it was made for combat use, also I think they were more swords I remember an article saying along lines that were actually more 17 swords that have not been found could be wrong about that may try to find that article again.
As well as this
https://books.google.com/books?id=5w6QBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA186&lpg=PA186&dq=Karatachi+sword&source=bl&ots=Z8u7R4hADR&sig=ACfU3U3IRQHS6o1I4g8CurkWltmbBxTqgw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqxLTJ6engAhUkqlkKHQGiDK8Q6AEwE3oECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=Karatachi%20sword&f=false
Perhaps there there was Kara Tachi made for combat but what I've been able to found let me to believe not so.
What I meant by the manufacturing part is that they started to be more self-sufficient rather than relying so much on the mainland.
DeleteThe Kara tachi is really a matter of mountings and fittings; you are right to say that heavily decorated swords clearly were made for ceremonial purposes rather than battlefield ones but this doesn't mean that the sword (especialy the blade) wasn't functional. In fact as you can read from the book of Markus Sesko (which I have also used to write this article) the hilts of those kara tachi, despite being quite fancy, have finger depressions to accomodate the hand, which is a 100% practical design.
DeleteThe fact that these swords were used in that rebellion highlight in my opinion that despite the fancy look, they could have been used for more "practical" issues.
I would argue that as far as blade design and making is concerned, by the 8th and 9th there wasn't much difference in between China, Korea and Japan.
Also yes I would add a line in order to stress that by that time period, Japan started to be less and less dependent on foreign imports; I think is an important aspect to highlight. Thank you!
The order to take out large number of swords for war explicitly came from Empress Kōken (Shosoin was an imperial treasure house after all), which seems to be of a different nature from individual samurai desiring to wear bling into battle.
DeleteIn any case, since there are still a few surviving Kara-Tachi in Japan, I hope there are studies on their blades available so we can check whether those blades are functional or not. Ornamental and functionality are not mutually exclusive after all - an ornate sword can still have a perfectly deadly blade.
As far as I know, the preserved kara tachi of the Nara period have functional blades.
DeleteI think that there might be some confusion with the "kazari tachi - 飾太刀": these were Heian period Japanese tachi (太刀), so curved unlike the kara tachi, which mountings were inspired by the ones of the kara tachi. In this case, the steel blade wasn't even present but it was replaced by a bamboo one.
So it's true that the later period version of the kara tachi if you will (this is what the kazara tachi were supposed to be) weren't meant to be used indeed.
But the Nara period ones in my opinion were still functional.
Beside as I have written already there wasn't a very clear distinction in blade design in between Korea, China and Japan by the 8th century. The kara tachi is really a matter of mountings and fittings style rather than blade design
I googled kazari tachi...on god, that's where all those so-called "Tang Dao" flooding the market came from...
DeleteYes, it's from that mounting although apart from decorations kazari tachi have little in common with tang dao or kara tachi.
DeleteModern "Tang Dao" copied from the hilt of Kazari Tachi but retain the straight blade of
Deletedao and marketed as Tang Dynasty sword. It's frankenstein of a weapon (facepalm).
Also are you sure about late sixth Century concerning the guard? I think it was The early kofun period is when the iconic egg shaped hand guard appeared.
ReplyDeleteYes I'm pretty sure that this tsuba originated in the 500s although it is quite hard to say with precision wether or not there were earlier examples, mainly because the fittings of the blades of the early Kofun weren't found as far as I am aware.
DeleteThanks for this Article
ReplyDeletetechnology guest post
could you do a post about the historical use of cannons in japan?
ReplyDeleteI will surely do it in the near future!
Deletewere breechloading cannons used in japan prior to the portuguese contact? i recently found this photo of a majapahit cannon:
ReplyDeletehttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Cet-bang_Majapahit.jpg
-it apparently dates back to the 14th century during the downfall of the majapahit empire and as you can see there is the Surya Majapahit emblem and the portuguese didn't reach southeast asia until after 1498 (when vasco da gama reached the indian subcontinent), what i am trying to say and asking myself these days is about some deep and obscure history of the gunpowder technology (more specifically cannons and in japan) in asia prior to the european contact
- both chinese and southeast asians enjoyed adopting Breech-loading guns from the portuguese or more likely redesigning their indigenous ones under portuguese influence, probably because it was more logical to do so due to the coincidences in the historical use of those 3 peoples, according to stephen turnbull the japanese did the same thing, although I do not trust the accuracy of turnbul very much
Sorry for my english, i am not a native speaker. I would be very pleased with your answer =)
If you have read my article about the introduction of firearms in Japan, you can see a type of "hand Japanese cannon" dated 14th century, but it is not a breechloading one. Probably it was the same type of cannon (or a similar one) used in Ming China during the 14th century.
Deletehttp://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2018/03/tanegashima-teppou-sinking-myth.html?m=1
Although Turnbull is quite inaccurate when he talks about Japanese cannons, he is right with the fact that breechloading weapons were introduced by the Europeans in the mid 16th century, around the 1560 in Kyushuu. After that the Japanese started to make their own cannons in the 1570s. But I will write an article on that ;)
Finally! I was waiting so long for weapons of the Kofun-Heian Era! I recon you intend to write about the Emishi Warabitetō and its Kenukigata successors too? I would be thrilled to read about the evolution of the warabite into the tachi.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYes I will write about those swords as well as other things from the Kofun period!
Any word on the Warabiteto article?
ReplyDeleteSooner or later will come! I have researched the period but it's still quite hard to get enough information (at least the amount I would like to have to get the article done. I'm definitely working on it and it's high on my priority list if this can help!
DeleteReading your fine posts on Japanese sword, I have become very confused regarding the changing association of this name and different designs. Did I miss a post that explains this? If not, I think an article disambiguating the term tachi would be very helpful and interesting.
ReplyDeleteYes I know unfortunately Japanese swords nomenclature is very confusing (even for me, to be fair!!).
DeleteI don't have a specific article, but to sum it up the word "Tachi" which meant a longer single edge blade was written with these character 大刀, 横刀 and 横剣 in early periods sources. In these ages the tachi was actually straight.
Later on it changed to 太刀 and this usually refer to curved swords instead, around the Heian period.
The first three terms indicate a single edge long straigth sword, the latter a curved one, and they are all pronounced tachi.
I hope this clarify a bit!
It doesn't help that by later centuries 大刀 reads as Daito and means "long sword". But this has more to do with the fact that language change a lot over time, so when looking at period time sources this is how people back than called their swords.
Most importantly, they were not (apparently) as concerned as we are today to make a very systematic and comprehensive typology so it is extremely hard to match correctly period nomenclatures, nowadays sword collectors nomenclature and "pop-culture" ones.
Have you had any opportunity to look at the new Heng dao produced by LK Chen? It's supposedly a replica of an old Nara period tachi, and it was mentioned to have a "triangular wedge-shape" cross section. After looking at LK Chen's replica of the Tang Heng dao and Frontier Tang dao, I became a bit confused since the typical view is that post-Song/Yuan era East Asian blades are very distinct compared to "old style" East Asian blades in design and cross section.
ReplyDeleteThe former is dominated by Japanese and Central Asian/nomadic steppe designs with shinogi-zukuri style and wedge & pseudo-wedge cross section blades, while the latter would be the archetypal straight backsword with Hira zukuri or Kiriha zukuri/Kissaki Moroha zukuri cross-sections. But both the Tang heng dao and frontier dao have cross-sections that are wedge-shaped and somewhat shinogi-zukuri esque in features.
https://lkchensword.com/tang-heng-dao
(It's quite interesting how the Heng dao outwardly seem to have a kiriha-zukuri blade style when viewed from the side, yet when looked closely it has a wedge-cross section.)
I also noticed that maru-mune style Japanese Shinogi zukuri blades (and Shinogi zukuri blades with mild~heavy niku in general) all end up having essentially identical cross sections to those of Central Asian style steppe sabres and dao swords.
One Chinese arms collector (won't mention the name) actually had mentioned in private that the reason why East Asians - and in particular Japanese - came up with the thick Shinogi zukuri design was due to their lack of technology and poor steel quality/resources. However, it seems that the transition from the archetypal "extremely low-shinogi" backswords to the typical wedge & pseudo-wedge cross section blades found on turko-mongol style sabres as well as shinogi-zukuri-esque blades had already been happening since at least the Tang era all throughout East Asia.
Could you touch upon this topic in the future? It's rather interesting that Japanese, post-Song/Yuan, and "old" East Asia all seemed to have drastically different blade styles and cross sections, yet when looked closely they all seem to end up having near-identical blade designs with minor stylistic differences. (at least since Tang era for "old" East Asia).
Hi!
DeleteI haven't had the opportunity yet as currently I'm on a pause with my "historical research" - unfortunately I'm extremely busy but I hope to come back as soon as possible with writings and reading.
I do recall reading that the Shinogi ridge was introduced around the Nara period or slightly before in Japan and since then became a stable in Japanese swordmaking. Indeed it increase the durability of the blade without loosing too much sharpness.
As far as I can tell (once again, Japanese swords are still a world to explore for me) the shinogi ridge was already around in the Tang period.
About the steel quality and stuff, while they do play a role on blade geometry, a hirazukuri blade with a steep angle would be inherently more fragile (but more sharp) compared to a wedge blade, regardless of the steel. I would argue that steel quality aside, the wedge geometry increase the performance of battlefield blades as it would give you a more resilient blade at the cost of being single edged of course. So it's not a surprise at least to me that such development was already around during the Tang period.
Would you say that the Hira-zukuri blade went through a convergent evolution similar to what happened with the Kiriha-zukuri blade? Much like how the Kiriha-zukuri became the Shinogi-zukuri style blade in Japan (and to a limited extent in mainland East Asia), the Hira-zukuri blade went through a similar evolution and became the archetypal wedge-cross section blade popular throughout turko-mongol dao saber designs.
DeleteMany people still seem to have the idea that a wedge-shaped blade with an appleseed cross section (so shinogi or shobu-zukuri like) is impossible without a ridge. Some even claim that the continental East Asian wedge cross section blades are equal to the Hira zukuri. That wouldn't be possible though, considering the heavy emphasis on percussive cuts Chinese daoshu has; a slim blade like Hira zukuri isn't designed for the task.
At least with some people they mention that maru-mune shinogi-zukuri-like blades and no-ridge wedge-cross section blades were already starting become popular since at least the Tang period in China and Korea, and some nihonto collectors appear to classify this trait as an "ancient style" aesthetic that gradually lost popularity in Japan but continued among minor sword smiths. Swordsmiths during the Edo period seem to have been aware of these designs though, and some Japanese style Shinogi zukuri blades do seem to overlap: https://image.dcinside.com/viewimagePop.php?id=21b2de21f6c537b46a&no=24b0d769e1d32ca73ced8ffa11d02831dfaf0852456fb219302713c4cc81ae33b0ffc6ab7851a795a84237c2351992928ee287c0591046ad4d23c7ce856f476f
The bottom far left example is interesting, as it's a "Hira zukuri" style that doesn't have a ridge at the sides, yet distinguishes itself by having a very high dorsal ridge - almost creating an end product very similar to a high-shinogi Shinogi zukuri blade or a Shobu/Naginata naoshi style cross section that appears to be very thick yet sharp. Iirc there actually was one certain example of a Qing saber that had the descriptions virtually identical to it.
Model for the cross-section of liuyedao in Peter Dekker's website also is pretty much identical to the light~heavy niku shinogi zukuri katana.
I used to believe that all early Japanese swords predating curved-tachi were simple kiriha-zukuri or hira-zukuri blades, yet there seems more to the story. For example, the LK Chen's Tang Heng dao (which is based off of a Nara-period tachi) is far removed from either the typical kiriha-zukuri or hira-zukuri blade.
I would say so, although it shouldn't be taken as a linear and straight forward process. Hirazukuri blade for example were still widely used for tanto blades up to the Edo period.
DeleteAlso indeed, despite the idea of traditional Japanese swordmaking being somewhat conservative and codified, there was some degree of experiments going on in the ages. Sometimes we do find blades with Unokubi zukuri, which do combine different cross-section in one. Anyway, thanks you for sharing your knowledge!
Being familiar with Chinese and Mainland Asian sword design to broaden the picture in this regard.
Finally it is true, the shinogi ridge was already around in Japan by the Nara and Heian period, linked to the continental (Korean and Chinese) tradition of bladesmithing operating in Japan (essentially, within the Yamato sphere of influence).
Just curious if you know anyhting about the ken in that picture marked "A ken blade from the Kofun period." It confuses me a bit since it looks exactly like sasanian dynasty Persian swords. Not entirely surprising since I know China adopted their scabbard fittings from Persia. And later on the Shar's fled to china after the islamic conquest. But it's really surprising to see something so exactly like an actualy persian sword in Japan.
ReplyDeleteIs the bare blade below a Japanese one and the hilt and scabbard above an actualy Persian one that happen to be in the same display case or somehting like that?