[Peter Bosman]

Buenas.
Is any of you an expert on jian?

I can buy an old 'seven stars' blade. This has an a-typical tang and I am looking to find which grip it would have had so I can restore it as authentic as possible.
The simple iron guard would have been rivited trough a ' sun' and it is the actual grip that is the question:



Saludos.

[Anders Backlund]

Wish I could help, but my knowledge about jian/gim is sadly limited.

It's an antique? Any idea which period it's from?

[Peter Bosman]

Buenas Anders. The blade is authentic yes and possibly early 19th century. The tang however is a-typical and the blade type covers may centuries.
This particular blade bears an character inscription transcribing to 'shenshi fabiao'.

I am not well enough informed about the history beyond the seven stars inserts apart from both it and the inscription being taoist themes to draw conclusions as to the history from this.

The type of blade appears to have been provincial but again; I am only lightly informed on the specifics on swords of the seven star motif that refers to Ursa Major.

There also is a ' Seven Stars Sword' routine in Taichi that is named 'Qixingjian' . Again I have no info on the history of this. It is not wushu, pre-mao; not much sofar.

Interesting enough though

peter

[Thomas Watt]

While I have not done any business with 7 Stars Trading company (although I have considered making a purchase in the past... however I dawdled and it sold), he seems to be reputable, and runs a Chinese Martial Arts school.
Since he is a competitor to my teacher's school, it would probably not be helpful to ask about him.
However, I would think that it would be reasonable to inquire from the company themselves what type hilt they would recommend. Among other things, they also sell "parts" so I suspect they would be all-too glad to assist.

(edit: note, I am a practitioner, not an expert by any means unless owning 3 Chinese swords counts.)

[Peter Bosman]

Buenas Thomas. Thank you for your reply and input.

7 Stars Trading Co. has no connection to the blade other than the reference to Ursa Major which is a deity in Taoism. Although the owner is very knowledgeble and sure can advise, the replica items he sells have no relation to the authentic blade. In fact, those would not do as the tang is atypical.

The seven stars marked on the blade probably originated somewhere in the 12th century and seems to be mandatory for ceremonial taoist jian from at least the 15th century.
When this crossed over to functional swords and in what form has sofar eluded me.

As to the tang my main question is what the two small rivet holes for the ferrule do there...

peter

[Thomas Watt]

[Peter Bosman]

Meanwhile I have come up with a possible explanation which should be easy to verifiy: the guard has a central rivet through a ' sun' motif. This however does not support torque which might be the function of the two smaller rivets. That would make a very stable mounting without the need for low tolerances in the fitting of the guard on the blade.
The ferrule simply slips over de guard, covering the two rivets and centralising the grip, again creating a neat situation without the need for nifty craftsmanship.

Peter

[Hendrik Kivirand]

I'm not sure if mentioning other forums is permitted within rules of this one, but you might find http://forum.grtc.org/viewforum.php?f=15 helpful, several knowledgeable collectors and experts contribute to that forum (among a few dilettantes and fanboys, as usual ) and most questions about eastern arms get answered there quickly. Scott Rodell (Seven Stars Trading) is the head moderator there, the person mentioned earlier in this thread, just to be clear, but the forum itself is not directly attached to 7Stars.

Best regards,
Hendrik

[Peter Bosman]

Buenas, thank you Hendrik, that is indeed a specialist site and I had no problem encountering the answers I was looking for without asking

Saludus cordiales,

Petrus