Early Chinese fantasy sword

[drdavid]

Hi all
thought you might like proof that " chinese/japanese fantasy swords" have been around for a lot longer than ebay.
http://www.artsanddesignsjapan.com/v...c=57&b=13&n=24

drd

[RhysMichael]

I can see similarities betweeen this fantasy sword and real ones like this

[Philip]

The print is a Japanese woodblock, quite an attractive one, at that. The illustration appears to be from a Japanese edition of the SHUIHUQUAN, the still popular Chinese novel of the Song Dynasty. It deals with the 108 heroes of the marshlands, a band of knights-errant who do battle to right the wrongs of the rich and powerful to gain recompense for the poor and defenseless. The book has been used until modern times for insights into the principles of guerilla warfare.

I have seen several editions of this book over the years, and the illustrations tend to be contemporary with each particular production. Predictably, the print in question is a Japanese interpretation of what Song Dynasty men-at-arms would have looked like. Having read a couple of good English translations, there isn't enough specific info in the descriptions of weapons for anybody to re-create a specifically Song type of sword or spear. As can be imagined, the author mentions this weapon or that in a way that assumes that the reader of his time knew what he was talking about.

Being familiar with the numerous weapons illustrated in the Song military encyclopedia WUJING ZONGYAO, I would concur that this is indeed a fantasy creation by an imaginative Japanese artist.