Chinese flat knife

[josh stout]

Sorry, it was just something a Chinese collector friend told me. I showed him a set of short shuang jian, just as you are describing with the tortoise shell. I had thought it a particularly interesting set because its provenance was a Chinese family in Sumatra, and I liked it as an example of cultural migration. He mentioned that they were frequently given as wedding presents because the double sword was good luck for the marriage.

Unfortunately the story is apocryphal, but it does seem plausible. As a counter argument, my Chinese Indonesian friends do not think a knife as a gift is good luck. They would be uncomfortable with any sort of sword as a wedding present.

[Peter Dekker]

Interesting anecdote on the double swords. The idea they may be presents for certain occasions would help explain why there are so many of them, often with blades that wouldn't be serviceable. There is also a belief in some parts of China that hanging a bow in the house increases the chance of a boy. That part seems to be true, I have about 20 composite bows in the house and we are indeed expecting a boy.

As for this knife, I agree it's probably Vietnamese.

Not only the plum decor on the handle is very Vietnamese, but also the guard with grooved edges is a feature more often encountered on Vietnamese arms.

See "L'Art a Hue" for an excellent overview of typical Vietnamese decorative motifs. Many are strongly inspired by Chinese designs, but all have this Vietnamese twist as observed on the decor of this knife.

A digital version of the book can be found here:

https://archive.org/details/larthunouvelle00asso

[Philip]

Originally Posted by josh stout

Unfortunately the story is apocryphal, but it does seem plausible. As a counter argument, my Chinese Indonesian friends do not think a knife as a gift is good luck. They would be uncomfortable with any sort of sword as a wedding present.

Knives have traditionally not been considered appropriate presents in most Western cultures, either. This is something that I of course heartily disagree with! However, the superstition is tempered by the fact that you CAN give something sharp as a present, it's just that the recipient should hand you a penny or something to make it look like a sale, so the friendship or family tie wouldn't be "cut".

Note that most non-nomadic Eastern cultures did not use knives at the dining-table, at least until the introduction of European customs.

And interestingly enough, the ancient Romans had an aversion not only to dining with knives, but to wearing ANY metal objects like rings or bracelets during meals. Meals were served in bite-sized pieces, diners used fingers and long handled spoons with pointed butt ends (to poke out things like snails or marrow, but not the eyes of fellow diners of course). The Romans of course loved to bring whole roast fowls or boars on platters into the dining-hall, but servants and slaves would cut them into bite size on serving-tables before passing platters around to the guests. Come to think of, the classical dining posture for upper-class Roman citizens was semi-reclining on a couch or triclinium; having to cut food on a plate would be extremely inconvenient since the dish was not resting on a table, but rather on the couch or in the diner's hand and he was generally supporting his upper body on one elbow. But even for commoners, who typically sat on benches or stools, a spoon was usually the only eating implement in use.