Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Simmons
I was not that far off the mark.
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yeah think you could say these style of knives are a product of the Manchus empire mixing different features of knives form various ethnic groups that made it up.
my presumption that they were common among hui is mainly because they were many times armed by the state, you can see photos of them with these knives... and these are many times government issued products.
id say proper info on these is just so vague.
its like the Chinese made copies of the Mongol styled belt knives but with a chopstick set and many times with stone or exotic handles. these just vanished almost overnight when the society and state that caused the development of these things vanished.
now these knives are obscure and uncommon and little is known about where they were made- many appear mass produced probably in the same place. their history unknown- although they were made in huge numbers at one point and traded widely... but the users of them - many times nomads just sharpened them down and used them and in the urban areas those who had them are now long gone as are the knives themselves and the society they were made for.