Rick,
An absolutely stunning example of Chinese jian ! These were the ultimate fencing swords in China, and typically carried and use only by officers and the elite. It is interesting that these were also favored by Taoists because of the extreme finesse enabled in fencing with them, avoiding the overall brutality of the more familiar and heavier dao often used generally by martial groups. Also especially interesting is the pommel which carries the symbol of the eight trigrams. Many of the large 'da dao' ring pommel sabres have this symbol engraved on the blade and are associated with the BaGwa rebellion of 1813. This was a large scale uprising of various religious sects of the 'Millenarian religion' hoping to unseat the Qing rulers. Among the groups were secret societies such as the White Lotus and various 'triad' groups.
Much of the doctrine and teachings of these were literary and maintained by scholars, and it has been noted that the jian was highly favored by scholars. The jian itself is included as one of the eight auspicious symbols of Taoism.
It would be interesting to know if this example may be early enough to have been possibly carried by a well heeled Taoist scholar during these times.
As always, I would defer to Philip Tom for more conclusive observations and corrections as required.
Beautiful sword Rick!!!
All the best,
Jim
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