I'm certainly not a jian collector--mine are simply for practicing.
Correct me if I'm wrong Nick, but aren't there six stars in the fittings on the scabbard and hilt? I'm fascinated by your idea that the guard and pommel are from another set, and I wonder if perhaps that's where the seventh star went.
I'd also like to quibble with something said earlier. Yes, the jian was a dueling sword, whereas the dao was more of a military saber (thinking of the regular one, not the infinite variants). Kumar Frantzis (a noted Taoist martial artist) stated that the jian was better in a 1-on-1 duel, whereas the dao was better in a 1-on-many melee. Don't know if he's right, but it makes some sense.
However, I think that the idea that the Taoists preferred the jian is because the tai chi jian art is so refined. If you look at Pakua chang, which has equally deep (if not deeper) taoist roots, you'll find that their greatest swordsmen all used the dao, although Pakua jian sets certainly exist. In other words, it takes all kinds.
Returning to this fine blade, I wonder if we're reading a bit much into the decorations. I keep remembering the jian that turned up on ebay a few years back, that had a working abacus built into the blade near the hilt. I think that, in both these cases, someone was willing to pay for the extra work on their swords, and in this case, they chose an eight immortals theme for whatever reason. Since there is at least one eight immortals jian set that I'm aware of, I'd speculate that the original owner of the blade simply liked the set, or some eight immortals style (there are a couple, including drunken styles).
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