What makes a dha a dha

[Mark]

As a further comment, with regard to dha, at least in Burma and Thailand, it is not speculation but fact that the opulance and quality of decoration on a sword is a direct indication of social rank and status. In both countries permissible decoration for swords was carefully defined (so many bands meant one rank, more bands meant a higher rank, silver decoration was reserved for a certain level of rank, gold only for royal, etc.). There basically was a visual code which I know exists, but haven't deciphered yet. Its just a matter of collection primary sources, which I am working on.

The other issue is "quality" of the sword, and I agree that a humble-appearing sword can have a very high quality. A couple in my collection are this way -- they have simple fittings but really excellent and well-made blades.

So the issue of "quality" acting as a measure of social division really depends on what sort of quality you mean, because there are very real social divisions in SEA, and they definitely equate to an outward display of greater opulance. Leach writes in "Political Systems of Highland Burma" that among the Kachin hill tribes "Changes in social status such as these [reaching adulthood] are indicated mainly by change of dress. Boys not go through any form of ritual initiation ... As he gets older he will take increasing pride in his skill at handling his sword -- which is a general purpose tool serving equally well for felling trees and paring finger nails; elders of the community can usually be distinguished by the fact that they carry a sword of particularly fine quality." p. 134. It is noted in the "Cambridge History of Southeast Asia" ("CHSEA") that in 1454 king Trailok of Ayutthaya (Thailand) passed a law that determined the civil and military status of everyone inthe kingdom, listing various military titles and their appropriate weaponry. Vol. 1, part 1, p. 38. This law instituted a heirarchical numbering system that applied to everyone in the kingdom and fixed each person's status, and their rights and obligations under the law. CHSEA, vol.1, part 1, p. 171. "The Arts and Crafts of Thailand" (I forget the author and page -- I don't have the book in front of me) also says that the quality of ivory carving on the handle of a knife indicated social status.

[Mark]

I thought that I would address the "tool" versus "weapon" issue in a separate post.

What we are talking about is not a strict division between blades that are tools and blades that are swords. Rather, there are dha that are intended for use, and routinely used, for both, and there are dha that are intended for use solely as weapons, at least from the symbolic/status point of view, and are never used as tools.

Then there are blades that are basically intended to be used as tools, though of course they can be used as weapons if needed. The shorter choppers (dha-mauk) fall into this category, as they are distinguished by the Burmese as a separate type of blade that is essentially utilitarian and not seen as a "sword." The villager of Southeast Asia will seldom be without the dual purpose blade, as it serves as jungle knife, hunting knife, butcher knife, and as a weapon of defense or offense (the jungle is a dangerous place). The single use "weapon" dha are usually more carefully made, more carefully finished (such as with polishing) and can be more elaborately decorated (such as with engraving, inlay, koftgari, etc.). They are not subject to the wear-and-tear of the duel-purpose blade and so the owner invests more in it. The tool/weapon dha are generally less finished (though often of very good workmanship and steel, with laminated construction and/or edge hardening), ususally just roughly ground with file/stone marks still visible, and fittings of simple material -- plain wood scabbard and handle, rattan wrappings, etc.

So there is at least a functional, and in many ways interesting, distinction between the two types of swords. What I find most interesting is the utilitarian aspect of what really appears to be a weapon. I guess a machete is a good analogy. Is it a weapon? Is it a tool? Hm ....

[Andrew]

You're killing me here, Mark. At least wait until next week to see what I've recently written about all this.

[tom hyle]

I think Mark has more or less done a better job of explaining what I meant than I probably would have, while going into some other interesting things as well (these weapon varieties would indicate militia rank, as with Massai spears? Is that what I'm hearing?) I do think it neccessary to add that, decoration and polish aside, and across the cultures of the world I find no correlation between original expense and quality of weapons and tools. You might like to think it's otherwise, but it's not, and it never was; an expensive sword cannot be relied upon to be straighter, truer, better tempered, better balanced, stronger, better assembled (inside, where it counts), or better designed than a plain and relatively inexpensive piece. Furthermore, the focus on fancy pieces is often specifically on decoration, and often at the cost of function (ie. actual quality), as a rich man is often presumed either to have little utilitarian use for tools and weapons, or assumed to be owner of several for different purposes (ceremonial/dress vs. field/combat), while a work man can afford only one and must use it often, so this lack of co-relation only makes sense. There is an ancient Celtic myth about a young warrior later to be a great leader, who lay with a fay woman on an island. Since he'd impregnated her, her father wanted to reward him (hey, it was Faerie, so things were different, hee hee.....). He offered him his choic of a hoard of weapons; many gold-wrapped and jewelled, with etched and sculpted blades; the swords of dead kings and sea captains, but the youth, only after examining them all, chose a plain sword with a smooth blade and a black hilt, and it was the best of them all. A tale told of Arthur, but older, really; a lesson for warriors and kings.........

[Mark]

Indeed. I have a couple swords where the blade just seems to be something to hold the fancy decoration together. They put all the effort and workmanship into the fittings, and little into the swordsmithing.

Sorry Andrew. I got carried away.

[tom hyle]

Decoration and polish can often become the main part of the work on fancy stuff, even when it is of good basic structural quality too. I remember making fine custom furniture and doors, and the picking, lamminating, cutting and assembling could be like 1/4 of our time; the rest was polishing and finishing, and I'm not saying it's without value, but it doesn't make a table or door any stronger, nor a sword. Now, I'll climb off my low horse for a minute. Polish is a using value with swords, as smooth surfaces a less friction generating, and less liable to rust, but in practical everyday reality, a super-polish is more of an aesthetic thing. On the other hand, other forms of finishing, like etches, can have the real value of showing the user the inner nature of a sword. Also, of course, a valid/quality-oriented price differential can occur around the matter of materials; notably the steel/iron dichotomy, but even this can vary greatly with the ability of the workers, and (if no one's noticed) I haven't noticed human society being particularly effective in living up to its pretensions of meritocracy; the famous pricey craftsman may not be any more talented or skillful or in tune than the fiery new-comer, or the crazed hermit-artist, indeed, often with fame and financial success an artisan feels driven to "farm-out" and streamline his processes, in order to keep up with demand, with a concomitant tendency to lose some of the spirit and care......Quality is a complex issue; some aspects of it must be paid for in one way or another (for instance, quality steel can so,etimes be salvaged, bought for the labor, etc. rather than for money), but to me it has nothing to do with decoration and the trappings of wealth and status.