Cord vs. stingray skin wrapped handle in Jian?

Sword typology and Edge Weapons forms of the Chinese Empire and related cultures with an emphasis on their relationship to Swordsmanship.

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Ray Z
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Cord vs. stingray skin wrapped handle in Jian?

Post by Ray Z » Tue Sep 11, 2007 3:33 pm

The pictures posted in this forum as well as those on the net seem to show a mix of cord wrapped and stingray skin covered handles among jians.
Can anyone clarify whether the difference is due to military vs. civilain jians, whether it's due to historical fashions, etc.? Thanks in advance.

Ray

ps. Cord wrapping appears to be the default on dao handles. Is there a similar variety in handle treatment among daos?

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Peter Dekker
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Post by Peter Dekker » Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:38 pm

As most jian date from the Qing dynasty in which it was a civilian weapon, there were no set regulations for them.

In contrast, military sabers were specified to have either "stone blue" (some sort of green), blue or yellow grip wrappings in silk or cotton. Green for the soldiers and some higher ranks, blue for upper ranks and yellow for the emperor, some of his relatives and highest of rank who had gotten imperial permission to do so.

When looking at antique jian it appears that unwrapped hardwooden handles are more common than the wrapped handles. In my experience, jian handle a bit better with unwrapped handles while I find the opposite to be true for dao. Ray-skin is a very light but durable material that was used on the higher end weapons and other equipment of the Qing. Uses varied from scabbard covering, enforcing parts of hunting arrows, to the decoration on bow cases and quivers and as you point out also on handles. The use of this material likely had most to do with one's budget and personal taste. In some cases it was also used as a background on which to wrap the handle, when unpolished it's rough surface keeps the cords well in place.

For military jian as opposed to civilian jian I can only go by Ming period artwork, woodblock prints and statues that all seem to suggest a cilindrical cord wrap was common on those military jian.

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Ray Z
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Post by Ray Z » Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:03 pm

Thank you Peter.

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Post by josh stout » Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:21 pm

The most common type of grip enhancement is a series of parallel lines carved into the handle. I have seen this on soft wood, hardwood, and horn, so there doesn't seem to be a class distinction in the carved lines, but the nice wood and horn shows the lines better. The militia jian I have seen don't seem to have these lines usually, just a plain red wooden handle.

Personally I think a good wrap always feels nice in the hand.
Josh
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grip material/surface tends to follow stylistic norms

Post by Philip Tom » Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:08 am

After years of examining many antique jian in private and museum collections, certain patterns or tendencies can be observed on hilts dating from the Qing. The choice of grip material, and its surface treatment, tends to coincide with the style of the metal fittings. Here are some brief notes on what I have observed.

I. Grips of hardwood (generally of the rosewood family) and horn. For better traction in the hand, these are generally carved:
a. With longitudinal ridges divided by slightly convex panels.
b. With shallow longitudinal fluting, generally eight cannelures arranged around the grip
c. With a pair of longitudinal grooves on each side, defining a central panel incised with diagonal grooves or a geometric diaper pattern
d. Narrow, shallow spiral grooves throughout (I have observed these only on hardwood grips).
The hardwood is generally the "huali" type used in upper-class furniture. On horn grips, buffalo is the norm, but rarely, sheep is seen. The latter tends to have a wavy surface grain.

During the Qing, hardwood or horn grips were most often installed on hilts with guards of the zoomorphic type (open dragon's maw, with quillons curling back towards the grip). Other guard styles associated with these grips are the ones with forward-inclined "wings" (survival of Song and Ming forms), and the deeply-chiseled "ace of spades" style. Scabbards on these swords are most frequently of rosewood, or of wood covered with polished natural-color or green-dyed rayskin.

II. Grips of fruitwood or softer furniture woods (such as elm). Fruitwood grips, often incised with fine longitudinal grooves at close intervals, are often seen on the touristic duanjian with tortoise shell covered scabbards. Elm wood is often found on the so-called "militia" jian of the late Qing. Such grips are typically plain, without carvings or incisions.

III. Grips covered in natural (undyed, with the "bumps" intact) ray skin are typical on the large jian with plain "ace of spades" guards and rayskin (smooth surface) covered scabbards, produced in quantity during the late Qing and even the early Republic years. These jian are recognizeable for their wide, hefty but well-balanced blades, often with extended blunt ricassos at the forte etched with names such as "qinggangjian" (living steel sword) or "qingfengjian" (live tip sword).

IV. Grips covered in polished green rayskin are occasionally encountered on hilts which are matched with scabbards covered in the same material.

V. Wood grips wrapped with braided silk cord (as with sabers). Hilts of this type are found on two main categories of jian:
a. Swords made in the imperial workshops -- the Qianlong Emperor commissioned several that were so mounted in the famous series of swords and sabers made during his reign. What is interesting to note is that most of the jian with cord grips were designed with fairly short hilts, and without a ferrule (bing'gu) at the base of the guard.
b. Common jian of various types, including the style described in class III above, and also on some very late Qing or early Republic jian with narrow blades with "male" points and inlaid with seven brass plugs, and scabbards decorated with black lacquer and coiled brass wire.

VI. Jade. Generally restricted to court pieces, chiefly made during the Qianlong reign.
Phil

Ray Z
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Post by Ray Z » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:16 pm

Thank you very much Phil! That was very informative. Given the breadth of repro jians in today's market, your comment will help me sort through the various options to find something that is as closely historically accurate as possible.

Ray

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