Great River Taoist Center Forums

Great, I hope you'll share the results with us here on the forum. Most of these helmets are plain, in fact I think this is the first I see with engravings. I am very interested in seeing what exactly is depicted. Some designs endured for a very long time in China, yet others may give away some hints...

We should be wary ascribing too much to these dragons when depicted on anything else than these official costumes and armors. For example: The rules on face / profile and how many claws a dragon had only applied to imperial dragons. Archaic dragons have been quite popular throughout the Qing and do ...

Hi,

It indeed looks much like Qianlong Nianzhi, all except the third character. If it means nian, it is a very odd and non-standard way to write this character which normally doesn't have a zi radical in it.

But I guess your friend is right and that Qianlong Nianzhi is meant here.

-Peter

I don't have a dictionary at hand from my current location, but I know the two characters on the left are a highly stylized form of writing Qianlong, the Qing emperor that ruled from 1736-96. Many of the very best Chinese antiques, including arms, were made under his reign. This is why his name is a...

This is rather interesting, because the head on this shield indeed has some features that were exclusive to lion in Chinese art which may have been the reason why the maker didn't go for a very outspoken " wang " character such as on the heads of Tiger. Features that would be more Tiger than lion ar...

Hi all,

Here's an interesting PDF with lots of Song era woodblock prints:
http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/tg/tmiltech.pdf

Quite useful for those who don't have a full copy of the wujing zongyao.

-Peter

Hi, I just measured another saber of mine. It is of mid. 19th cent. manufacture and represents a fairly standard military saber of the time. Its blade is in good shape, with hardly any signs of use or excessive grinding. It probably retains its original thicknesses throughout and is thus an importan...

So far, the range for POB seems 6 to 7 inches, while the given weights vary from 650 up to 1300g (?). That is correct, although many of the swords on the lighter end of the spectrum do not seem to be made that way, but rather were polished down more than others. Given that it's mentioned that liuye...

Hi guys,

Checking the thread, it has definitely been a mixup from my side.

In Chinese depictions, lion wouldn't have a Wang character on their head, would have a more dog-like appearance and have curly manes.

-Peter

Hi, Indeed a tourist sword-like object. I have no idea where the plugs are for either, but I don't think it was to prevent cracks because these swords are generally not very sophisticated in construction and design as they were made for show. If this had been a special trick that prevented cracks, o...

Very nice find! If only blades could talk this one would have quite a story to tell. The metallurgy reminds of a blade I recently examined. Philip also did the polish, and it also had a very uniform looking blade with only a shuangxue at both edges and around the tip. I would take a guess that the a...

Afgelopen zondag ben ik bij Hans van Giffen geweest in Amersfoort. Hij organiseerde hier een beginners workshop Chinees zwaardvechten. Het was een leuk concept, in een leuke zaal. De groep was erg divers, van taiji fanaten tot vuurwapenverzamelaars en mensen die gek van Westerse en Koreaanse vechtku...

These look much better. There are still some fantasy aspects in their details, but overall they look quite a bit better proportioned and styled than the ones you showed previously.

-Peter

Cords used for this are always round in cross-section, made of linen, cotton or silk and often about 4 to 5 mm of thickness. Colors used are most commonly stone blue (indigo-dyed) and green. Yellow was reserved only for the emperor and his inner circle of princes of the blood, guards, and the highes...

Hi Gavin, Thanks for posting your double jian , it is an excellent example of how real old fittings can be expected to look like. The material darkened considerably, and there is more wear on the high spot. In contrast, there is no wear whatsoever on the fittings posted in the start of this thread. ...