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Old 23rd October 2018, 11:10 PM   #8
Philip
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: California
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Default wedding jian

Quote:
Originally Posted by josh stout
Interesting thought on the Vietnamese origin. I have not seen examples, so it is a good tidbit.

Village made double knives/swords frequently show solid riveted construction, while I have seen what you are describing, thin horn on the flat side of a double weapon, frequently on the so called "wedding jian". These short shuang jian with "double happiness" motifs and lots of bats are some of the more common double weapons, but are not as solidly made as village double jian. Village weapons almost always use the more solid riveted approach.

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Are you talking about the short-bladed things with tortoise shell veneered scabbard and ribbed wood grips? They are quite common on the collector market as you probably have noticed. I haven't heard them referred as wedding jian before. Didn't even know the Chinese had swords at weddings (I associate that with India and Burma) although hanging a small sword (or a facsimile of copper coins strung on an iron rod, or in the case of the Manchus a mini saber) over a baby's crib was traditional in China. Is the wedding sword thing a regional custom? Have you located any pics of these in an actual ceremony? Looking forward to learning more about the custom.
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