Chinese (or other country) sai/parrying weapon

josh stout · 6th October 2014, 10:55 PM

The top one I posted is from an area of Northern Sumatra where Chinese laborers were brought by the British in the late 19th c. The set of two and the other one with a wooden handle are all Chinese. All three are octagonal. The set with brass guards and pommel has a scoring line accentuating the rounded points. The other wooden handled Chinese example has a flat tip. The Sumatran one looks exactly like the other Indonesian examples shown.

estcrh · 7th October 2014, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josh stout

The top one I posted is from an area of Northern Sumatra where Chinese laborers were brought by the British in the late 19th c. The set of two and the other one with a wooden handle are all Chinese. All three are octagonal. The set with brass guards and pommel has a scoring line accentuating the rounded points. The other wooden handled Chinese example has a flat tip. The Sumatran one looks exactly like the other Indonesian examples shown.

Josh, thanks for adding your sai here, I put it next to some other sai from the same area to compare. I think this is the most images of sai from the Indonesian area ever in place. Unfortunately I do not know of any sai that is known to have come from Okinawa. Your Chinese sai are quite nice, the vast majority of achinese sai seem to be four sided.

josh stout · 8th October 2014, 12:14 AM

That is very interesting. One of them looks so much like mine that I think it may be the same one. As far as I know I have never posted a photo, so it would have had to come from the Indonesian seller and be several years old.

What do you think?

estcrh · 8th October 2014, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josh stout

That is very interesting. One of them looks so much like mine that I think it may be the same one. As far as I know I have never posted a photo, so it would have had to come from the Indonesian seller and be several years old.

What do you think?

I thought they looked similar, it did not occur to me that the pictures may have been of the same sai, small world.

Timo Nieminen · 8th October 2014, 01:04 AM

Some more antique sai (mostly Chinese, including sai/iron ruler hybrids) at http://museum.hikari.us/weapons/

estcrh · 8th October 2014, 06:58 PM

Here is a modern example of Indonesian sai, you can see that the two pieces are welded together but the form is the same.

estcrh · 8th October 2014, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timo Nieminen

Some more antique sai (mostly Chinese, including sai/iron ruler hybrids) at http://museum.hikari.us/weapons/

They have a lot of items but the site and images etc have not been updated for years, some of the descriptions are suspect, they have this sai described as being an

Quote:

Okinawan sai. Iron with cord and fabric wrapping with small wooden inserts.

It looks just like a four sided Chinese sai, this is how the vast majority of Chinese sai are made, what would make this one particular sai "Okinawan".

Neil · 10th October 2014, 03:38 PM

"Neil, do you have any pictures of the Qing era Chinese prison guards, that would be interesting. I myself would call something rare when there are almost no images available online."

"Here is something I think we can agree is probably an indicator of Chinese manufacture, this particular four sided cross section. I have never seen a sai from either Indonesia or Okinawa that had this cross section."

Sorry for the slow response. I am putting my seasonal business to bed for the year and the hours are long.

I am also about to leave town for the weekend but I will share that image when I return. When I found it I was very excited. It is an important piece to the puzzle.

I thought I would also mention that I have owned a forked mace that I know was collected in China with a fully rounded percussion bar like a soda straw. With that said using the shape of the cross section of that area as an indicator of origin may not be the most reliable approach.

It might also be worth mentioning that the grip wrapping style on the mace pictured right above looks quite Chinese to me.

I am loving the actual pair example that Josh posted as well. To me that is rare and worth exploring further.

Lastly, I just want to say this is a great topic and discussion. I really appreciate hearing others thoughts and seeing pieces from their collections.

6th October 2014, 10:55 PM	#1
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	The top one I posted is from an area of Northern Sumatra where Chinese laborers were brought by the British in the late 19th c. The set of two and the other one with a wooden handle are all Chinese. All three are octagonal. The set with brass guards and pommel has a scoring line accentuating the rounded points. The other wooden handled Chinese example has a flat tip. The Sumatran one looks exactly like the other Indonesian examples shown. Attached Images

8th October 2014, 06:58 PM	#6
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,492	Here is a modern example of Indonesian sai, you can see that the two pieces are welded together but the form is the same. Attached Images

8th October 2014, 12:14 AM	#3
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	That is very interesting. One of them looks so much like mine that I think it may be the same one. As far as I know I have never posted a photo, so it would have had to come from the Indonesian seller and be several years old. What do you think?

8th October 2014, 01:04 AM	#5
Timo Nieminen Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 422	Some more antique sai (mostly Chinese, including sai/iron ruler hybrids) at http://museum.hikari.us/weapons/

10th October 2014, 03:38 PM	#8
Neil Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 114	"Neil, do you have any pictures of the Qing era Chinese prison guards, that would be interesting. I myself would call something rare when there are almost no images available online." "Here is something I think we can agree is probably an indicator of Chinese manufacture, this particular four sided cross section. I have never seen a sai from either Indonesia or Okinawa that had this cross section." Sorry for the slow response. I am putting my seasonal business to bed for the year and the hours are long. I am also about to leave town for the weekend but I will share that image when I return. When I found it I was very excited. It is an important piece to the puzzle. I thought I would also mention that I have owned a forked mace that I know was collected in China with a fully rounded percussion bar like a soda straw. With that said using the shape of the cross section of that area as an indicator of origin may not be the most reliable approach. It might also be worth mentioning that the grip wrapping style on the mace pictured right above looks quite Chinese to me. I am loving the actual pair example that Josh posted as well. To me that is rare and worth exploring further. Lastly, I just want to say this is a great topic and discussion. I really appreciate hearing others thoughts and seeing pieces from their collections.