A Taiwanese/Formosan tribal gun

yuanzhumin · 10th March 2006, 04:21 PM

I should have written this post earlier but I was busy. So better late than never.
Thanks to all of you that supplied me with all these precious infos and helped me answer the questions I was having on this gun

A special thanks to Philip for his very detailed explanations.
For the ones that could be interested, I displayed hereafter the photos of one of the recent addition to my collection.
It's a very nice and old Taiwan aborigines knife (65cm long) from the Atayal tribe, north of the island.
Best,
Yuanzhumin

Tim Simmons · 10th March 2006, 05:20 PM

How nice to have the carrying strap, it is always a pleasure to see simple things 100% complete.

Philip · 10th March 2006, 06:10 PM

For those who are fascinated with the relationships between geograpically-dispersed tribal groups, it is interesting to note the scabbard on this knife, with its open front secured by a series of parallel bands or thin bars. Variations on this scabbard concept are found in the Northern Philippines (the Ifugao are one tribe that comes to mind), among the Kachins of northern Burma, and even in the lowlands of Bhutan.

Some years ago, I teamed up with a colleague, the late Sherrod V. Anderson MD, to write an intro essay on Taiwan aboriginal swords. I believe it's still up on www.sevenstarstrading.com . The article does touch upon the relationships between Taiwan's native highlanders with tribes in the rest of SE Asia.

drdavid · 11th March 2006, 02:34 AM

Hi yuanzhumin
is this blade what is called a mo duan? When did such blades cease being manufactured or are they still made today?
cheers
drd

yuanzhumin · 12th March 2006, 05:52 AM

- Yes, it's nice to have the original carrying strap, mostly when this strap appears quite original as it is a solid piece of bamboo that has been curved and linked at its extremities with a hemp string to the scabbard. Actually, I have the feeling that this knife is however missing a little something. If I'm not mistaking, it could have had some human hair attached to its extremity before, as it was the case for some knives from this tribe. After a closer look, a darker stripe of patina appears on the narrower part of the scabbard, meaning something had be hanging there long before.
-Concerning the article on Paiwan knives : this article is very interesting and one of the only sources of infos on the Paiwan knives published in English. It would be nice if someone was putting it here on the forum to facilitate its reading. I have myself tried recently to connect to the Sevenstarstrading website from Taiwan without success (I don't why). Fortunately, I keep a copy of this article printed on paper for myself.
-'Mo duan' : I don't know the name of this tribal knife in Atayal language. As for the Taiwanese, they call these knives 'dao zi', that simply means knife in mandarin, translated by 'dou' in taiwanese/min nan language. 'Mo duan' means in mandarin one extremity, without specifying which one. I can't tell you more on the other meanings of 'mo duan'.
-For the tribal knife making : only few artists/artcraftmen working the wood are still making the scabbard and the handle following the tribal tradition. Usually old persons. And they are doing it for their family or the members of their village. It's a very, very limited production. For the blade, I don't think anybody is still keeping on the tradition.

Yuanzhumin

10th March 2006, 04:21 PM	#1
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	Thanks and new pics I should have written this post earlier but I was busy. So better late than never. Thanks to all of you that supplied me with all these precious infos and helped me answer the questions I was having on this gun A special thanks to Philip for his very detailed explanations. For the ones that could be interested, I displayed hereafter the photos of one of the recent addition to my collection. It's a very nice and old Taiwan aborigines knife (65cm long) from the Atayal tribe, north of the island. Best, Yuanzhumin Attached Images

10th March 2006, 06:10 PM	#3
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	open-front scabbard on Taiwan aboriginal knife For those who are fascinated with the relationships between geograpically-dispersed tribal groups, it is interesting to note the scabbard on this knife, with its open front secured by a series of parallel bands or thin bars. Variations on this scabbard concept are found in the Northern Philippines (the Ifugao are one tribe that comes to mind), among the Kachins of northern Burma, and even in the lowlands of Bhutan. Some years ago, I teamed up with a colleague, the late Sherrod V. Anderson MD, to write an intro essay on Taiwan aboriginal swords. I believe it's still up on www.sevenstarstrading.com . The article does touch upon the relationships between Taiwan's native highlanders with tribes in the rest of SE Asia.

10th March 2006, 05:20 PM	#2
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,922	How nice to have the carrying strap, it is always a pleasure to see simple things 100% complete.

11th March 2006, 02:34 AM	#4
drdavid Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 372	Hi yuanzhumin is this blade what is called a mo duan? When did such blades cease being manufactured or are they still made today? cheers drd

12th March 2006, 05:52 AM	#5
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	- Yes, it's nice to have the original carrying strap, mostly when this strap appears quite original as it is a solid piece of bamboo that has been curved and linked at its extremities with a hemp string to the scabbard. Actually, I have the feeling that this knife is however missing a little something. If I'm not mistaking, it could have had some human hair attached to its extremity before, as it was the case for some knives from this tribe. After a closer look, a darker stripe of patina appears on the narrower part of the scabbard, meaning something had be hanging there long before. -Concerning the article on Paiwan knives : this article is very interesting and one of the only sources of infos on the Paiwan knives published in English. It would be nice if someone was putting it here on the forum to facilitate its reading. I have myself tried recently to connect to the Sevenstarstrading website from Taiwan without success (I don't why). Fortunately, I keep a copy of this article printed on paper for myself. -'Mo duan' : I don't know the name of this tribal knife in Atayal language. As for the Taiwanese, they call these knives 'dao zi', that simply means knife in mandarin, translated by 'dou' in taiwanese/min nan language. 'Mo duan' means in mandarin one extremity, without specifying which one. I can't tell you more on the other meanings of 'mo duan'. -For the tribal knife making : only few artists/artcraftmen working the wood are still making the scabbard and the handle following the tribal tradition. Usually old persons. And they are doing it for their family or the members of their village. It's a very, very limited production. For the blade, I don't think anybody is still keeping on the tradition. Yuanzhumin