My Jian for interest

[Philip]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Yellow was the Imperial colour.


I read somewhere that a lot of these were made for the armouries if fortified villages and towns for issue to civilians when needed.


Mine looks a bit less classy. Has the heavenly 7 stars brass insets on the blade tho.

Your example is a touristic item made in Taiwan, during the Vietnam War era. I saw some in a shop in Waikiki, of all places, with tiny paper labels "made in Taiwan" on them. They also had Thai dhas with aluminum ferrules and guards which were also brought back as souvenirs by GIs on R&R in Thailand. On these jian-like objects, the rustic wood carving is something I suppose is a simplistic and not-very-realistic interpretation of Taiwan aboriginal craft work because you don't find this sort of timber or style of deco on the scabbards of real antique jian.