Before I get my Masterforge Han Jian though, I intend to get a not-so-authentic, more extravagant and just plain bigger replica of Gou Jian of Yue's sword. I have wanted one since I first saw the original in Hubei Museum.
This sword is amazing. It sat submerged for nearly 2500 years, before being discovered in Hubei in 1965. It never rusted, tarnished or lost it's edge in all that time! It was underwater! Some say it is the sulphur additive in the blade materials that caused this. It can cut 19 pieces of paper in an effortless swipe, and apparently causes a "flash" when drawn from the scabbard. It is also very beautiful, with the slogan " this sword is exclusively owned and used by King Gou Jian of Yue State" in very old "bird script" still clearly visible on the blade.
Mine will, of course, have my favourite 80cm blade and 23 cm handle, which is not authentic as the original is only 55.6cm long. The handle will be from one piece of jade, which again is not authentic, as the handle on the original is iron. I will also include my personal symbol in xiaozhuan hanzi (which is just period authentic, just not in Yue State), not bird script, on the blade. And I will have the blade made from steel, which again is not authentic. I will use the same comparative dimensions though, and use Gou Jian's sword as a model for appearance.
It's said that Gou Jian and his Yue State lost a war against Wu State, started because a Yue princess ran away from her Wu husband. Originally Gou Jian killed the Helu, King of Wu, but was defeated and captured by Helu's son Fuchai, who of course became the next King.
He was a servant for Fuchai for 3 years, and was finally allowed to return to Yue. As soon as he arrived back, he sent spies all through Wu, and set about weakening Wu State through lies, politics and financial sabotage. He also worked to build Yue up to a strong as possible. He seems to have been very resentful of his servitude.
During this time, Gou Jian was said to sleep on beds made from rough sticks, with a gall bladder suspended to allow him to taste bile, which it appears is very bitter in flavour. He ate very basic food, not suited for a King. The Chinese saying "Wo xing chang dan" is apparently because of this forced punishment, which allowed him to remember his capture and work at the hands of Fuchai.
It was during this time that Gou Jian ordered the making of many weapons of excellent quality. That would, it seems, include the sword.
Needless to say, Gou Jian destroyed Wu State in the last major war of the Spring and Autumn Period. In 473 BC, Fuchai, who lay beseiged in his capital after three years of seige, committed suicide and Wu fell to Yue.
Take at look at Fuchai's spear, which is also very beautiful...
Oh... Did I forget to put the maker's name in there? It was Ou Yezi and his pupil Ganjiang. They are credited with being the greatest swordmakers in Chinese history. He is said to have made a set of three swords for King Zhao of Chu State, and a set of five for King Goujian of Yue.
The set for King Zhao apparently came about because the King sent his foremost expert on swords, who was named Feng Huzi to place an order, upon hearing of the "magical" properties of Ou's weapons. At this time, Ou lived and had his forge in Longyuan, a mountainous part of Yue State. The reason the forge was here (and this will interest you Peter...) is because he thought the seven natural springs nearby resembled the seven stars (!) of the Big Dipper constellation, and because it was quiet and difficult to find. In typical Chinese fashion, it appears he did not share his secrets with anyone but Ganjiang, and wanted to keep it that way.
The three swords were apparently made with the following resources:
*Iron ore from Ci Shan (Mount Ci).
*Sharpening stone from Liang Shi Keng.
*Water from Jian Chi, a spring next to a 1000 year old Pine Tree.
The individual swords themselves were named like so:
*Longyuan (Dragon Well) - Described as having a shape that reaches for the highest mountain, and arriving in the deepest abyss.
*Gong Bu (Work Deployer) - Said to have had a distinct coarse pattern, resembling endless flowing water.
*Taia (Peaceful Relation or Tai Mountaintop) - The most famous of these three swords. I'll tell you what I know about it soon... It was said to have a pattern that "towered" and "thrived" like waves of flowing water.
Taia was said to be magical, and when King Zhao first received it, he was busy fighting the combined forces of Jin and Zheng States, who were besieiging a large Chu city, and had been doing so for a couple of years. It is said that he waved the sword immediately in the air to signal a counterattack, and his troop were so roused by this sight that they managed to break the seige and defeat the invading armies.
After this, King Zhao is said to have asked Feng Huzi how a metal sword could have the power to give his army such morale and courage, and Feng is said to have answered that the spirit of the metal combined with that of a great king could cause miracles. And that brings me to the next thing I know about Taia.
Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Quan, a famous Chinese historical text, says that Ying Zheng, or Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, founder of the Qin Dynasty, owned the Taia sword. Once again, it is said to have bestowed him and his armies with invinciblity. Archaeologists say it was buried with him, and expect to find it in the main burial chamber of his tomb in Xi'an, which was eletromagnetically located in 2003, but is still unopened.
Also... The Taia sword is the inspiration for Taia-Ki, a 15th century letter written to Tadaaki Ono, the leader of the Itto School of Swordsmanship. It was written by his spiritual teacher Soho Takuan, the Zen monk, who also taught spirituality to Miyamoto Musashi and Yagyu Munenori. The Taia sword is used as a metaphor for the perfect mindset for being a warrior.
Later on, I will talk about the other swords that Ou Yezi made for King Gou Jian, because I studied them too.
think I can safely say that this information in even greater detail will be available from the Hubei Museum, located in Wuchang, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. An excellent tourist destination for a lover of swords, as Gou Jian's sword and Fuchai's spearhead reside there.
Anyway... what I know about The Five Ou Yezi Swords of King Gou Jian of Yue...
Ok... The 5 swords made for Gou Jian by Ou Yezi were:
* Yu Chang (Fish Guts)
*Sheng Ye (Defeats Evil)
*Ju Que (Giant)
*Chun Jun (Total Harmony)
*Zhan Lu (Wholesome Land of Bright and Clear (please don't exactly quote this...)) - Named after the area in which it was forged, and the most famous of the 5.
In 494 B.C., Gou Jian sent 3 of the 5, Zhan Lu, Sheng Ye and Yu Chang, to King Helu of Wu as an appeasement for losing his first war to Helu. Helu was well known as a collector of weapons, and this is why archaeologists assume Gou Jian sent the swords to him, as Helu was otherwise Gou Jian's greatest foe. This is where I point out that Sun Tzu (Sunzi) , the author of the all-famous Art of War, was Military Advisor to the Kings of Wu during this time.
It is said that the Zhan Lu sword itself decided King Helu was not a moral man, as one morning King Zhao of Chu (the original owner of the Taia sword...) apparently awoke to find it in his bed. Feng Huzi, who pops up all through this legend, was the one to explain to the King that it was one of Gou Jian's 5 Ou Yezi swords.
Now it is said that this sword was made by perfect control of nature. For example, the Ore (Tin and Copper are mentioned...) had appeared right when needed, the rain quenched the blade at exactly the right time, the gods sent wind to bellow the flame, a wise dragon manufactured the forge... In other words. this sword has been elevated a near godlike state in Chinese legend. Ou Yezi supposedly tempered the metal one thousand times to make the set of 5...
The Zhan Lu sword has belonged to the following Chinese historical figures:
*King Gou Jian of Yue - Spring and Autumn Period (722-481B.C.)
*King Helu of Wu - Spring and Autumn Period (722-481B.C.)
*General Zhou Chu of Jin Dynasty (One of the first couple of FOUR Jin Dynasties... 265-420A.D. roughly)
*Yue Fei of Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279A.D.)
Powers the Zhan Lu sword is said to have:
*The essence of all metal .
*Glows in the dark .
*Shines in the daylight, brighter than the Sun or Moon.
*Can roll into a coil or extend by itself. (Hmmm... )
*Gives the viewer a feeling of life when unsheathed.
*Gives the viewer a sense of awe when sheathed. (The most believable one...)
*So sharp, it can be stabbed into a deep pool of water and emerge dry .
When King Helu died by King Gou Jian's hand, Fuchai had his extensive sword collection, which included Sheng Ye and Yu Chang, buried with his father and the people who built the tomb were killed to keep the secret. This kind of mass murder would have meant nothing to Fuchai, who apparently may have forced Gou Jian to eat his faeces during the King of Yue's slave labour. The slaves who built the tomb would have been killed to stop looters finding out the whereabouts. This is apparently quite common to all cultures throughout history.
Ying Zheng, or Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor, sent a special force to find the tomb, as he wanted as many other Ou Yezi swords to supplement his Taia sword as possible. They found the right spot, but not the entrance. The hole they apparently dug became known as the Sword Pond, as it filled with rainwater over the thousands of years. It was drained in 1955, but the entrance, found not long after, was left unopened for fear of losing a famous (leaning) religious pagoda (Yun Yan) situated on top of the tomb.
Ganjiang, either student or classmate of Ou Yezi, also made 2 swords during this time...
Regarding Ganjiang's two famous swords, Yin and Yang, Muyie and Ganjiang.
I've heard 2 versions of this story, but both have these common factors:
(Ganjiang's wife was named Muyie. Some say Ganjiang was Ou Yezi's classmate, and some say Ganjiang was Ou Yezi's student, Muyie being Ou Yezi's daughter.)
When Gou Jian gave 3 of his 5 Ou Yezi swords to Helu of Wu, Helu was so impressed that he ordered Ganjiang to create a special sword for him. Ganjiang called upon various Daoist principles and Deities to assist him, including a near-perfect blending of Yin and Yang and the Qi of Heaven. But his carefully acquired metals would not melt nor bind together.
Ganjiang had learnt from Ou Yezi that this was because of an imbalance of Yin to Yang, and that he needed more Yin in this case. And so his devoted wife, Muyie, sacrificed her hair and fingernails to the mix, as well as recruiting 300 young women to assist with the bellowing and stoking of the fire. This supplied the much needed Yin essence, and worked immediately, the metals bonding perfectly. From the ore he produced two swords, the Yang sword named Ganjiang, and the Yin sword named Muyie.
Muyie, the sword, is said to have had an "eel skin" texture, whilst Ganjiang the sword is said to have had a "tortoise shell" pattern on the blade. I have heard that the "tortoise shell" pattern may have been like the pattern on the blade of the sword of King Gou Jian of Yue, or the sword that got me started in this explanation of what I know of Spring and Autumn Period swords in the first place.
And this is where the story splits into two versions.
Version 1 - Ganjiang gives the Yin sword, known as Muyie, to the King of Wu, keeps the Yang sword for himself, and they all live happily ever after. Well, actually, the King of Wu dies because he is killed by Gou Jian of Yue, but Ganjiang and Muyie live happily ever after.
Version 2 - The King of Wu discovers that there was two swords made, and one kept by Ganjiang, and in his anger orders the assassination of the second greatest swordsmith in Chinese history. Muyie, the ever faithful Chinese wife, who was pregnant at the time of the killing, raises Ganjiang's son to hate his father's killers. When of age, he is to take the Yang sword from it's hiding place in a 1000 year old tree (that's what my notes say... that's the second 1000 year old tree...) and go to avenge his father. Very suitable for a Hong Kong action movie...
A very interesting story about legendary jian, some of which have been uncovered, and others which still lay hidden, in hope that they still exist. A great many scholars assume they know where these ancient and magical blades reside, and it will be interesting to see if they are eventually uncovered as well. I myself am particularly interested in the contents of the Sword Pond... and the Taia and Zhan Lu swords
I'm just glad I have somewhere to share it with someone, because that has served to rekindle my interest in it, and helped me to remember things I had almost forgotten. I was starting to concentrate too much on the practical for a while there...
I asked one of my old classmates, who researched with me at University, if she knew any more stories, and she was able to give me one more. She also helped me to get some further facts, and corrected me a little.
She has told me that Helu died later from an infection to the wound he recieved from Gou Jian, and wasn't struck down on the battlefield as I had thought. He apparently didn't die until after Gou Jian surrendered to Fuchai.
The home of the Sword Pond is Hu Qui (Tiger Hill), near Suzhou City in Jiansu Province. Suzhou is famous throughout China for having very beautiful women as well as very beautiful weapons buried in hills. The hill is called Tiger Hill due to a White Tiger, which started appearing on the hill after the completion of the tomb of Helu. There is apparently very close to 3000 swords buried inside.
Ok... The story she told me regards the sword Yu Chang, which was discovered in the 1990s, and resides at Suzhou Museum. Yu Chang, which I have always called "Fish Guts", actually means "Inside Fish". The reason is as follows:
There was once a very ambitious Prince of Wu, known as Guang. He was general of all the armies of Wu, but was not content with this, especially after defeating his country's most hated enemy, Gou Jian of Yue. So he had his cousin King Liao assassinated.
The assassin apparently drew the killing sword from inside of a roasted fish. This explains the strange name of the sword, which is 50.7cm long, making it a big fish.
Prince Guang became King, and changed his name to Helu.
And I have managed to find a website in English that basically says what I have listed here. The gentleman whose website it is also tells of a place to buy quality bronze replicas of Gou Jian's sword.
http://www.universalswordsman.com/Swords-Smit...s2006.html
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