Hello all,

I was dissembling a sword when I ran across a marking on the tang of the blade. I was wondering if anyone could identify the marking. It looks Chinese to me but since I have zero experience with Chinese swords and don't read Chinese other than the find the noodle house I can't really be sure. Thanks in advance for your help.

~Mike~

http://imageshack.com/a/img809/9073/9d6o.jpg

P.S. I was told by a native Chinese speaking neighbor (I live right on the boarder of Whitestone and North Flushing NY) that the symbol means wood, but looked rushed, like the writer had to get it on there in a hurry. The sword in question has a wood core grip.

[ Linked Image ]
I am also not sure what marking is this. Can anybody identify?

I do not read any language but English but am curious if it is a stand alone symbol/character or possibly 2 or 3 different letters.

It does look similar to a couple characters in Devanagari.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9E#Consonants