LK Chen Heavenly Horse Cavalry Han Dao impressions with

#sword #dao #china
These two dao are on loan to me from LK Chen. Joining me in this video is ‪@dlatrexswords‬ to provide a historical overview to get a better sense of why these swords came to be.
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00:00 Intro
03:22 Historical Overview with Dlatrex
09:40 Blade Geometry and Appearance
11:25 Grip
12:30 Handling
13:56 Scabbard
15:06 Cutting
15:53 Closing Thoughts
17:11 Outro
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[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

An incredibly important sword in history. Not only is it one of the first single-edged swords used in Asia, but it symbolized authority, might and technological advancement in period international politics. When Queen Himiko--the first ever recorded monarch of any state in Japan sent emissary to visit the Kingdom of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China, the King of Wei officially recognize Himiko as an ally of Wei and sent truck load of gifts, including hundreds of Jade jewelries, bronze mirrors, hundreds of bolts of the finest silk, but also 2 of these dao. It tells you how prestigious these swords were back then.
The imperial regalia of Japan consists of three items from mythological times, Yata no Kagami--a bronze mirror, Yasakani no Magatama--a jade jewel, and a Kusanagi no Tsurugi--a long bladed sword Susanoo discovered in the belly of Orochi--a serpent demon he slew. He discovered the sword when he chopped the serpent in half, and found out his own sword--one with a blade "of ten grips length (about a meter long)" was chipped by an object inside the snake's belly. He took the sword to replace his original one that was damaged. I don't know what you can infer from these stories, but to me it sounds like swords like the Heavenly Horse Dao was regarded to have been forged and used by deities, as in the second century Japanese could only make bronze short swords locally.
As Japan established closer relationship with the dynasties of China, these long bladed forwardly curved swords became a mainstay of any nobleman's possession. Loads of mausoleums from the Kofun period showed each nobleman's tomb contains at least one of these swords. If you couldn't afford one of these either directly purchased from China, or less ideally replicated in Japan in your possession, you would be in shame and deemed undeserving of your status. But ultimately the replicas of these swords made of steel local to Japan couldn't be durable enough for warfare, which is part of the reasons why Japan swordmakers moved away from this design. Nevertheless, countless historical figures from Japan was famed to own one of these swords as their personal arm, but also shamanistic ritual vessels, such as the Futsunomitama-no-tsurugi owned by the first emperor of Japan.

[@alientude]

Thanks for the additional historical context!

[@WhatIfBrigade]

A great backyard cutter for Jason Kingsley.

[@zenhydra]

I'm not sure about body mechanics and size differences between us and our experiences with this sword, but the Heavenly Horse dao I have is incredibly nimble. I would absolutely consider more so than my LK Chen Magnificent Chu jian.

[@alientude]

Interesting...I think it really comes down to personal taste. This doesn't handle bad, in my opinion, but I would never describe it as nimble. Goes to show how there's different strokes for different folks!

[@raphlvlogs271]

these ring hilted single edged swords probably had an origin in the southern tribes of China since the Han dynasty was founded by the descendants of the Chu kingdom in antiquity

[@shawnclifford362]

I'll be back. 🖖☘️