Cold weapon , as a kind of equipment in struggle, has great destructive and lethality. In ancient times, when hot weapons were not widely used and highly developed, the development of cold weapons was extremely developed, with a wide variety and complex standards. Since the era of self-heating weapons, cold weapons have gradually retreated behind the scenes, and modern cold weapons are often of great value as art collections. Japanese samurai sword, also known as the oriental sword, taidao , the whole process is a plane crack forging knife. There are many types, including Taidao, , Knife, , Shortdao, Synagogue, Long Curtain, Naginata, etc., and each has its own characteristics. Among them, Taidao is the most famous . The blade has a certain arc, thin and long, which is the classic representative of of Japanese knife . Moreover, Japanese samurai is often regarded as Japanese "Samurai Soul" , symbolizing Japanese bushido spirit .
1. The origin and development of samurai sword
The development of Japanese swords has gone through many periods, mainly starting from Heian period , before this, they were all called ancient sword . Since the late Heian period, the development of Japanese samurai swords has gone through the Kamakura period, the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the Muromachi period, the Edo period, and the Edo period, the shape of Japanese samurai swords has gradually been established in its shape and has been passed down to this day. The Japanese samurai sword began in the late stage of Heian. The shape and style of the ancient sword were changed according to the needs of the war. After the Edo period, the shape of the samurai sword was established, mainly using , taidao, and slashing swords, and .
, the beginning of the fern hand knife
Since the ancient tomb period in Japan, iron-smelting swords have appeared. The famous is the "Jincuoming Iron Sword" unearthed from the Inarishan ancient tomb. The knives from this period to the Heian period are all called ancient swords. Their standard is different from the classic samurai swords in the later period, and are often straight swords, big swords, double-edged swords, etc. Its earliest origin was fern hand knife . The fern hand knife was originally a straight-length thin knife. In the later stage, it was to facilitate cavalry combat, so the blade body was created to facilitate combat. Because its head was like a bracken, it was called a fern hand knife. The fern hand knife was often considered to be the origin of of the Japanese samurai sword.
Fern hand knife was mostly burial objects in northeastern Japan during the ancient tomb period. More than 200 fern hand knife unearthed in Japan today are mostly unearthed in ancient tombs and sites. The most unearthed place is Iwate Prefecture in Japan. There are also people who believe that the fern knife is a knife made by the Hokkien.
, Samurai "Taidao"
Since the late Heian period, the Japanese samurai sword has gradually changed to Taidao standard . The blade is narrow in front and wide in the back, slender and beautiful, with a curve. During this period, warrior forces were active and there were many wars. Represented by the "Twelve-Year Joint Battle of Aozhou" and the "Last Three-Year Battle", Abe clan was destroyed, and the Qingyuan clan occupied the northeastern region of Aozhou. The numerous wars have greatly promoted the development of Japanese swords, resulting in different schools of swords in the prefecture, Yamaki, Yamato and other regions. Its knives are well-made, each with its own characteristics, and most of them are in the shape of a sword, so it is called the era of a sword. Its famous knife has "Boy Cut" and "Little Fox Maple" .
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号 is one of the famous Japanese 中号有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有有According to legend, during the reign of the Japanese Emperor, there was a monster called , Tanba, and extremely drunk in the great country. He often robbed treasures and kidnapped mother, daughter and children to eat. Later, he was killed by the famous general Yuan Lai Guang of Heian period with an extremely sharp knife. In this world, people named the sword as Tongzi, which was said to be one of the five swords in the world. Xiaohumaru is a famous sword in Japanese legend. Its real existence needs to be investigated, or it actually exists but disappeared in World War II. Because it was helped by a fox who was called Inari Akiko when it was created, its creator Sanjo Son named it Xiaohumaru .
. Domineering "Nota Knife"
Kamakura Period, under the rule of the Kamakura Family , the cold weapon world began to develop rapidly, and even the Kamakura royal family established the Royal Sect to create samurai swords, developed day and night, and created a new sword style.During the Kamakura period, the body of the samurai sword became wider and the material required to be hard. In the later stage of Kamakura, the blade became shorter and developed into short knife .
However, in the late Kamakura period, the two invasions of by the Yuan army brought great turmoil to Japan. Its politics and society gradually began to be chaotic, and wars occurred frequently. Therefore, the development of the sect began to flourish . Based on the original length of the knife, the blade body was lengthened and widened, resulting in a new knife type, Datai knife (also known as Nota knife), the length of the big sect is more than 5 feet, and is often used in the army. When used, the knife and the arm are stretched out at the same time, and cut it down with one knife from the top, creating huge force and pressure. When the blade body comes into contact with the ground and bounces back, it will slash it down with one knife. Therefore, the Da Tai Knife is often synonymous with heroism and strength among warriors, and often appears on the battlefield.
Modern Japan uses less Datai knife, which is an unpopular knife . The main circulating sword school is Lin Qi's dream of the flowing big-taku sword drawing technique , ancient circle center flow big-taku group discussion, etc., and the longest circulating big-taku 7 feet 4 inches 2 minutes, that is, 225cm, which is preserved in Niigata Yahiko Shrine and is one of the Japanese national treasures .
4, hidden murderous blade "killing the knife"
After the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Ueno family Adachi Zun clan established shogun in Muromachi, Kyoto, to rule , called Muromachi shogun . Conflicts arise on the issue of the successor of its eighth-generation general, and the war broke out in the Yingren Rebellion. After that, Japan entered the Warring States Period, and wars continued in various places, and retainers separating one side and seizing power. That is, the samurai sword developed and prospered during this period. The samurai sword standard changed from Tai sword to to , and it was easier to draw the sword in battle.
The biggest difference between a knife and a Taidao is that the knife blade is inserted horizontally upward and horizontally on the knife belt, while the Taidao is worn on the waist with the blade downward. Therefore, after the Muromachi period, most Japanese samurai drew their swords backhand, even if they used them to hit the swords. In order to facilitate pulling out, the blade body of the knife has a certain arc. This arc is usually called "knife reverse" , while the knife back is in the center of the blade body, making drawing the knife more convenient and faster.
Therefore, in the process of using the sword, the samurai created a famous sword technique, "sword drawing technique" . Sword drawing technique is a school or move of Japanese sword technique. It uses the "one-hit kill" method to achieve the purpose of killing the enemy. The two most core points are "unexpected" and "high-speed sword drawing". In short, it is to draw the sword very quickly and kill the enemy while it is still reacting. However, the sword drawing technique is only one way to draw the sword, and there is no sword move that can be followed. Therefore, if the enemy is not killed, will often be killed by the enemy . Therefore, the sword drawing technique is often regarded as a "decisive battle" and one blow will win.
to Edo era, as the most prosperous cities in the economy, the development of the sword world was also extremely prosperous, but the value of the sword gradually changed from practicality to ornamental as a representative of the samurai spirit. New inscriptions have begun to be engraved on the newly created samurai sword, paired with luxurious decorations, and the blade is graceful and gorgeous. Tools such as tool medium, small handle, eye-catching, and hairpin are developing and prospering.
5, "Meiji Seal Knife"
Later in the Shogunate period, Japan entered the war era again. The ancient knife forging method , represented by Masahide Mizumizu, began to rise. It adopted ancient knife forging method to forge knives with extremely strong practical significance. The subsequent knives were called "new knife" , but with the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, Japan fully learned Western capitalist politics, economy, and culture, and carried out reforms from top to bottom. In the process of continuous development of industry, technology, education, etc., Japan's feudal remnants were also eliminated in large quantities during this period. The Western security system was implemented in public security, and the "Ban Knife Order" was issued. People outside the army and police restricted the use of samurai swords. Therefore, the Japanese sword industry gradually blocked the swords and disappeared before the public. When it developed to modern times, it gradually became a traditional Japanese craft, and samurai swords became more of artwork .
2. Culture generated by samurai sword
. The name originates
. The name "Japanese samurai sword" comes from a foreign name, and is called "knife" in Japan. Ancient Chinese Northern Song poet Ouyang Xiu once wrote "Japanese Sword Song" , which records that "the road to Kunyi is far away, and the treasure sword is coming out of Japan, and the Yue Jia got it from the east of the sea. Fish skin is equipped with incense wood sheaths, and a hundred golds are introduced into the good hands." Japanese swords in the Northern Song Dynasty were already famous in China for their high-quality , and Chinese merchants traveled across the sea to Japan to trade knives. It was brought back to China for sale at a high price. The knives were made of fish skin and better wood, and the style was exquisite. It usually cost 100 taels of gold to buy a better Japanese knife. In terms of the economy of the Song Dynasty at that time, 00 taels of gold was enough for a family of three to have no worries about food and clothing for a lifetime. Therefore, it can be seen from the side that the quality of Japanese knives is as high as the popularity of Japanese knives in the Song Dynasty. Japanese swords also became one of the items in Japan's foreign trade at that time.
, Muramasa Demon Sword
In Japanese history, "Muramasa" sword has a unique status, and it is recorded in history because of its strange events that occurred between the rulers of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandfather Tokugawa Kiyoyasu and his father Tokugawa Hirotaka both died from subordinates who were carrying the "Muramasasu" Mingdao, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was injured by Muramasasu's sword when he was young. By 1579, Tokugawa Ieyasu's son Tokugawa Yoshiyasu was sentenced to death by Oda Nobunaga , and he also died under the sword of Muramasa. The Kurama sword written here is not a knife, but a knife with the inscription of Kurama. They are all made by Kurama, the knife made by Kurama. By 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu was injured by Oda Nagatako using a spear made by Murakami in the Battle of Sekihara . After that, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the complete destruction of all "Muramasa" weapons, and the Muramasa Forging Institute also disappeared from society.
From the perspective of the era background, the main reason is that during the Tokugawa Shogunate period, Japanese knives fell into an era where aesthetics were mainly , and no longer pursued practicality. Therefore, at that time, Muramasa's knives, which still manufactured knives with high quality, were spread among the real samurai class and ruling class. Therefore, Muramasa's knives were often carried by people of the Tokugawa Shogunate ruling family, and the cause of the war was caused by the internal strife of , , and civil war, so it was often the collision between Muramasa's knives and Muramasa's knives. Therefore, Muramasa's knives often appear around Tokugawa Ieyasu, which is not a coincidence.
3. Summary:
The development of Japanese samurai swords is generally synchronized with the development of era. In the era of war, the development of samurai swords also flourished, and many different new tool standards were produced, with lethality and destructive power as the criteria for judgment. In peacetime, samurai swords are often used as the carrier of art and samurai spirit , and are given spiritual loads, with aesthetics as the criterion for judgment. The Edo period Taidao defined the overall shape of the Japanese samurai sword and has been passed down to this day. And in modern samurai swords, as art and collectibles, is known and collected by people.
References:
, "Sword Ruler of the Waibao"
, "Japanese Sword Song"
, "Story of the Three Rivers"
