After the death of Emperor Shomu of Japan in 756 AD, his empress donated various royal collections and daily utensils that the emperor loved during his lifetime to several royal temples in Nara. Most of them were handed over to Todaiji Temple and stored in the royal warehouse “Shosoin” in the temple. Most of these treasures have been well preserved and have been passed down for thousands of years to this day, known as the “Shosoin Treasures”. The catalog that recorded these artifacts at the time was called “Todaiji Offering Record”, also known as “National Treasure Record”.
In the Todaiji Temple Offerings Record, Empress Dowager Kลmyล donated a total of 100 swords of various types to Todaiji Temple. Today, onlyย
the gold and silver Tang swordย in No. 38 of the North Warehouse of Shosoin remains , as well as the Wuzhu scabbard stick sword and the lacquer scabbard stick sword (now stored in No. 39 of the North Warehouse). The other 92 swords were all lost, including all the “Tang-style swords” and “Goryeo-style swords”, and have never been found again. Since then, no Tang-style swords have been handed down in Japan. To this day, the only thing left for research on Tang-style swords is the text of the entries in the Todaiji Temple Offerings Record.
The Tang Dynasty broadsword with gold and silver decorations in No. 38, North Warehouse of Shosoin, is considered to be a high-end sword with ceremonial nature because of its gorgeous decoration. In the Book of Sui and the New and Old Book of Tang, there are records of the ceremonial swords of the emperor, the crown prince and ministers, such as the emperor’s “deer-shaped jade sword with fire bead dart head”, the crown prince’s “jade sword with fire bead dart head, changed to white bead”, “jade sword with black leather shoes, shoes with gold decoration”, “jade sword with gold decoration, jade dart head”.
Gold and silver decorated Tang Dynasty broadsword
Fu Yunzi’s “Shosoin Archaeological Records: Overview of the Three Warehouses: North Warehouse Part 1” states: “The blade is two feet six inches and four points long, with a double-edged blade, and the blade is slightly curved, not a sword.” The so-called “Tang broadsword” is a broadsword made purely in the Tang Dynasty, as opposed to other imitation “Tang-style broadswords.”
Japanese sword connoisseur Seki Hosunosuke said: “The characteristic of the Tang broadsword lies in the guard (i.e. sword guard). The difference between the Tang broadsword and the indigenous broadsword of Japan lies mainly in the difference in the guard, probably because the two countries use swords differently. Japanese swords are used for slashing, and they have large guards to prevent being cut by the enemy’s sword during battle. However, Chinese swords are mainly used for stabbing, and their function is not so much to protect the hand as to prevent the hand from slipping and accidentally injuring during stabbing. Therefore, although there is a guard between the blade and the handle, they are used differently and their shapes are also different. From this, we can see the difference in the use of Chinese and Japanese swords.
This knife has a shark skin handle, and the sheath has “gold carving” (i.e., gold flakes are sprinkled on the lacquer surface to form patterns, which is the origin of today’s Japanese “Maki-e”). The sheath handle has gold and silver hollow ornaments, inlaid with pearls, jade, and se-se, which are the most precious (Note: Ming Fang Yizhi’s “Nengya” Volume 48: “Se-se is a jade bead. … There are three types. The gems are like pearls, the real ones are transparent and jade, and the foreign ones are round and bright.” Se-se was most popular in the Tang Dynasty, see “Minghuang Zalu” and “Taizhen Waichuan”).
size
- Total length: 99.9cm
- Handle length (including knife guard): 18.5cm
- Scabbard length: 81.5cm
- Blade length: 78.2cm
- Tang length: 13.6 cm
- Blade weight: 531.8g
- Shape: Double-edged
Technology
The handle is a shark skin roll. The tail is white leather. The sheath is black lacquered wood, painted with gold. There are flying clouds, animals, flowers and arabesque patterns in “end gold thread”. The fittings are hollowed out with arabesque patterns, silver-plated gilded fittings, silver inlaid with blue and green colored glaze, crystal and jade. The belt handle is purple leather.
