Contents
Within traditional martial arts, the movements that were once practiced with swords and a variety of weapons, fundamental on the battlefield, are still preserved. Weapons were classified according to characteristics and use given to them. However, the best known not only in China, but throughout the world, at all times and within the reach of peasants, armies, and high officials, is the sword.
Many times we find swords famous for the stories they tell, some real and others anchored in the fantasy world. OuYezi is known to have been the most famous blacksmith in the history of China, active during the era called Spring and Autumn. He made in his workshop a set of three swords commissioned by King Zhao of Chu and another set of five swords for King Goujian of Yue.
The same legend states that OuYezi lived in a mountainous area, in the state of Yue, called Long Yuan and he himself chose the place for the solitude it offered and the availability of superior natural resources. It took him two years to make the swords forged with iron obtained directly from Mount Ci Shan and sharpened with stones from Liang Shi Keng. The first three swords were named Long Yuan (The Dragon's Fountain), Taia (Mountaintop), and Gongbu.
Chinese Jian Tai Chi Sword with Forged Damascus Steel Blade
Another story says that in the Qin Dynasty there was a young man who liked to converse and speak in front of the people of his village. One day he found a damaged steel rod and told them that it was a sword that he obtained from an immortal creature in the Nanshan Mountains, and he named it Chi Xiao. The boy claimed that the sword was the incarnation of the Red Dragon of Heaven, who had met the Great Emperor Qin, incarnated in a great white snake.
Flexible Wushu Long Sword
The villagers knew perfectly well that the boy was a braggart and did not pay much attention to him, until one night, a dozen young men, including the boy and his sword, came down to Feng Xize City. On the way they found a gigantic snake white as pure snow. Terrified by the creature, no one dared to move, except the boy. He told his friends that he was going to kill the snake and went into the forest to hunt it. The young man did not return that night and the rest of the group decided that it was time to return home and not wait for him, since he had surely become the snake's dinner.
Functional Dadao Sword
The next day the dead snake and the victorious braggart appeared and instead of the steel rod, he carried a shiny sword on whose blade two characters could be seen praying Chi Xiao. The second great blacksmith in Chinese history was Ganjiang who made two of the most famous swords of the Spring and Autumn era. Some say Ganjiang and OuYezi learned the art of swords from the same master, others, that OuYezi's daughter was Ganjian's wife.
According to legend, in 494 BC, Goujiang the King of Yue was about to be captured by the armies of Wu and as an act of capitulation he decided to give him three of the five swords that OuYezi had made for him. The King of Wu, a great collector, was so impressed with the beauty of the swords that he asked Ganjiang for a similar one.
Yang Taichi Sword
To please Wu, Ganjiang sought the soul of the Five Mountains and metal in the valleys of the Six Alliances; He learned tricks of the trade in Heaven and put them into practice on Earth; The Hundred Spirits came to see his work and Chi himself came down from the sky. But the metal of the sword did not melt, Yin and Yang were not in harmony. He then gathered 300 maids to stoke the fire and finally managed to make two swords for Wu. The first was called Ganjiang and the second was Moyie, like his wife.
Although the veracity of these stories or the existence of some of the swords cannot be verified, the purpose is to teach and teaching is considered in China as a gift, it is based on ethics, mental and emotional balance and therefore on the development of wisdom.
