Blade

1. (Undated folder sheet note) Purchased from Ton-Ying & Co., New York. For price, see <u>Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920<e>.

2. (J.A.P., 1944) One of a group of twelve weapons said to have been found at Hsun- hsien, Wei-hui-fu, Honan Province. (<u>cf<e>. 34.3)

The blade is provided with a thin flange to fit into a slot in the haft, and three long narrow holes through which a thong could be laced to strengthen this joint. A socket, ovoid in section, projects downward from the upper end of the blade to receive the top of the haft, and its sides are pierced with small round holes for a pin. The decoration follows the curve on the thick back of the blade; and, though heavily encrusted, some of its details remain visible. A semi-human figure in crouching position is somewhat similar to that on 34.3. The hands here are held in front of the lower part of the face of which only the corner of the mouth, a fragment of the nose, and the eye are distinguishable. The long, straight hair streams upward along the curving blade, and ends in a point near the top of the socket. Above the hair is a monster with curving tail and four legs ending in claw-like feet. Its neck turns downward so that the feline head with open mouth and fangs forms the top of the socket. The edge of the blade, now much corroded, extends all the way around the outside of the curve and appears to have been ground or filled to a cutting edge.

Like 34.3, this was, in all  probability, a weapon made for use; and the weight and provisions for substantial hafting suggest that it may have been used somewhat in the manner of a two handed axe.  

Undoubtedly this is the "circular knife" [chn] of Ch'u Te-i's note and it is doubtful that he meant this as a technical term. A blade of similar form, illustrated in the <u>Hsi ch'ing ku chien<e>, ch. 37, p. 91, is called a Ch'i [chn]. In that case, the lower part of the blade carries two loops to receive the haft (<u>cf<e>. 34.6). The weapon there described is about 7 inches long, by about 4" wide, and weighs about 1-1/2lb., somewhat over half the size of 34.4.

2. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 8/12/2008) Weapon and Armament added as secondary classification.

3. (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson,  20 August 2010) Object name and title changed from "Blade (chi)" to "Blade";