BTW-
Awesome ish! Just got my first subscription issue the other day, haven’t been able to read anything in depth yet, but will certainly make time.
I’m excited about the “Chinese sword drawing” article, had a touch of Iai-do awhile back, so I’m interested to see how the two correlate.
Mr. Ching, I had no idea you were a closet collector, you have some very nice pieces there.
(oooh, am I gonna get sh!t for that one)
Has anyone been to the place in Tejas, Forbidden Gardens? Of course, seeing the real deal in person would be the way to go, but having a little taste of it in the states is great.
Not sure I agree with the year of the **** stuff, a little over the top for me, but def funny.
Oh, and Charlene Wang on the back cover? mmmmmmmmmm.
Most of my sword collection is dissolved - sold at gun shows or to other private collectors. I’ve only kept the ones that have sentimental value. The jian dao piece in the Publisher’s corner is mine, as are all of the pieces in the sidebars, except for the last one in the horoscopes section. That piece belongs to the wife of our copy editor, but I had my hands on it first when we found it together in Beijing, I just was solvent enough to get it then.
Thanks for your support and subscription! Let us know more what you think after you’ve read more of the issue.
Yeah, all my life I’ve wanted an authentic, antique sword that’s oh, I don’t know, maybe at least a couple hundred years old, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon, don’t have the funds to spend on something like that.
The antique Chinese swrod market has been rising steadily over the past decade. A few years ago, when I was dealing, it was a steal. Today, it’s pretty expensive, leaning towards the outrageous. I blame eBay.
Technically, something is considered antique if it’s older than 25 years, at least that’s the statuate for firearms. You can buy a working gun that’s 25+ years old and not have to go through as rigorous paperwork as if you are buying a new firearm if you buy it as an antique. At least that’s the way it was a few years back when I was working gun shows here in CA. When it comes to Chinese swords, there’s still a fair share of nice stuff floating around from the Republic of China period and late Qing. It gets remarkably more expensive when you get into early Qing and Ming, and rightly so.
BTW, I should point out that there already is a review thread on our Jan Feb 2005 issue on this forum right here. The heading was a little misleading and it’s drifting off topic, but more are participating on that one, at least so far.
First of all I just wanted to say that I loved the Jan/Feb issue. I’ve been a sword enthusiast since long before I got into martial arts and some of the articles, particularly the article about Zhang Anji and the article written by Adam Hsu were very informative.
I was particularly entranced by the Qing Taiji Jian on pg. 30. Are there any forges that are presently forging replicas related to that design?
Also what is the general range in price for antique Chinese swords from within the PRC and what is the maximum age of such antiques that can be legally taken from the country? I intend to do some sword collecting when I go to China (March is coming up fast) but I don’t have the foggiest how much they cost…
And thanks for your kind words on the Zhang Anji piece, since that was mine . Adam Hsu’s piece is attracting some controversy , but looks like you already know about that.
In asnwer to your questions, I don’t know of anyone trying to repicate that particular sword. And price with antiques, well, maybe you should look into the field of antique collecting in general then rephrase that question. As it stands, it is completely unanswerable. I will caution you that it is very difficult to bring antiques out of China now. Customs is very strict, at least it is here since 9/11. Also the market is fluctuating wildly now.
Post 9/11 I took a trip to Edmonton and was considering buying a Hanwei Dao while I was there. (In the end I got a better deal at Reliks in London). Anyway, pursuant to that I asked at the airport about transporting bladed weapons and what I was told was that I could ship it in a box (and also in it’s sheath) in the cargo hold.
On the China end, I know that antiques before a certain period. I am trying to locate the exact age…
Dr. Meir Shahar, a religious studies professor who is working on Shaolin, was coming out from Israel and I was picking him up at the airport. He was bringing me a gift - a gold letter opener replica of an ancient sword from the Tel Aviv museum. Airport security wouldn’t let him take it through Germany, so he had to mail it to himself quickly during his layover, and give it to me later. The replica is about the size of a pen and equally blunt. I treasure the piece, not just for the journey it made to get to me, but the intention behind it.
Oh, and those wax antique seals are frequently forged.
Is it hard to tell the forgeries from the real thing?
About the airport situation: I was going to use mail as a last resort; it is probably expensive to ship a 2-7 lb package overseas by airmail so I hope to avoid that if possible.
A good forgery can be very difficult to uncover. A bad forgery is quite easy. You should look at an old article I did for our Nov 1999 issue, which coincidentally just came up on another thread on this forum. Real Steel or Tin Foil?: How to Buy Quality Chinese Blades and Collecting Modern-made Swords was sort of a FAQ piece I did, back when I was doing some sword dealing at gun shows.
