In a
previous post, I discussed two sword types and the technology that made them possible. This week I go further East. I initially intended to cover two swords in this post. However, I have become too excited and written too much. Therefore, there will be a Part 3 covering Javanese Kris! Please keep in mind these are cursory posts, meant to whet your appetite. For even more information, refer to the sources below. Many of these are available online. Now, onto the post:
The term
damascene mentioned in the last post will crop up in this one, as part of a conversation on slanted history. The way that Damascus steel was worked in the Islamic empires created a certain aesthetic: the steel, while perfectly sharp and strong, appeared rippled and veined.
Damascening is inlaying metals, sometimes with other metals. When 'damascene' was used to describe swords, it referred to a rippled appearance in the finished metal. Armor, decorative and mundane objects were also damascened as an aesthetically pleasing practice. I have encountered the term when working with books first printed before 1970 about swords from all over the world.
 |
Chosyu clan Samurai, Felice Beato, 1860s.
Image in the Public Domain. |
Rippled Blades from the Far East
Westerners love Eastern stuff. This statement has a lot of history, dating back centuries,
arguably millenia. It is something I plan on exploring more in this blog. For now, however, I want to present the idea that Westerners love Eastern stuff within a certain time frame.
Orientalism is a term used for the collection of associations we as Westerners have for what the West terms the "MidEast" (generally in Europe). It can also include the generalizations Americans apply to the Far East. Orientalism is a complex and controversial set of ideas, but it is important to these conversations because the language used when describing instances of Orientalism apply to many of the cultures we in the West view as different from our own.
I am only going to touch on one major idea of Orientalism in this post, but I encourage you to explore the idea on your own either by clicking the link above, or checking out one of the books listed in the sources below. Orientalism is generally marked by a sense of nostalgia for a particular time period of a different culture's history. For instance, the idea we get for a member of the Samurai class is stuck in a single era, with no room for deviation.
The term 'Samurai' leaves us with the image presented by directors like Akira Kurosawa in films that were inspired by American Spaghetti Westerns. Perhaps more famous than Samurai themselves are their curving blade: the
katana.
Form and Function
Katana are truly amazing swords that did not appear suddenly, and were not as unique to sword technology as one might think. Instead these swords were the result of
hundreds of years of adjustment and evolution. There were blades in Japan before this tradition, and manufacture of swords in Japan continue today. However, not without controversy, I will say that this particular blade's dynastic heritage is tied to the timeline presented below.
Japanese sword history begins with the Jokoto period, an indeterminate time period ending around 900 AD, and probably beginning in the 700s. Much of the culture of the dominate group in Japan was imported from the Asian mainland, including sword technology. Unlike the later native blades, these early examples were flat and designed for stabbing. The Japanese added their famous cutting edge and the earliest known Japanese-forged sword was born, the
katakiri-zukiri.
The reason for this cutting edge overlapped with the reasoning behind the gradually introduced curve of the Japanese blade. Mounted warfare was on the rise, making stabbing weapons inconvenient. Slicing or cutting an opponent still takes time. It is therefore beneficial to create a blade shape that stays in contact with an opponent as long as possible.
Blades in Japan then underwent five more periods, extending into the present. Not only was the smithing spectacular, which will be covered later, but they were an improvement on
tachi swords created in the previous era.
The katana's rise to supremacy is tied to a change in the way warfare was happening in Japan. Unlike earlier swords such as the tachi, this curved blade could be smoothly drawn and used to slice an enemy in one motion. Of course, weapons technology changes all the time.
In his book,
Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior, Clive Sinclaire claims that the supremacy of the Japanese blade ended with the bombing of Hiroshima by the United States on August 6th, 1945. The atomic bomb terminated the era of many forms of warfare. However, the production of the Katana has slowed down and changed for more than that reason.
Other rationalizations for the fall of the katana involve its creation. The process takes an extremely long time (up to three months for a single sword), and involves several people with specialized training and roles. Use of the katana, like other technology, was also tied to a strict class system that has since died out in Japan. While authentic blades are certainly cool to own, the market for them has pretty much died.
Putting it in Context
'True' tachi swords were created during the Koto period, meaning before the 1600s. While the katana differed in function and time period, the differences from tachi are difficult to discern when not being worn. The major identifier of these subtly differing blades are where the signature is located in relation to the body. What makes this particularly difficult is that the blades are signed on the
nakago. It's called a
tang to Western sword uses: the length of metal is part of the piece that makes up the blade, but extends past what we would call the hilt and under the grip. So, this identifying feature is usually hidden.
Of course, katana had other differences. Otherwise, it would probably just be a subtype of the earlier tachi. Usually it was heavier in weight when compared to its overall length, and tapered less, creating a wider tip. While Westerners like you or I probably think of the katana as a particularly curved blade, the tachi was more so.
 |
Blacksmith Scene, engraving, Edo period,
Museum of Ethnography of Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Image in the Public Domain. |
Similar to the
Damascus blades created during the period of time we call the Crusades, layers of steel of different qualities are worked over each other to create the single edged blade of the katana. The curved blades are created from a "jewel steel" called
tamahagane, made from iron sand. This folded steel differs from the Wootz steel used by Damascus smiths in several ways that, honestly, are pretty complex to explain.
If you are able to understand scientific terms relating to the molecules and chemical processes involved in smithing and metal make up, check out
this article from JOM ('The Member Journal of the Minerals, Metals & Matericals Society'). Otherwise, I will simply say that Damascus steel seems to draw strength from impurities in the source of ore.
Differently, the process of folding steel for katanas removes impurities and evens out the metal's carbon content. The billet that results usually has very little curvature. A katana's signature shape is achieved through repetitive hardening methods, including our old friend
quenching.
While not named in the last
Putting Sword Technology into Context, quenching is the process of putting hot metal into water (or sometimes oil) to sharpen and harden it. Part of why Ulfberht swords in Northern Europe were special was because they skipped this part of the process, though it would have been a normal part of working wootz steel into blades in the Mid East. The Middle East has its own curved blade, the
sabre.
The trick with quenching, which Europeans had apparently not mastered at the time of the Vikings, is to make sure the blade does not cool at the same rate. This leaves the metal brittle. The process has to involve an insulator to ensure the edge cools more quickly than the spine. In the case of the katana that means a slurry of clay, ash, and some other materials was added in differing thickness to the billet before quenching. This process is called
differential hardening.
Katana creation continues today, though due to heavy restrictions on sword smiths, China now dominates the market. The process described above is from the peak of katana creation, but this particular iteration of sword technology spans around 800 years, with many changes along the way. Today, most katanas are created using modern steel combinations and different smithing processes. Despite being connected forever to the image of the honorable samurai, perhaps during the 1500s (as in the case of
Seven Samurai), katana actually has an international history that spans a variety of classes.
Sources
Cohen, Richard. By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions. New York: Modern Library, 2007
Nagayama, Kokan. The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1997.
Mcleod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010.
Said, Edward W.
Orientalism. New York: Random House, Inc., 1978.
Sinclair, Clive.
Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot, 2004.
Sullivan, Walter. "The Mystery of Damascus Steel Appears Solved."
New York Times, September 29, 1981. Accessed January 5th, 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/29/science/the-mystery-of-damascus-steel-appears-solved.html
