The weapons of kings: a new perspective on southern sword legends in early China.

• Author: Milburn, Olivia

INTRODUCTION

Legends about swords developed in early China are derived virtually exclusively from the kingdoms of Wu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], in present-day southern Jiangsu province, and Yue [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], in what is now northern Zhejiang province. Swords held a special place in the culture of these two ancient kingdoms, which in the late Spring and Autumn period (771-475 B.C.E.) and early Warring States era (475-221 B.C.E.) stood at the southernmost edge of the Chinese world. Both Wu and Yue were famous among their contemporaries for the fine quality of the blades that they produced, but it was not until much later, during the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 C.E.), that their sword legends were first systematically collected and were included in two texts: the Yuejue shu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Historical Texts from the Kingdom of Yue) and the Wu Yue chunqiu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Spring and Autumn Annals of the Kingdoms of Wu and Yue). (1) These tales became an important part of Chinese mythology, and introduced such characters as the legendary swordsmiths Gan Jiang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and Mo Ye [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] to new audiences in stories that would be popular for millennia. (2) Thus, from the Eastern Han dynasty onwards, these sword legends were no longer an expression of the culture of the ancient kingdoms of Wu and Yue, but became part of a Chinese tradition. Many of the conventions used in describing weapons in wuxia [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] literature, right up to the present day, can be traced back directly to the tales first recorded in these ancient texts. (3)

The earliest surviving references to swords from Wu and Yue that are found in early Chinese texts describe just two aspects of these weapons--their high quality and great value. However, once local legends from the Wu-Yue region were recorded from the Eastern Han dynasty onwards, a wide array of new tales appeared, and these provide important information about the role of swords in the culture of those two ancient kingdoms. They demonstrate the importance of sword ownership for the royal houses of Wu and Yue, and describe a number of different aspects of possession of these find blades. In the culture of the ancient kingdoms of Wu and Yue, these swords were not just high-quality weapons, of significant monetary value; they were an integral part of royal regalia. When alive, the kings of Wu and Yue used their swords as a sign of their right to rule; when dead, they had the swords buried with them in their tombs as royal grave-goods. This paper will examine both the legends recorded in texts associated with the Central States, and those from the Wu-Yue region itself, to demonstrate the importance of swords within the culture of the ancient south and the response they garnered in the Zhou confederacy. From analysis of the full range of stories recorded in pre-Han and Han-dynasty texts, these can be placed into three loose, overlapping categories: tales about the preciousness of these blades, those concerning their significance as royal grave-goods, and those which describe them as southern royal regalia.

WU AND YUE SWORDS: TREASURES BEYOND PRICE

Although many references to swords from Wu and Yue are included in Central States texts from the Warring States era onwards, they concentrate on two particular aspects of these weapons: the amazing quality of southern swords, and their great value. In contrast to the situation in the Wu-Yue region, there are no stories about the manufacture of precious swords, interment of such weapons in graves, or their importance as symbols of royal authority. Tales from the Central States region prior to the unification of China focused solely on the quality and value of swords from the kingdoms of Wu and Yue. This may simply be a reflection of the acknowledged superior quality of Wu and Yue swords at the time; the technical standards pertaining in the southeast produced much finer weapons than those made in the states of the Zhou confederacy. (4) However, the paucity of these tales may also be the result of a failure to respond to an imported object whose rarity and high price ensured that it was known only to members of the ruling elite. The high quality of swords from Wu and Yue informs a description recorded in the Zhanguo ce [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Records of the Warring States), which mentions the fine blades of these weapons. However, used here as a metaphor for the need for appropriate action, these swords nevertheless appear fragile when used in the wrong circumstances:

As for the swords of Wu Gan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], (5) if you test them on flesh they cut apart oxen and horses; if you test them on metal they cleave bowls and basins; but if you place them on a pillar and strike, they will be broken into three pieces; and if you position them on a stone and hit, they will be crushed into hundreds of bits. (6) Just as many ancient Chinese texts make reference to the high quality of swords from Wu and Yue, there are also numerous accounts of how valuable they were. For example, in the Zhuangzi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] swords from Wu and Yue are described as weapons beyond price:

As for those who own swords from Gan and Yue, they keep them hidden away in boxes and do not dare to use them, for they are the greatest of treasures. (7) Meanwhile the Lushi chunqiu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Buwei) also includes a story which tangentially concerns the great value of swords from the Wu-Yue region. This tale describes a man from Chu named Ci Fei [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], who obtained a fine southern sword in Gansui [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], and risked his life to defend it when attacked by two dragons who wished to steal it. The importance of the sword he had obtained is a crucial factor in informing Ci Fei's actions:

In the state of Jing (Chu) there was a man named Ci Fei, who obtained a precious sword in Gansui. (8) He then crossed back over the river, and when he was in midstream, two dragons appeared and encircled his boat. Ci Fei asked the boatman, "Have you even seen these two dragons encircling a boat where both [dragons and people] were able to survive?" The boatman said, "Never." Ci Fei then rolled up his sleeves and bared his legs, and brandishing his precious sword, he said, "I am but decaying meat and rotting bones in the middle of the river. However, handing over my sword in order to save myself is something that I cannot do!" Then he jumped into the river and stabbed the serpents, killed them, and returned to the boat. All the people in the boat survived. (9) This story is also mentioned in the Huainanzi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], and seems to be a legend derived from the southern state of Chu. (10) As with so many other accounts of the reaction of people from outside Wu and Yue to the fine swords made in these kingdoms in antiquity, this tale stresses the enormous value of these weapons. As the story makes clear, these weapons were not only intrinsically of great worth, but were more powerful than other blades, for they could be used to kill threatening dragons. To Ci Fei, death was nothing provided he could keep the treasure he had gained for himself. References to the high quality and great value of swords from Wu and Yue are not unique to texts from the Central States. Probably the most striking and poetic description of the beauties of these blades, and their enormous value, comes from the "Ji baojian" chapter of the Yuejue shu, and is worth quoting in full:

King [Goujian of Yue [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (r. 496-465 B.C.E.) asked his major-domo] to bring [the sword named] Chunjun [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("Purity"). (11) Xue Zhu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] looked at it, and suddenly seemed to collapse. He wobbled as if terrified. He went down the steps in deep thought, arranging his clothes so that he could sit and look at it. His hands trembled and shook, and he clasped them together just like a peony when it first comes through the ground. He inspected its patterning, which shone like a row of stars in a constellation. (12) He inspected its reflective powers, which were as pure as the waters flowing over a dam. He inspected its cutting edge, and it was as sharp as a razor. He inspected its quality, and it was as lustrous as ice crystals. (13) [Xue Zhu said]: "Is this [the sword] called Chunjun?" The king said: "It is. One of my clients valued it at two market-towns, one thousand blood horses, and two cities of a thousand households. Is that correct?" Xue Zhu replied: "It is not. When they made this sword, Chijin Mountain burst open to bring forth tin; Ruoye Stream dried up and brought forth copper. (14) The Master of Rain washed [the metal] clean, (15) and the Lord of Thunder manned the bellows. (16) Dragons and serpents stoked the furnace, (17) the Sky God piled up the charcoal. (18) The Great Unity inspected the proceedings from above, (19) and the Heavenly Essence descended to it ... (20) Now [the mine at] Chijin mountain has become blocked and Ruoye stream is too deep to be plumbed. None of the spirits come down and Master Ou Ye is dead. Even if you extorted every penny from your cities, and dragged every pearl and piece of jade from your rivers, you could not obtain such a thing as this. What is the point of even mentioning two market-towns, one thousand blood horses, and two cities of a thousand households?" (21) In this passage the quality and value of a single sword are stressed again and again. The use of hyperbole is very striking. Xue Zhu is completely overwhelmed when confronted with the sight of this precious sword. It is a truly priceless object, for its value cannot be measured in any normal way. All standard forms of valuation such as money or gems, or in terms of cities and...