The Japanese call him Sei-Shoh-Gen, but I don't know how that should be in English as Wiki gives "Ch'i Hsieh-yüan" and "Qí Xièyuán", which are both unpronounceable to me.
Oh, here he is http://prabook.com/web/person-view.h...fileId=1344610
The Japanese call him Sei-Shoh-Gen, but I don't know how that should be in English as Wiki gives "Ch'i Hsieh-yüan" and "Qí Xièyuán", which are both unpronounceable to me.
Oh, here he is http://prabook.com/web/person-view.h...fileId=1344610
Excellent! Thanks, good to know!
Thank you all for helping with this , ill start some research. you all are great help
Now that there are good pictures of the fittings, I agree this is no PETA or souvenir sword. The fittings look very well made, though the overall style certainly suggests Japanese imitation (but obviously not Japanese in origin). The blade is still a fairly crude affair though, so I'm not sure what to make of that. Following this discussion with interest
Chrysanthemum is a perennial plant belonging to family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and Europe. It was widely cultivated during the ancient times in China as an herbal plant. It was from an ancient Chinese belief that this plant signifies longevity that Japan regarded the plant as the noblest of all flowers. Thus, the chrysanthemum became the emblem of the Imperial Family. According to historical records, Emperor Gotoba and his three succeeding emperors enjoyed using chrysanthemums as a pattern. Although this crest was reserved to the Imperial Family, it was also awarded by the imperial court to other people who had shown excellence in service to the imperial household. However, the crest was exclusively reserved to the imperial household after the Meiji Restoration. Today, the Imperial Family still use this crest
OK, that last Kanji, if puts before that name, it usually means to compliment . Therefore, it means " To compliment XXX"
Now it is after that name, it means XXX to compliment another person.
However, I believe it is none of the above as if we read that 4 Kanji together, it means: Mr. XXX's gift. This should be the case here to me.
See my explanation by using a diagram.
So according to Chen's interpretation, the last character works the same as 贈 in Japanese, making it a sword presented by General Ch’i Hsieh-yuan. But unfortunately that kind of inscription can be added to any sword, so it does little to establish credibility of the piece.
We have no connection yet between the emblem and the general and China did not have family crests as in Japan, so we are at a dead end. The emblem does point to the fact, however, that it was not made in Japan, as it would have been illegal to use that emblem in Japan after Oct. 1929 (see post 5 of this thread The Chrysanthemum, the Rising Sun and the Star)
The emblem has 25 petals, placing it at the upper borderline of what was legally interpreted as an Imperial Chrysanthemum lookalike. One petal more and it would have been legal to produce even in Japan.
If nothing more can be found on the Chinese side, it's only the American side that might yield something more, namely the grandfather's war record, whether he was in Nanking at the end of the war, etc.
Otherwise it will have to remain a questionable piece, at best a period Chinese copy of a Japanese Gunto.
Last edited by Nick Komiya; 09-01-2017 at 10:25 AM.
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