The peasant sleeps in the mountains -
There's a hoe under the head.
The lark sings.
Issa
A hoe is, of course, simpler and cheaper than a sword. But the principle is the same: the working part can be replaced with a handle, the handle can be replaced with a working part. It's comfortable. Therefore, the Japanese mounts on the blade were also removable. The blade is broken - you can save the mount. Saving! The tsuba went out of fashion, the tsuki braid - the handles - was worn out - I ordered new ones. That is, the old blade could be under the requirement of the changed fashion, although the blade itself remained unchanged! At the same time, in different eras, many varieties of sword frames were known, and many of them were even regulated by decrees of the shogun himself. But it should be remembered that all the fighting swords of the samurai of the Heian era and subsequent eras, up to the Muromachi era, were riders' swords - that is, tachi swords, which were worn on the thigh with a blade down, on the left on the belt on cords. There were usually two cords (belts or chains). Well, the look of the frame spoke of the status of the samurai. So, the commander usually had a shirizaya-no-tachi sword frame, which differed from the others in that in this case the sword sheath was covered by two-thirds of the skin of a tiger or a boar and looked like a fluffy tail! In any case, the tachi was worn paired with a tanto dagger. But the katana sword, on the contrary, was worn tucked into an obi cloth belt and paired with a wakizashi sword. The cordless mount was called buke-zukuri.
Disassembled dagger tanto. The blade with a long fuller is kuichigai-hi. From left to right: tsuba, seppa, habaki, wari-kogai - the kogai divided in the middle, and the “knife” of the ko-gatan. (British Museum, London)
Consider what parts the frame of the buke-zukuri sword consisted of:
• First of all, it was a wooden handle, which was covered with stingray leather. Usually it was braided with cords of leather, silk or cotton yarn. In tanto, the braid was a rarity.
• The handle had a "head" (kasira) and a ring with which it was fixed on the handle (futi).
• The handle also had decorations (menuki) in the form of small figures, which were inserted under the braid of the handle and held by it. If it was not there, then they were fixed on the handle without a braid, using small pins.
• Tsuba (finally we got to her!). Garda. But "garda" in this case is a European concept, not a Japanese one. The guard is a means of defense, but here everything is quite the opposite - it is a rest for the hand so that it cannot slip onto the blade with certain blows.
• The sword sheath (sai) in Japan was made from magnolia wood, although ivory sheath is also known). They were varnished and decorated with paintings and inlays. Moreover, the scabbard of Japanese swords differed from European ones in that they had special "containers" where three objects were placed, unknown to Europeans. At the same time, we emphasize that these "items" were included in the kit only for the katana sword. Tati, they did not have any additions in the scabbard. So what were these "items"?
• Additional knife (ko-gatana). It had a very artistic handle (kozuka). A number of sources indicate that this is a throwing "knife", something like a shuriken. But … today it is believed that in fact this knife with a blade of a characteristic shape was something like a penknife and nothing more. And for this knife in the sheath of the katana, a longitudinal "pocket" was arranged, from which only the beautiful handle of the ko-gatana was visible, and it passed right through through a special hole in the tsuba and then went on the handle of the sword. This "knife" was always located on the inside of the scabbard - the side of the hurray. At the same time, the handle of the ko-gatana - kozuka, usually was 10 cm long, 1, 3 cm wide and in itself was a small work of art. Again, it is interesting that it was decorated only on one side - the outside. The inside was flat and barely polished. Although it could have been signed by the master.
• Further, it was a pin (kogai), which served for a variety of purposes: with its help it was possible to style the hair and clean the ears (for this there was a special "spoon" at the end), and … to stick it into the severed head of a killed enemy as a sign alerts, because it was also decorated in the same style with the sword fittings! It was located on the front side of the scabbard (omote). It is believed that a kogai in a sword or dagger sheath is a thing more ancient than a kogotana.
• Kogai could be split in the middle. In this case, it turned into a vari-kogai or vari-basi - chopsticks; but not wooden, but metal; outwardly they are similar to kogai, but only divided along.
• If the sword had a frame made in Higo province (this also applied to daggers), then it could have a so-called "horse needle" (umabari), which looked like a triangular blade with a flat handle, which served as a lancet for bloodletting horses.
• Kogai, ko-gatana and two menuki to decorate the handle made up a special set of mitokoro-mono ("three things"), which, together with such details as fuchi - an oval-shaped sleeve on the tsuba handle, and kashira - the top of the handle, represented a welcome gift from one daimyo to another. Moreover, gifts with a hint, because in their design they might not coincide with the already existing frame on the donee's swords. And that had to, especially if it was a gift from the highest to the lowest, then look for a master so that, out of respect for the donor, he would complete the same tsuba for them. After all, a noble donor could then ask to show the sword or just even see where his gifts went, and not using them meant showing disrespect!
We will begin our acquaintance with tsubs with tsubs … without holes for accessories, which are referred to here. That is, there were swords that had tsubas without holes - first of all, tachi and nodachi ("very large tati"), but there were also katana swords, which also had no holes. Do not think that if there are no holes, then this tsuba is older than the one with holes … For example, an extremely simple tsuba without additional holes on it. There is only one thing - for the blade. This tsuba was made in the 16th century. Material: iron and copper. Thickness 8, 9 cm; thickness 0.6 cm; weight 147, 4 g (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
All the handles of these accessories protrude from the scabbard in such a way that they pass through the holes in the tsuba. It is known that in the late Middle Ages in Europe, additional cases with accessories were attached to the scabbard of swords. These included knives, forks and even spoons, which were especially common in the so-called "hunting sword" sets. So there is some similarity here, although there could hardly be any connection here.
Tsuba 1615-1868 Obverse. Material: iron and copper. Diameter 8.6 cm; width 8, 3 cm; thickness 0.5 cm; weight 155, 9 g. Pay attention to the minimalist nature of the image. It is even difficult to understand where the obverse is and where the reverse is. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The same tsuba. Reverse.
The entire frame of the sword is called koshirae and the presence of additional "tools" in it, such as kogai, kogatana and vari-kogai, significantly complicates the work of the master. After all, the design of the scabbard of the sword also becomes more complicated. You need to cut two holes in them for the handles of the ko-gatana and kogai. It is necessary to make them so that they enter through them into their "nests" at an angle and protrude slightly through the holes in the tsubah. And you need to make sure that they do not fall out of the channels in which they are located, and the scabbard itself does not lose its strength. In addition, all these parts should not be arranged somehow, but so that the ko-gatana and kogai can be easily removed with one movement of the thumb of the hand lying on the hilt of the sword!
This tsubu can be conventionally called "Junkuy against the demon", and yes, indeed, on it we see how the "yellow demon" flees from the mere glance of this bearded personality in the headdress of an official. Zhongkui is a demon tamer in the folk beliefs of China. He enjoyed particular popularity in the era of the Tokugawa shogunate, which, by the way, is evidenced by the time of making this tsuba. The tsuba itself is iron, but the figure of the "yellow demon" is clearly made of bronze, and the eyes, teeth and bracelets are traditionally gold. But the image of Junkui is not patinated and therefore retained the natural color of red copper. Production time: 1615-1868 Material: iron, copper, bronze, gold. Diameter 9.2 cm; width 8, 9 cm; thickness 0.6 cm; weight 195.6 g (Metropolitan Museum, New York)
The same tsuba. Reverse. On it, the demon covered himself with a rice dish.
Thus, we see that the Japanese sword was both very simple and at the same time very complex and thoughtful product. The blade could be easily freed from the frame and stored for a long time in a special case, again equipped with a special frame for storage. It was possible to order any number of frames for the same blade, made in the same style as armor or ceremonial clothing. Not to mention the fact that the design of the frame of swords was regulated by numerous decrees of the shoguns. For example, the decree of 1624 prohibited red scabbards and square tsubas, as well as blades longer than 60 cm. When serving in the shogun's castle in Edo, where local daimyo were called regularly, you should also have a sword with you, framed in a completely specific way, and not like this as his master wished. It was stipulated that, introducing himself to the shogun, the samurai had to have not only special nagabakama pants with long trousers like a train, so that their owner could not commit a treacherous attack, but he also had to have a special sword with him - kamishimo-zashi. This short sword had no guard, and had a mekugi in the hilt, so that it easily slipped off the blade when trying to grab it from the belt. Well, the servants standing at the door carefully checked who was entering their master's chambers with what and whether or not there was a mekugi in the hilt of their sword!
Tsuba "Samurai behind the tree." It depicts a samurai in a straw cape, either standing or hiding behind a flowering tree (obverse), but he dropped his hat on the back of the tsuba, that is, the one that faces the edge of the blade. It has no holes for kogai and kogatana. But note that there are two small holes on it. What is it and why? These holes were called udenuki-ana, and they served so that the cord of the lanyard was passed through them. They were not on all tsubas, but … they were. Production time: XVIII century Material: iron, gold, silver, copper, bronze. Diameter 7, 9 cm; width 7.5 cm; thickness 0.8 cm; weight 175, 8 g (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The same tsuba. Reverse.
Decrees were issued to combat luxury. So, in 1830 it was forbidden to have frames with gold details on swords. But the samurai immediately found a way out and ordered to paint everything that was made of gold with black varnish - another example of the fact that any prohibitions, in general, are not difficult to get around.
Many believe and even write about this in books, referring to the collections of their friends and acquaintances, that the Japanese did not use materials such as stone, corals, mother-of-pearl, pearls to decorate tsuba, although they even used materials such as wood, leather, ivory and porcelain. Actually used, but rarely. And here is one of these rare tsubas. Production time: 1615 - 1868 Material: copper and mother-of-pearl. Weight 85 g (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
