The hilt and scabbard fittings are gilded brass. The scabbards are black polished leather with gilded brass throat and toe mounts. There are several variations in both the Army swords and the diplomatic swords. Chinese military parade sabers are somewhat similar to Japanese parade sabers or to Japanese Kyu-gunto and are sometimes confused with them. The Chinese sabers have a different design on the backstrap and a different flower emblem on the side panel of the backstrap.
Similar confusion exists about Chinese military dirks.
See the Japanese military dirks page for examples of both.