The Randall County news. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1908-1926, 1910-07-15
SWORDS or JAP AN
Old Samurai Blades Are Looked
Upon as Sacred.
HANDLED WITH REVERENCE.
A Curious Formula Of Etiquette Fol-
lows When the Steel Bible Of
6ushido" Is Drawn From Its Sheath
by a Hand Which Grasps u In Peace

0usnioo is OraWh from us SFeatn
by Hand Which 6rasps u In Peace
IL one were in a friends house In
Japan and should ask TO examine one
Of the old samurai swords that rest in
the lacouered sword rack in place
etiquette would be followed by the
host
He would go to closet and return
with little square of silk in his hand
This he would wrap about the shark
skin handle of the sheathed sword be-
sheath. Then. with his right hand
Grasping the silk covered handle and
the fingers Of his left gingerly raising
the lacQuered hilt from the rack. the
Japanese host would lift the sword TO
the level Of his forehead and bow 10 H.
All this In reverential spirit and with
utmost gravity. The square of silk.
preserved for no purpose but this and
having its own name In the japanese
vocabulary. Is TO prevent the defile-
ment of the handle by a hand which
grasps II in peace The bow is meant
for the spirit OF the swordsmith who
forged this weapon The reverence is
for the sword itself. soul of the sa-
mural" in the Japanese poetical con
ception and aptly called by foreigners
the steel Bible of Bushido"
But this is only the beginning of the
faruality Whau ha IonannSa host
unsheaths the blade he does it with
the edge toward his own body and the
point directed away from his guest.
When the guest receives the sword in
his own hands he must be careful 10
keep the outer edge always away from
the direction of his friend the host.
IL be wishes 10 examine both sides of
the blade he must even turn his back
SO that never will the menace of the
sharpened edge be directed toward his
friend
After the examination is completed
the sword is returned TO its scabbard.
and the owner receives il with an
other bow and places it once more on
its rack
The etiquette of the sword is no
empty thing. With the high spirited
japanese. who have not forgotten the
many centuries Of chivalry and Of
hand fighting behind them. the deli
cateiy curved and curiously weld I'd
sword of the samurai has signiI-
canoe almost sacred. There is phi
lesophy Of the sworn no less stern
than the use OF the weapon.
In the old days when the Japanese
fighters wore the war masks and the
steel armor seen nowadays in the
curiosity shops the boy was taught
that as the shining blade must be kept
free from spot and corruption. so must
his soul be ever clean. Neglect Of III.
blade brings rust; neglect of the soul
m impure character.
Then the sharp edge was held Dot
only as constant guardian Of per
sonal safety and honor. but as sacred
disciplinarian to punish whenever its
possessor stepped from the narrow
path Of the Yamato spirit of chivalry
Again. the sword was emblemstica
of true gentility. which is never over
bearing or vulgar in department, but
sternly self repressve.
No man knows when first the forge !
for fighting weapons was set up in the |
dawn Of Japanese history nor who I
was the man who first replaced the !
rude bronze blades Of a primitive folk /
k..y Q no IF hn
blade. There is in the imperial coller-
ton Of swords at the castle Of Nara /
the weapon worn 10y the Crown Prince
Shotoku. who compiled the cunStilu-
ton Of seventeen articles in A. -. 6g3.
the oldest sword known IN Japan. From
that weapon. which was straight and
not curved as all other swords Of Nip
poi are. down 10 The fall Of the Toku-
Cawa shogunale in The middle Of the
last century there l. An unbroken his
tory Of the ART of the swordsnth
Twelve centuries OF recorded art ia
swordma King and the naiues Of over
10.OOO makes constitute the history of
the sword is Japan.
The Japanp>e blade. placed almost
on a par with lhr damascus product
in ART and utility. differs from the
Arabian WEAPON iu one material detail
of Manufacture. Instead Of having
uniform high TEMPER. which gives the
remarkable heyibiity possessed by the
Damascus blade the Japanese sword
has two temrerS. a hard and a mild
steel
The edge Of The blade is hard with
The finest temper. The body and back
Of midor temper sufficient 10 give
some elasticity s Japanese sword |
cannot be bent half double with the
pressure 81 % band r. is nearly rigid.
Though sword manufacture has ceas
I'd 10 be- IN Japan today outside OF The
government arseuii~. which urn out
only the accepted military blade OF the
modern army the country is tilled With
priced relics OF the past art. and these
are relics which the japanese will not
sell. A pOsseSsOr Of one OF the old
swords. keen and blue white IN luster
H. -. L. all