The Secular Study Of The Swords From Warring States To Han Dynasty

Sword has a very glorious history in ancient China. It has an important andirreplaceable effect which embodied in its usefulness in the war and its etiquette intraditional Chinese society. In addition, it is a period of “revolution" in our historyfrom the Warring States to Han Dynasty. During this period, all aspects of societyhave dramatically changed. This article is intended to make sword as an entry point,in conjunction with archaeological material and historical data, to illustrate thehistorical changes from the Warring States to Han Dynasty in the point of thesecularized sword. This paper consists of four parts:The first part is an introduction, which points out the significance of the topicand characteristics of the paper. Besides, it reviews the research status quo of relatedissues.The second part demonstrates the historical development process of sword to thetime before Warring States and points out the clues of the sacred sword in retrospect.The third part focuses on several aspects such as the number of the sword groupand the change of the sword class to describe the historical process when the sacredswords change into secular swords from the Spring and Autumn Period to HanDynasty.The fourth part is an analysis of the feudal system and the stratum of scholarwhich is reflected by the phenomenon of secular swords as well as a number ofhistorical issues related to the original Sword aristocrats.This paper argues that, in time, the mundane process of the sword as a "noblesymbol" is coincided with the process of “revolution” during the Warring States toHan Dynasty. And it points out a basic view, from the actual situation which isreflected by the sword, that the so-called "historical revolution" is the regime andsystem which is enjoyed by original aristocratic extends down to contain the lowerclasses.