Korean sword

The history of the sword (Korean geom 검; 劍) in the Korean Peninsula begins with imports via Bronze Age in the mid 1st millennium BCE. Native production of Bronze and Iron swords appears to pick up beginning in the mid 1st millennium CE.

Korea had its separate sword industry and a native tradition of Korean swordsmanship during the Joseon Dynasty (15th to 19th centuries). This tradition was eclipsed by the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945). Since the later 20th century, there have been efforts towards reviving the lost arts of Korean sword-making and swordsmanship.

Elements of the Korean sword include: geomjip or scabbard, most often of lacquer; hyuljo or fuller (most genuine Korean swords didn't have a fuller); hwando magi or collar; ho in or collar; kodeungi or hand guard; a ring-design pommel; tassels; a round and wide designed sword guard, or a straight lotus design.

There is evidence of early imports of Chinese Bronze Age swords to the Korean peninsula. Evidence of sword production dates to the transitional Late Bronze to Early Iron Age (c. 1st century BC), with an earthenware mold for a Bronze Sword found in South Gyeongsang Province.

The earliest Korean sword type is the so-called Hwandudaedo or "ring-pommel sword", prevalent during the 1st to 6th centuries. Until the 3rd century, these sword were very rare and presumably reserved for royalty. They became more attainable in the later 4th and during the 5th century, and are found in many higher class tombs of this period. Their production declined in the 6th century.

By the last third of the Three Kingdoms period (i.e. 450 AD and beyond), steel making techniques had come from China (possibly during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period in China) and were also employed in Korean swordmaking by all three Korean kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla). In 2013, a Chinese inscription was discovered on a 5th-century sword from the Geumgwanchong tomb in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The scabbard of the sword has the inscription 尒斯智王 Yisaji-wang ("King Isaji").

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Wikipedia