The original Goujian sword.

As a martial artist with an affinity for swords, and sword history, my study has lead to ancient Chinese blades. One cannot do even cursory research into Chinese swords without finding a mention of Ou Yezi, the most famous swordmaker in that country's illustrious history, and the only extant blade attributed to him, a sword made for King Goujian of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period (496 B.C.).

Portrait of Goujian king of Yue (R. 496-465 B.C.)

Intrigued by this much-studied blade I speculated on what it might be like to do movement with such a sword. The likelihood that I will visit China anytime soon is remote. It is even less likely that the staff at the Hubei museum would be willing to remove the original from its glass case for me to handle. So I decided to answer this question for myself by finding a quality replica.

Asia's Best Products museum quality replica of the Goujian sword.

After some research online I was able to find several replicas of various qualities, and based on the photos, I chose one to inquire about. The company is called Asia's Best Products and my contact there was a gentleman named Chang Hai or Jack as he is known by his English speaking customers. Let me begin by saying that my experience with the company through my contact with Jack was exceptional. Dealing with him was more like exchanging emails with an old friend than transacting business. Jack's superb customer service included sharing some very interesting background on the history of both Goujian and the sword.

One interesting element to this exchange was that he asked me the intended purpose for the sword as they have a variety of quality and pricing levels. All their bronzeware products are made to order at their factory in Luoyang that is capable of producing museum quality replicas.

It is not an exact replica. The finish is a typical blue-green bronze patina and the diamond pattern is etched into the surface rather than a result of variations in tin content which produced the two-tone look of the original. There are also minor detail differences in the handle and handguard, but the sword is finely crafted and it is the same length, width, shape and weight as the original which more than suits my purposes.

My bronze Goujian sword replica, also from Asia's Best Products.

The sword arrived FedEx within ten days of placing the order. I mused that it was interesting that in less than two weeks the sword had been made and I had it in my hands on the other side of the planet when King Goujian had to wait three years for the original to be made in his own kingdom.

I am quite happy with the sword and would recommend Asia's Best Products to anyone based on my interaction with Jack alone, but the quality of the product, which arrived in a very nice yellow silken lined box, did not disappoint either.

Check out their website, it has quite an array of ancient bronze weapons but also chime bells that sound absolutely magical and a variety of replicas of other famous non-bronze Chinese art treasures.

www.asiasbestproducts.com