Another article from Hong Kong Wu Lin...
In southern China, many styles have dual sword techniques, especially in the Guangdong Pearl River Delta region, almost all schools have “Butterfly” Knife set. The names are varied, including “Dual Butterfly Knife”, “Double Flying Butterfly Knife” or just “Butterfly Knife”; however there is also a form of butterfly knife set that does not use the “Butterfly” name, like the “Charging Cart Double Knife Set” of Lam Style Hung Kuen (also known as the drifting moon knife) and the “Eight Cuts Knife” of Wing Chun. To a certain extent, the butterfly knifes along with the six and half staff are the common and representative weapons of Guangdong martial arts, popular throughout the Pearl River Delta and are not unique to a single school. Although there are definite differences between the knife sets of different schools, there are many commonalities, and this can be clearly seen from the level of application.
Source and Transmission
As a form of common culture, the butterfly knives make almost no appearance in official documents. Luckily, the artifacts from the Pearl River Delta area dating from the end of the Qing Period are an important primary source for the weapon researcher. In addition, the Western travelogues in China dating from the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, also make mention of the weapons used by the common people in Guangdong, making these the earliest documents for the research on Butterfly knives.
Simply put, the information concerning butterfly knives comes from three sources: (1) the “Butterfly knives” dating from the Qing era, which are now for the most part in the hands of western collectors, (2) the written records and diagrams of Westerners in the 19th century, (3) the applications and weapons sets preserved in Cantonese popular martial arts.
The surviving examples of butterfly knives basically date from the end of the Qing Dynasty, and date from the last third of the 19thCentury. Looking at these Butterfly knives we see that they have different shapes, weight and do not have a unified standard. Some of the knives have unique shapes, and are probably customized for their original owners. This personalization is a special characteristic of weapons in civil society, and one can say that Butterfly knives are a special type of weapon of the end of the Qing Period, especially the Pearl River Delta area. This can be seen by the fact that Qing official documents do not have any diagrams or written records regarding Butterfly knives. Also it is worth noting that although the weapons used by the Qing Government do contain dual knife sets, their shape is based upon the Willow-leaf sabre popular during the Qing era, and is obviously different from the so called “Butterfly knife” of the Pearl River Delta.
For the diagrams and files of Butterfly knives, the most comprehensive I have seen are from Gavin Nugent’s Swords and Antique Weapons website. (http://www.swordsantiqueweapons.com/index.html) and I would like to thank Gavin for providing advice and valuable photos.
Military Exercises and the exchange with Popular Martial arts.
Existing research on Butterfly knives has been scanty up until now, Ben Judkens’ article is the only one I have seen which is worth reading from an academic perspective. In “A Social History of the Hudiedao in the Southern Martial Arts”, Judkens raises several points worth noting:
First, Butterfly Knives came into existence towards the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteeth century. In Judkens’ research, the earliest mention of the Butterfly knive comes from Lieutenant Colonel Charles Joseph Doyle article regarding his personal “Collection of Oriental Weapons” in the “Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society” in 1827. In it there is a mention of “a pair of Chinese Butterfly knives”. After this a more detailed account comes from the American businessman Nathan Dunn in an exhibition catalogue which mentions a “Butterfly knife” collected from Guangdong. “A Peep at China in Mr. Dunn’s Chinese Weapon’s Collection, Philadelphia, 1839”. What is worth noting is that English language records of the nineteenth century mostly refer to “double swords”. As to when the term Butterfly knife came about, this awaits further research.
Secondly, although Butterfly knives were not the official issue of Qing Era military, but were once one of the main weapons of the joint exercises and local militia of Guangdong province.
[Governor] Lin recruited 3000 local militia, and led military exercises outside of Canton city everyday, training in archery, spear, and double sword. The latter is a special weapon of China. Each soldier was issued with a pair of short, but straight bodied, double sword: one was held in each hand, and they would bang them against each other creating a noise to intimidate the enemy.
At the same time Commander J. Elliot Bingham of the English Marines wrote the following on the double knives. According to him, of Lin Ze Xu’s 3000 men, approximately one third used the double knives.
This kind of double sword, before it is pulled out of the scabbard, looks like a clumsy weapon, and is of approximately two feet in length; the hilt extends out to a point, forming a two inch hook. When using the weapon, the thumb rests upon the hooked portion, with a twist of the wrist, one could change the position where the knife is held.
(Narrative of the expedition to China, from the commencement of the Present Period. Vol. 1 London 1842.)
From this we can theorize, although the “Officially Sanctioned Troops” of the Qing army did not carry weapons like the Butterfly knives, actually the [local militia] led by the gentry all used this weapon. In addition, as the Bannermen stationed in Guangdong had become thoroughly corrupt by the end of the nineteenth century, and the garrison troops were unreliable, the force actually enforcing the peace in society were the local militias. From this perspective the Butterfly knives were a product of the exchange between the martial arts of the army and popular martial arts.
The weapons of Lin Ze Xu’s Resistance against the British
Thirdly, the development of the Butterfly knives was probably influenced by western swords and knives. The most characteristic part of the Butterfly knife was its D-shaped hilt, however traditional Chinese swords did not have this kind of guard. Conversely, the sabre and cutlass of the west both had this form of guard. According to Judkins’ analysis, Canton was the only trading point open to the outside world before the Opium Wars, and was the center of trade between China and the outside world, there is a possibility that the butterfly knives were influenced by western weapons.
Fourthly, the shape of Butterfly knives underwent an evolution through the years, the original Butterfly knives had a straight long blade that tapered to a point, and it was only in the early twentieth century that the short wide bladed butterfly knive with a blunt point appeared in overseas Chinese communities. This change came about because the early knives were practical military weapons, and the straight blades were effective on the battlefield, and from its shape it could be used for thrusting and slashing. And the blunt Butterfly knife that emerged in the twentieth century, was a beloved weapons of the triads in the overseas communities, killing an opponent was usually done with the empty hands or a dagger, or a common knife and these short weapons had divorced itself from the dual military and civil use weapons of the Qing era.
What we need to pay attention to is that, apart from strangely shaped butterfly knives, nineteenth century knives were approximately 60-65 cm long and had a straight and relatively narrow blade, a sharp point and a relatively wide back. One can see from the shape that the main use of the knife was to “thust”. As the numbers of this form of butterfly knife are relatively small, and from the shape they are relatively standard, I surmise that these are knives used by the military in the nineteenth century in group exercises, and may have even been used by Lin Ze Xu in his resistance against the British.
Conversely, the short bladed blunt pointed version, the earliest example is from early twentieth century San Francisco Chinatown. Judkins found a picture of an early example of a street performer in Chinatown and was demonstrating with a pair of Butterfly knives. (Now kept in the Bancroft Library in UC Berkely), and he is using the short blunt version. At the same time, in Chinese Society in America, the performers in popular theatre and the secret societies had already begun to use these sorts of knives. The most famous picture dates from the 1930s and shows the New York Triad Leader Eddie Gong inspecting a pair of newly forged Butterfly knives.
Yip Man’s prized Butterfly Knives
I believe, what is now commonly seen (including those used by Wing Chun), are the Butterfly knives from the earliest twentieth century, this is cold steel that has divorced itself from its military roots, and has evolved in civil society. As to why the martial arts world would completely adopt this kind of weapon, there is an interesting story behind this, and is related to the Wing Chun Yip man of the movies that have overtaken the world. A lot of people know that his system has an “Eight Cut Knife” form, of which the form is similar to the twentieth century Butterfly Knife. Few people know that the knives that Yip Man used in those days were made from [Pear Wood]. Traditionally in Chinese society [Pear Wood] is considered to have the power to drive away evil spirits. In the past many literati who loved to play with swords and knives would have a wooden sword made from [Pear wood] hanging in their study. Yip Man’s “Eight Cut Knife” has a strong sense that it is for self training / performance, and he liked to consider himself a gentleman and person of culture, so using a wooden knife is very appropriate. According to Ben Judkins, a disciple once took Yip Man’s knives and had an aluminum set made; later someone had a set made from steel. With the rise of Bruce Lee, it was very natural for him take the Wing Chun of his teacher Yip Man.
As mentioned above there is no Butterfly Knife mentioned in the written records. What was mentioned in the early Western accounts were the term “double swords.” So where did the term come from?
We believe that Butterfly Knife is a technical term used by the popular martial arts. Many styles in Guangdong have the Butterfly knife. In addition, Guangdong marital arts has an empty hand from called “Butterfly Palm”, its application is that of the two hands crossing over each other in a synchronized manner, and its appearance is that of butterflies in flight, thus it was called Butterfly palm. It central form is of the co-ordinated changeover of the back and palm of the right and left hands, and it is very close to certain double knife movements. From another perspective Cantonese martial arts are adept at using terms that are vivid and upon hearing the name one is immediately able to imagine an object or phenomenon. In popular martial arts there are many examples of this. If one is not wrong, the Butterfly knife is a description of the actual movements of using the knives in training, and not the shape of the knives themselves.
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