Talk:Bisentō

Inaccuracy in the Dates

Somebody with more information will need to change this, but the Kukishinden Ryu Bisento legend places the introduction of the Bisento to Japan at sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries, brought by a warrior named Tetsujo (Tie Zhang Seng), following Izumo Kanja Yoshiteru's (early 1300s?) defeat at the hands of Fujiwara no Tadamachi (early to mid 1100s?). Since there is a historical innaccuracy in dates, Kukishinden Ryu history/legend may not be a reliable source.Stslavik 05:32, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Just Another Name for Naginata?

This weapon we're talking about, the Bisentō (眉尖刀), What is it really? When I read the phrase "has various descriptions" it made me very skeptical as to whether or not it is even a real, classifiable weapon.

First of all, It says it's a Japanese pole weapon with a curved blade. Then just how is it different from the Naginata? Are there any historical examples of it? I don't just mean illustrations or text references; I also mean physical, surviving artifacts.

I did a google image search for Bisentō, and only found huge manga/anime caricatures, and some wooden ninjutsu practice versions. My theory is that these are at best, exaggerated Naginata, at worst, fantasy weapons.

These are my reasons for thinking this way.

1- There is not enough information to classify Bisentō as a unique weapon, or even differentiate it from the Naginata.

2- There are no surviving historical examples of Bisentō. (at least none that I could find searching online)

3- In the Japanese dictionary website, jisho.org it lists the kanji (眉尖刀) as an alternative form for the term Naginata. Meaning 眉尖刀 also reads as "Naginata".

4- 眉尖刀 is also a Chinese term, and it reads as Méi Jiāndāo. It means Eyebrow Point Sabre (referring to the shape of a person's eyebrow as it points towards your ear). Found in the Ming Dynasty (1600's) military treatise, Wǔbèi Zhì, (武備志) the Méi Jiāndāo is listed as a pole weapon, and it's illustration looks very much like the Naginata.

a- It has the same narrow, curved, blade profile.

b- the same disk-shaped guard piece, called Tsuba (鍔) in Japanese, and Hù Shǒu (護手) in Chinese.

c- the same metal rings that are called Semegane (せめがね) in Japanese. (These rings are used to reinforce the shaft from the blade's hidden tang construction.)

Most other pole weapons do not have Semegane. I honestly believe they are the same weapon.

From these 4 points, I contest that the Bisentō and the Naginata are one and the same, and that the page should redirect back to Wikipedia's Naginata page.

ZhaoHistorian1 (talk) 10:28, 22 February 2017 (UTC)

References