我在慢慢地把这个up主(张洋/阳/yang?)的视频看过来。尤其喜欢他的那些比较 nerdy 的讨论。例如,为什么华语武打片中的剑很少,但是日本武打片中几乎全是剑?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXeNHwsePk0
显然他也读过金庸小说(who hasn't?),引用了笑傲江湖中的独孤求败。
我忘记在哪里看到的纳德文章,概述日本刀历史,在长期积累和大量需求中,锻造技术日臻巅峰。日本刀可以达到很贵的程度,直到今天仍是如此,等级非常多,高级的可以很贵很贵。
而中国历史上没有剑的大量市场,著名的(真实和传说中的)武将,如关羽,岳飞,都是用关刀和长枪,非常适合马上战斗,完全不需要贴身近斗。所以在铸造武器方面的技术也没有那么多钻研和发明。在某种程度上类似于欧洲中世纪之前的武器:重且长,不容易断,全靠臂力。(跟冰火里的胖萝卜国王差不多。)
视频下面有练剑的人留言,说得有一定道理:
As someone who practices European swordsmanship and is Chinese, I would say that you are certainly right in that the Chinese don't care about swords. But I think I can explain why the Chinese don't care about swords. Firstly, I think the bigger question is why the Europeans and the Japanese care about swords. Despite personally practicing swordsmanship, I have to admit that the sword has no place in a battle when not paired with shields. Most often, swords are carried as a sidearm kinda like a modern pistol. There are exceptions like the European greatsword and the Japanese Odachi, but I am not aware of any Chinese equivalent to these. The soldier's main weapon is usually a polearm--usually the spear but weapons like the guandao, naginata, or halberd also enjoyed varying degrees of popularity.
The sword is famous as a status symbol than a weapon. It is more expensive and difficult to acquire than most polearms and is usually relegated to the nobility or warrior class. Both the Europeans and the Japanese had a warrior class that was greatly respected, so their symbol gained the same respect. The Chinese soldiers, however, are usually conscripted. They are not respected like their European and Japanese counterparts and the sword is not considered their symbol, so the sword does not gain the same respect in China, where the spear was considered the "king of weapons" due to its greater practicality.
中世纪之后,战争形式大有改变,枪炮淘汰任何冷兵器,佩剑成为一种装饰。在这方面欧洲和日本有很大近似之处,都有一个固定的武士阶层:在欧洲是封建骑士和贵族,在日本是武士 (samurai) 以及贵族阶层。只有武士能佩刀,平民绝对不可以。实际上腰上挂着把很长的剑晃来晃去是非常不实用的,真要杀人或防身,拔出来就得拔半天,还不如在兜里藏把匕首来得迅捷有效。(所以日本有拔刀术这玩意儿涅。)我在大英博物馆和纽约大都会都特意逛了古代武器馆,十七世纪之后的欧洲佩剑越做越细越花哨,啥也干不了,完全是摆样子的。
在欧洲,剑术演变成体育运动流传到现代,而日本刀在时代剧里得到发扬光大。剑没有流行过的中国,当然不会有类似的状况。关刀也没人用了,但在武打片里,类似风格的棍还是颇为常见的道具,邵氏拍的少林题材武打片里常用棍(武指大半是刘家良,剩下的大概都是唐佳)。后来李连杰版的《少林寺》和电影《游龙戏凤》中经典的刘家良对洪金宝的一段打戏也有棍术。