A knife used for centuries

The jangdo is believed to have been first commonly used during the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392) when the country was invaded by the Mongols in 1231.Mi Ja Kim, “Eunjangdo,” Korean National Culture Encyclopedia, 1995,. However, jangdo have also been discovered in tombs dating back to the Three Kingdom period (18 BCE–668 AD). This suggests that these daggers Both the terms ‘knife’ and ‘dagger’ are commonly used to describe jangdo, as well as the term ‘sword’. However, in this story, we will not describe it as a ‘sword’ since this paints a different picture of what a jangdo actually is. Depending on the way and when the jangdo was used, they could function more like daggers or knives. Therefore, both terms are used in this story. have existed on the Korean peninsula for over 1000 years. By the time the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897) rolled around, the knife was widely worn by both men and women. Gong Ho Choi, “Jangdojang,” Korean National Culture Encyclopedia, 1995, It has been recorded that during the Japanese invasion of the Joseon (1592-1598), also known as the Imjin war, jangdo were part of the daily outfit so people could protect themselves in case of emergency.Kim, “Korean National Culture Encyclopedia: Eunjangdo.”

Not only on the Korean peninsula but during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of China (1735-1796) a similar kind of object, called a trousse set, was also worn on a regular basis. Like the Korean jangdo, trousse sets could consist of a knife and chopsticks, though other objects were often also included in the set. The difference with a Korean jangdo is that the knives of trousse sets were not meant as weapons, but were part of a cutlery set, where the knife was used for cutting meat in the traditional Manchu way: straight from the bone. To honor this tradition, these trousse sets were required to be worn on a daily basis by Manchus and Mongols.Peter Dekker, “A Fine Chinese Trousse Set | Mandarin Mansion,” Mandarin Mansion, accessed October 22, 2021,.