Deadly Life of a Female Ninja

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When we hear the word “ninja,” most of us picture those sword-wielding assassins wearing an all-black garb who are adept at martial arts and the art of stealth. We’ve read about these black-masked warriors in novels and comic books, and we’ve seen some fictionalized versions of them in a lot of movies for the past few decades. And in many of these materials, we’ve learned that a ninja is often a cloaked and masked man who can stealthily infiltrate an enemy’s territory to end the life of a specific target. 

In reality, however, the way of the ninja is not a life solely intended for men, and not all ninjas live in the shadows. Yes, some of these ninja assassins were female, and they often hid in plain sight. These female ninjas were referred to as the “kunoichi,” and while they equaled their male counterparts in terms of combat and stealth skills, they handled their assignments differently from men in several impressive ways.

 

Defining Ninja, Shinobi, Kunoichi

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While the term “ninja” is what became popular among Westerners, written records in feudal Japan refer to these covert agents and mercenary assassins as the “shinobi.” Members of the shinobi clans in Japan were practitioners of ninjutsu, which taught them the strategy and tactics of espionage, infiltration, sabotage, assassination and even guerrilla warfare. They were like the antithesis of the honorable samurai as the ninja’s covert methods of warfare were regarded as irregular and dishonorable. Nevertheless, as spies and assassins, many of the shinobi lost their lives while in the line of duty and usually took on missions from which they were not expected to return alive.  

Medieval Japan was a time during which men dominated society while women were primarily relegated to the sidelines, taking “harmless” roles such as that of a wife, a mistress, or a maid. And so many incorrectly assume that ninja clans were strictly composed of males when the truth was women of that time also worked as covert agents and assassins alongside men although their approach in doing so is not the same as the male shinobi accomplished their missions.

The existence of female ninja warriors is mentioned in the Bansenshukai - a 17th-century book containing knowledge and secrets about ninja training. The Bansenshukai revealed the primary function of a kunoichi, and that is to infiltrate a target’s household by forming intimate relations with members of that clan and gaining their trust. Walking freely inside enemy territory and hiding in plain sight, they usually bided their time in collecting information about their target, but they were also capable of facilitating assassinations if ordered to do so.


Disguises And Tactics Of A Female Ninja

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The shinobi knew the importance of using personal strengths to their deadliest advantage. In a world where women were prized for their beauty and were deemed ignorant and harmless, the kunoichi was less likely to arouse suspicion and found it much easier to get close to their targets compared to their male counterparts. The female ninjas used feminine wiles to accomplish their objective and even became concubines and mistresses to mask themselves for long periods of time.

The targets of the shinobi were typically powerful and influential members of the samurai class, which meant that they were heavily guarded and were naturally distrustful of men outside their clan. However, rarely were they as suspicious of the women around them as they were of men. This allowed the kunoichi to disguise themselves as maids, courtesans or as priestesses and go undercover, infiltrating dangerous enemy zones on a broader and more intimate level than male shinobis would have ever been able to achieve.

The kunoichi did not sneak in during moonless nights to steal information or eliminate their targets. A kunoichi was patient and took time to accomplish missions even if the mission took years. Female ninjas rarely attempted to kill their targets right away. First, they worked hard to integrate themselves well into the enemy’s household and to earn the trust of the household's many residents slowly. They gathered intelligence and passed on crucial information to a samurai’s enemies. When the time came to eliminate the target they were monitoring, they did not wait for a male shinobi to finish the job. Their combat skills were just as excellent, and sometimes, their method of execution was even more creative and brutal.

This is why some argue that the kunoichi posed a more serious threat than other members of the shinobi. It was hard to tell if a maid, a priestess or a courtesan was who she said she was since they could pretend to be one for a very long time if they must. And when they were ordered to strike, they did so cunningly when their targets are at their most vulnerable – often in bed and with their pants down. Hence, it is not so surprising that they suffered worse fates than the captured male ninjas when they were caught for committing such intimate betrayals.


Weapons Used By Female Assassins

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Beauty and sexuality were the female ninjas’ primary weapons when gaining access to their targets, but they also wielded actual deadly weapons of their own. Considering they had to go to their enemy’s territory unnoticed, they could not bring around with them long swords that would catch people’s attention. Instead, they carried weapons such as dagger-like hairpins, throwing stars, tessen or folding fans with hidden blades, and poison as these items can be inconspicuous while wearing a standard kimono.

Perhaps the iconic weapon of choice used by the kunoichi was the neko-te. The neko-te mimicked Wolverine claws and was made of leather finger sheaths topped with very pointed metal tips. The tiger-like claws of the weapon extended between one and three inches in length and were sharp enough to tear away human flesh. Some of the kunoichis would even douse their neko-te with poison in order to quicken death or worsen pain.

 

Mochizuki Chiyome: Japan's Most Famous Kunoichi

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There is little record available about kunoichis, and Mochizuki Chiyome is probably the only one whose name was solidified in Japan’s ninja history.  Mochizuki Chiyome was a noblewoman from the 16th century and the wife of a samurai warlord. She is credited for setting up an underground network of female spies, which she accomplished by recruiting around 300 female orphans, war victims, and prostitutes.

To the eyes of the locals of Nazu village in the Shinshu region, the noblewoman was merely running an orphanage, but in reality, she trained and managed a very sophisticated group of female espionage operatives and assassins who have infiltrated almost every aspect of the region’s community. These groups of female ninjas put their bodies and lives on the line all in service to the Takeda clan led by the uncle of Chiyome’s late husband, Takeda Shingen.

For reasons unknown, after the death of Shingen in 1573, Chiyome and her league of spies disappeared from Japan’s historical records, and no one knows what happened to the secret group after serving the Takeda clan.

Although we don’t know all the names of the Japanese women who were once among the kunoichi, they were no less important than their male counterparts within the ranks of the shinobi. These deadly female ninjas were highly respected by the men they worked for and those who worked alongside them, and for a time, they were truly a force to be reckoned with in Medieval Japan.


Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunoichi
http://www.ninjaencyclopedia.com/reality/kunoichi.html
https://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2013/06/kunoichi-female-ninja-spies-medieval-japan-susan-spann
http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/deadly-female-ninja-assassins-used-deception-and-disguise-strike-their-target-021503?nopaging=1
https://www.mysterytribune.com/kunoichi-closer-look-female-ninja-spies-old-japan/

10 Warnings the World Ignored that Completely Changed the Course of History

There is a universal law that everyone agrees on: for whatever action, there is always an opposite reaction. This is most true in physics but certainly applies to our daily lives.

Imagine the Butterfly Effect where it is said that, in one part of the world, a butterfly would flap its wings and it would cause a devastating hurricane on the opposite side of the globe. Our actions and the actions of others always have consequences to it, good or bad. It can be Karmic or a kind of domino effect.

In this list, we examine the actions of people who, in recorded history, have completely changed or greatly affected it with the decisions – or indecisions – that they made.

Here are the 10 Warnings That the World ignored that completely changed the course of history!

Number Ten: The Great Depression

Who could ever forget that time when Stock Market crashed and sent the international economy spiraling out of control, leaving thousands of people unemployed and hungry?

Today’s economic recession is nothing compared to the financial meltdown of 1929. It may have been unthinkable back then because of the speed at which the United States economy was accelerating in terms of industry and its economy. However, on September 5th, 1929, one man saw this great crash coming.

Economist Roger Babson delivered a speech where he predicted that an impending economic crash was just around the corner. Unfortunately, the business community, as well as fellow economists, shrugged the warning off claiming it to be impossible. Two months later, over $5 billion was wiped out of the market – an amount, in today’s standards, is beyond calculating.

According to records, Babson had been warning everyone about the crash for years and what it may precipitate and when people started believing in him, it was already far too late.

Number Nine: The Sinking of the RMS Lusitania

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In some sense, the sinking of the Lusitania was not unexpected. However, the events that led to this disaster are incredible enough that it lands number nine on this list.

It was at the height of the First World War when the Lusitania was given more than enough warning by the German army to stop anyone in their right mind from sailing straight to their doom. For several weeks, the German army published several advertisements in newspapers including the New York Times warning the entire world of the ship’s numbered days.

In a most brash attempt, the Lusitania set sail from New York to England. Incidentally, news of the ship’s departure sat side by side with the German ad in the New York Times.

As an exercise of caution and to avoid innocent people getting caught in the crossfire, the British government warned the captain of the Lusitania to avoid areas around the British shores where German U-boats have been known to actively patrol; and should the ship pass through those waters, the captain was strongly urged to zigzag his way through. Unfortunately for the passengers of the Lusitania, the captain ignored these warnings and advice from the British government. The RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat, taking with it the lives of 1,195 people.

Number Eight: Asbestos Warnings

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It may seem trivial to talk about the dangers of asbestos in this list and it would also seem that it may not have had much of an impact around the world as the Great Depression, but this silent killer has slowly claimed hundreds, if not thousands, of lives since it was conceived in the 19th century.

Known for its strength and resistance to fire, asbestos manufacturers have made a fortune selling this product to the public with no regard to its dangerous implications to an individual’s health; and for nearly a century, asbestos has cropped up almost everywhere and has been used for almost anything.

However, people have been suspicious of the product since the early 1900s because of the high-rate of illnesses that were reported around towns where asbestos was mined and manufactured.

In 1938, due to public alarm, asbestos manufacturers commissioned a study that proved that death by the product was airborne. These same manufacturers at that time swept the undeniable link between asbestos and fatal illnesses under the rug. Saying that there was “no proof” that links asbestos to diseases such as lung cancer, many workers in their factories either suffered horribly from the chemicals or were let go of their companies leaving them impoverished.

Today, even as a great majority of the globe, has banned the use and manufacturing of asbestos, many companies still refuse to compensate their dying employees as they continue to keep a firm stand that there is nothing that connects asbestos to their employees’ illnesses.

Number Seven: The Rwandan Genocide

800,000 Tutsis and Moderate Hutus lost their lives during a bloody ethnic cleansing and massacre that was dubbed as the Rwandan Genocide.

Beginning in April 6th, 1994, the genocide was led by Hutu tribesmen with the objective to attack another local tribe called the Tutsis; however, not only did the Hutu plan to massacre the Tutsis, they also planned a purge of their own tribesmen who were protecting the Tutsis.

It was a Belgian ambassador to Rwanda who uncovered the plot and revealed that the plan had been started since at least two years before. Professor Filip Reyntjens, another Belgian, appeared before the Belgian senate and revealed that the Hutus were assembling and operating Death Squads to carry out the genocide and implicated a Rwandan Army Colonel named Theoneste Bagasora as one of its leaders. Later on, Bagasora was found to have indeed commanded the genocide.

In January 1994, four months before the catastrophic event, General Romeo Dellaire, commander of the UN troops at Rwanda, sent what is now known as the “Genocide Fax” to the United Nations, warning the organization that the Hutus, much like the revelations of the Belgian ambassador and Professor Reyntjens, were planning a large scale attack on the Tutsis as well as their own tribesmen. In the fax, General Dellaire requested for more troops to be sent to the region in order to attack a Hutu arms cache and prevent the massacre from happening. The UN, sadly, ignored the plea and told the general to inform the Rwandan government instead which was filled with the same people and officials planning the genocide.

The same month, General Dellaire was able to seize an arms cache that was placed in the custody of the UN and Rwandan Troops – the same Rwandan troops who were training the Death Squads and bands of rebels who directly took part in the genocide.

Number Six: Fukushima Meltdown

The 2011 earthquake that shook Japan left thousands homeless. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake not only rocked the country but it also brought a giant tsunami that devastated areas near its coastlines. It may seem like it was already the worst thing that could ever happen to Japan. What happened right after, however, was more sinister.

Following the earthquake and the tsunami was the worst nuclear accident in history since Chernobyl that no one ever expected to happen except for one Koji Minoura.

Like a scene from a movie, Minoura was investigating a reference in an ancient poem about a tsunami that happened just northeast of the country. Digging through records and historical texts, Minoura discovered an account about an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands in 869 AD dubbes as the Jogan Event.

Investigating the region in the 1980s, Minoura found evidence that the area was “routinely” destroyed by tsunami every 1000 years and it was already due for another one.

Over the next 20 years, Minoura wrote reports and produced countless studies warning about the inevitable destruction of the Fukushima area. Published in journals and magazines, his articles and research were completely ignored by his peers and by the public.

To this day, the effects Fukushima’s nuclear power plant meltdown spreads and reports and studies have already confirmed that the waters near and surrounding the area have dangerously lethal amounts of radiation that is slowly spreading into the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean.

Number Five: The Kuwait Invasion

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The early 1990s saw the rise of soaring oil prices because of unstable political situations in the Middle East and in the morning of August 2nd 1990, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops marched into the borders of neighboring Kuwait; an invasion that virtually took overnight with Kuwait not giving much of a fight after its head of state fled into the desert.

It was reported that the plan by Iraq to invade Kuwait had been in the works five years beforehand and was said to be just the first phase of Saddam Hussein’s plan – though futile -to secure Saudi Arabian oil wells in the region.

Ample warning to the US government was given by both the CIA and US Military Intelligence. Unfortunately, the government chose to look the other way and even granted Saddam a $1.2 billion loan days before the lightning invasion. The US government’s refusal to take a stand against Saddam’s plans only gave the dictator more fortitude to proceed with his plans, believing that he had the US on his side.

When the situation spun out of hand and gained the attention of the international community, the US government stepped in but was initially unprepared.

The Iraqi forces were ejected out of Kuwait only after the US-led United Nations contingent landed in Kuwait thus beginning the Gulf War.

Along with 248 UN troops and 25,000 Iragi soldiers, the largest fatality count fell on Iraqi civilians which numbered 100,000 after the war. In the following years after the conflict, a million more Iraqi civilians lost their lives due to sanctions that were placed on Iraq.

Number Four: Wilson’s War

US President Woodrow Wilson may very well have been the catalyst that brought about the devastations of First and Second World Wars, the Rise of Communism in Europe, as well as the Vietnam War.

The events of how the First World War began and how the US played a key part in it is numerous and is a complicated web of scenarios like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.

When trouble and conflict was already brewing in Europe due to discontent from  different countries and the incompetence of several generals and leaders, President Woodrow Wilson claimed the role of impartial arbiter in order to bring the war, which has already erupted by then, to its conclusion without having to directly send US troops into battle – but when Germany and its allies seem to be getting the upper hand, Wilson and his members of cabinet had to make a decision because they wanted victory to go to Great Britain and France.

After his presidential re-election in 1916, he ordered congress to declare war against Germany a year later despite the fact that Germany or its allied countries were threatening or attacking the United States as well as a large population of the US wanted their government to stay out of the war.

After Germany’s defeat, an armistice was created in 1918. Unfortunately for Wilson and his rhetoric, his idealism was buried by the territorial ambitions of Great Britain and France after decimating Germany and the former Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires; a devastation that drove many European countries into revolution and civil war.

Had Wilson not urged the US congress to declare war against Germany in 1917 and listened to reason, the US may not have assumed the mantle of being the Global Police throughout the remainder of the 20th Century and still continues on to this day. His decision therefore created a domino effect that would cost the lives of millions of people in the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War; and not to mention 75-years of Soviet Communist rule over Russia and large parts of Eastern and Central Europe.

Number Three: The Rise of Adolf Hitler

After Germany’s defeat in the First World War, France decided to place a fine on Germany in 1919 that was unimaginably large that, had not the Second World War broken out, the country would be paying it until 2010.

John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, strongly believed that it was the most effective way to get disastrous results. By absolutely crippling the German economy with heavy sanctions, the Allied Nations would no doubt trigger economic collapse on a country that was still reeling from a war.

Keynes therefore lobbied governments and presented them with articles to convince them to rethink their move saying, in almost prophetic words, that if the Allies’ objective is to drive Central Europe into debilitating debt and poverty, then vengeance from the subjugated nations will be reaped through revolutions and conflict.

Believing that Keynes was out of his mind, his pleas and warnings were left in the dust. True to his prediction, the German economy practically evaporated and civil unrest spread like wildfire, opening the doors to extremism – and in a small beer hall, a rejected art student by the name of Adolf Hitler, decided to try his hand in politics; a decision that cost the lives of innocent millions.

Number Two: World War II

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The Treaty of Versailles ended the First World War in 1919. Included in the Treaty was a hefty sum of money that the Allied nations imposed on Germany as restitution and, as an ulterior move in the part of the Allies, was a means to make sure that Germany would not have money to declare a war of retribution.

Soon enough, Germany’s economy collapsed and German society was destroyed by inflation and a wave of unemployment.

A handful of people could see how ineffective the conditions of the Treaty were. British economist, John Maynard Keynes, believed the Treaty held no water and was practically dead even before it was signed. Another was a French army commander, Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch.  “This is not peace,” Foch said. “It is an armistice for 20 years.”

Foch’s warning fell on deaf ears and 20 years later, Germany lit the fires that would start the Second World War. Now formidable, the German army – as part of their campaign – invaded Paris and staged attacks in England that would leave the country and most of Europe in ruins until 1945.

Number One: 9/11

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In 2012, years after the tragic events of September 11th, the New York Times published the results of an investigation showing that the Bush administration, in 2001, had knowledge of an impending terror attack on American soil.

Far from being caught by surprise, the report states that the US government had known of the attack but chose to be tied up with bureaucracy instead of preventing it from happening.

As early as June 2001, there was already intelligence that Al-Qaeda strikes on the US were imminent. The intelligence was considered a certainty and known by the CIA.

However, politicians in the Pentagon refused to acknowledge the reports and dismissed it as a fabrication by Saddam Hussein, whom the US government were watching closely.

According to the New York Times’ report, the warnings by the CIA were allegedly downplayed and the agency was practically reduced to begging the President to take notice and take action. It was later on raised to extreme levels of urgency on June 29th, July 9th, July 24th, and August 6th.

With the government’s almost obsessive watch over Iraq and Saddam Hussein and its dismissal of the constant warnings, it therefore resulted in the worst and most deadly terrorist atrocity in the 21st Century committed on American soil only because it decided not to take its intelligence service seriously.


Sources:

http://listverse.com/2016/05/12/10-ignored-warnings-that-turned-deadly/
http://listverse.com/2013/10/08/10-deadly-warnings-the-world-ignored/
https://fee.org/articles/wilsons-war-how-woodrow-wilsons-great-blunder-led-to-hitler-lenin-stalin-and-world-war-ii/
http://onceuponafact.com/8-deadly-warnings-the-world-ignored/

Goujian - The Ancient Chinese Sword that Defied Time

Over fifty years ago, a rare and unusual sword was found in an ancient tomb in China. This ancient weapon is known as “The Sword of Goujian,” and though it’s supposed to be over 2,000 years old, its blade is said to not have a single trace of rust. The sword’s blade has managed to retain its sharpness, drawing blood when a person’s finger is tested on its edge, as if it was completely immune by the passage of millennia. But aside from this strange quality, its craftsmanship has been praised for being intricately detailed for a sword that was forged in a supposedly technologically-limited era.

Discovery of the Sword of Goujian

The discovery of the Sword of Goujian dates back in 1965, during which an archeological survey was being performance along the second main aqueduct of the Zhang River Reservoir in Jingzhou of Hubei province. More than fifty ancient tombs of the Chu State – a successful hegemonic and expansionist state during the Spring and Autumn Period in the early 8th century BCE -  were found in Juangling County.

And so, an archeological dig was initiated, beginning in the middle of October 1965 and ended in January 1966. In December 1965, 4.3 miles or 7 kilometers from the ruins of Jinan, an ancient capital of Chu, the archeological team responsible for the excavation discovered an ancient tomb. In its casket was a skeleton, and next to it was a near air-tight wooden box. From inside this box, they removed a perfectly preserved bronze sword in its scabbard.

This sword is now identified as the Sword of Goujian, and it was unearthed by these archeological researchers along with 2,000 other artifacts.

To their amazement, upon unsheathing the bronze sword, its blade was revealed to be untarnished. And the fact that the sword appeared to be in perfect condition despite being buried in damp conditions for more than 2,000 years was astonishing. A test conducted by the archaeologists showed that the sword’s blade could easily cut a stack of twenty pieces of paper.

Construction of the Sword of Goujian

The Sword of Goujian is among the earliest known Jian swords. A Jian sword is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. Jian swords are among the earliest known sword types in China, and these bladed weapons are closely associated with Chinese mythology. In Chinese folklore, this type of sword is referred to as "The Gentleman of Weapons," and is considered to be one of the four major weapons, along with the staff, spear, and the sabre.

“The Sword of Goujian” is relatively short compared to other historical pieces of its kind. It is a bronze sword with a very high concentration of copper, which made it more malleable and less likely to break apart. The blade’s edges are made of tin, which not only made the sword harder, but also made it more capable of retaining a sharper edge. The sword also contains small amounts of iron, lead and sulfur. The sword’s high proportion of sulfur and sulfide cuprum is revealed to be what gives the weapon its rustproof quality, as sulfur decreases the chance of tarnish in the blade’s patterns.

Weighing 30.9 ounces or 875 grams, the Sword of Goujian measures 21.9 inches or 55.7 centimeters long, including its 3.3.-inch or 8.4-centimeter handle hilt. The blade, on the other hand, is 1.8 inches or 4.6 centimeters wide at its base.

Repeating black rhombic etchings cover both sides of the blade, while blue crystals and turquoise are imbedded on the sword handle.  The grip of the sword is bound by silk while its pommel is composed of 11 concentric circles. 

Inscription on the Sword of Goujian And Subsequent Identification

The owner of this ancient sword was determined through the inscription etched on the its blade. On one side of the blade, eight characters arranged in two columns of text are visible. These characters found near the sword’s hilt are written in an ancient Chinese script known as Bird-worm seal script or “Niǎo Chóng Zhuà”, which literally means “birds and worms characters” because of the writing system’s intricate decoration to the defining strokes. It is a variant of “Zhuan” or seal script, which is very difficult to read. 

Initial analyses deciphered six of the eight characters.  The characters translate to: “King of Yue” ("越王") "made this sword for (his) personal use" ("自作用剑"). According to experts, the remaining two characters are likely to be the name of the king. 

From the sword’s origin in 510 BC to the Yue State’s demise at the hands of Chu in 334 BC, nine kings ruled Yue, including Goujian, Lu Cheng, Bu Shou, and Zhu Gou, among several others. Identifying the correct king that owned the sword sparked debate among archaeologists as well as Chinese language scholars.  Eventually, the experts reached a consensus and decided that the original owner of the sword was Goujian, who reigned between 496 and 465 BC, making the sword around 2,500 years old. 

Goujian was a well-known emperor in Chinese history who reigned over the Yue State during the Spring and Autumn Period. King Goujian’s reign coincided with what is arguably the last major conflict of this period, which is the struggle between the Wu State and the Yue.

The story of King Goujian and Fuchai, King of the Wu state, contending for hegemony is famous throughout China. At some point, Yue was defeated by Wu and Goujian had to serve as Fuchai’s servant for three years before he was allowed to return to his native state. However, after ten years of economic and political reforms, Goujian eventually led his army to victory in the last phase of the war, annexing the rival state.

As a ruler, Goujian never relished in kingly riches, and instead, he ate food suited for peasants and even forced himself to taste bile as a reminder of his humiliations serving under the Wu State. Hence, as a monarch, he was made famous by his perseverance in times of hardship and his ruthlessness during battle.

Unique Properties of the Sword of Goujian

Apart from its historic value, many scholars have wondered how the Sword of Goujian managed to remain rust-free in a humid environment for more than 2,000 years, and how it became possible for it to be as sharp today as when it was originally forged. They were also impressed with the delicate decorations carved into the sword, and by the fact that not a single spot of rust can be found on its body today.

In the hopes of replicating the technology used to create the sword, researchers analyzed ancient bronze shards, and they found that the sword is resistant to oxidation due to sulphation on the sword’s surface. Combined with an air-tight scabbard, this allowed the legendary sword to remain in such pristine condition even after more than two millennia.

The swordsmiths of the Wu and Yue regions in Southern China during the Spring and Autumn Period was also determined to have reached a high level of metallurgy to the point that they were able to incorporate rust-proof alloys into their blades. Their skill in sword-making aided ancient weapons of the time like the Sword of Goujian to survive through the ages relatively unblemished. 

Since its discovery, the Sword of Goujian is regarded as a state treasure in China, and is deemed as a truly legendary sword that defied the rigors of time. This archeological artifact continues to be revered by the Chinese people, much like the fascination over King Arthur’s mythical Excalibur in the West.

The Sword of Goujian was lent to the National Palace Museum in Taipei where it was on display until 2011, along with various other bronze pieces from the 1965 excavation. Presently this archeological artifact is in the possession and care of the Hubei Provincial Museum.


Sources:

http://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/goujian-ancient-chinese-sword-defied-time-003279?nopaging=1
http://printarchive.epochtimes.com/a1/en/sg/nnn/2015/09%20Sep%202015/516/September_4-17_23_lowres.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Goujian_of_Yue
https://youtu.be/M6wcFzBTa7Q
http://en.hubei.gov.cn/culture/heritage/201305/t20130521_450099.shtml
http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/35History618.html
http://mymodernmet.com/sword-of-goujian/
http://en.yibada.com/articles/101006/20160123/goujian-sword-legends.htm
http://historiarex.com/e/en/89-sword-of-goujian