Ancient China · Legendary Swordsmith

Gan Jiang 干將

Legendary antiquity

Passages: 2
Chapters: 2
Histories: 2

Overview

Gan Jiang was a Legendary Swordsmith.

Life and dates

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Dated from the passage context · Book of Northern Qi 49, passage 153
legendary antiquity
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 75, passage 153

Key source chapters

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 49 Volume 49 Biographies 41: Arts 1 passage
Book of Han, Chapter 75 Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 1 passage

Career and standing

swordsmith 冶
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 75, passage 153

Events and relationships

Named in Wang Bao rhapsody
Allusion · Exemplar smith · Mode quotation Speaker Wang Bao (王褒)
Directly stated · Book of Han 75, passage 153

Source notes

Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Book of Han 75, passage 153

References in the histories

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 49Volume 49 Biographies 41: Arts · 1 passage

懷文云：「廣平郡南斡子城是干將鑄劍處，其土可以瑩刀。」 Huaiwen said, "The soil at Ganzi Castle south of Guangping, where Gan Jiang forged swords, can polish blades."

Book of Han, Chapter 75Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 1 passage

及至巧冶鑄干將之樸，清水焠其鋒，越砥斂其咢，水斷蛟龍，陸剸犀革，忽若彗氾畫塗。 Have a skilled smith cast the rough blank of a Gan Jiang blade, quench its edge in pure water and true its guard on a Yue whetstone, and the finished sword will slice dragons in the river and rhinoceros hide on land as easily as a comet streaks or a brush draws a line in wet plaster.