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Post by Lone Crane on Jul 25, 2014 11:02:38 GMT
I've seen this weapon mentioned in wuxia novels, specifically 《天香飆》(Beautiful Whirlwind). 梭 (suo) are one of the "hidden weapons" (暗器). The character itself means "shuttle", something used in fabric weaving. Something like this:  But what does the weapon look like? Just a flying dagger or dart in the shape of one of those shuttles? Or is it something else? Does anyone know? Here is an excerpt from the novel describing one of the character's "shuttles": In action, they are described as any other flying needle or dart, which makes me think that's what they are, just in the shape of one of those weaving shuttles. Obviously the one described in that quote is unique because of the swallowtail design, but I'm just asking in general. |
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Post by chefying on Jul 25, 2014 16:09:35 GMT
You are indeed correct, the suo 梭 is actually the shuttle of a loom. The shuttle is exactly as per your picture, it "releases" the horizontal thread between the vertical threads, weaving the threads together to form a piece of cloth.
I envisage more women than men doing the weaving, so I would assume the use of the shuttle as an "an qi," a hidden weapon, would be more common in the womenfolk than menfolk.
I would presume the shuttle can be modified to form needle point or a sharp point at one or both ends to be more effective. The shuttle would be heavy enough so that it can travel a longer distance.
I just read your excerpt. In this case, the shuttle was deemed too big and heavy for use by females, so it was modified. Since it is now smaller (but still made of silver), fins* in the shape of swallow's tails were added to the shuttle (imagine feathers on an arrow - improves accuracy), and because of this change, the new shuttle's name was Swallow Tailed Silver Shuttle.
*I used the word "fin" because this is the name of the stabilising plates on the sides of bombs, rockets and missiles.
Hope this helps.
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Post by Lone Crane on Jul 25, 2014 16:24:03 GMT
Thanks! The swallotail version is used by a teenage girl, 萬映霞 (Wan Yingxia). She is the daughter of Wan Xiaoguang (萬曉光) who also uses a 梭, though not with the swallowtail design. So I wonder would her father's original design have fins? The novel never describes what his look like.
Are 梭 used in other wuxia novels or TV shows, or is it something Wolong Sheng made up for this novel?
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Post by chefying on Jul 26, 2014 9:19:58 GMT
Thanks! The swallotail version is used by a teenage girl, 萬映霞 (Wan Yingxia). She is the daughter of Wan Xiaoguang (萬曉光) who also uses a 梭, though not with the swallowtail design. So I wonder would her father's original design have fins? The novel never describes what his look like. I would surmise her father's version would be a plain old silver "dart" in the shape of a shuttle. The normal shuttle is a comfortable hand size (if you get what I mean), not too large but just large enough to get the job without too much trouble. If it were small, it would be fiddly to work with. I would say her father's never had fins because if the original design had fins, the passage would say that she modified the fins, not add pieces of metal on it (ultimately shaping like swallow's tail) to act as fins. This part I cannot help you with - but I must have read/watched some TV series or movie with a shuttle being used as a clandestine weapon, otherwise I would never have been able to come up with an answer at such an hour in the night. |
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Post by siuyiu on Jul 26, 2014 17:00:06 GMT
i was just idly looking up the meaning of the term, and among the definitions here is "anything in the shape of a shuttle" and "bullet-shaped object", so maybe it's not a literal shuttle, just something similar in shape that can be used as a covert weapon. |
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