Gan Jiang (干将) and Mo Ye (莫邪) were a legendary swordsmith couple in Chinese tradition, said to have lived during the Spring and Autumn period. They are credited with forging a pair of famous swords that took their names: the male sword Gan Jiang (干将) and the female sword Mo Ye (莫邪). The legend is often linked to the State of Wu and sometimes to Ou Yezi (欧冶子) and the lore of legendary blades.
Legend
In the most famous version of the story, a king ordered Gan Jiang to forge a pair of swords. The forging required great sacrifice; Mo Ye helped complete the work, and the couple produced two swords. Gan Jiang gave the male sword to the king and hid the female sword; the king had him killed. Their son later used the female sword to take revenge. The story appears in Records of the Grand Historian and later texts and has been retold in literature and drama.
In Sword of the Yue Maiden
In Jin Yong’s Sword of the Yue Maiden, the novel’s focus on famous swords, Ou Yezi, and the Wu–Yue period places Gan Jiang and Mo Ye within the same legendary and cultural framework of sword-making and famous blades.
Behind the scenes
The name follows the project’s SYM taxonomy (干将莫邪 — The Sword of the Yue Maiden terms).
See also
- Ou Yezi — Another legendary swordsmith of the period
- Zhanlu, Yuchang — Other legendary swords
- Sword of the Yue Maiden characters
External links
- Gan Jiang and Mo Ye on Wikipedia
- 干将莫邪 (Chinese) on Chinese Wikipedia