Hyaku ren "Hundred Times Forged"

[Bruce Pennington]

I've seen this hotstamp a "hundred times" yet it just struck me as intentionally exaggerated.  Am I right?  A blade couldn't have been in the fire 100 times in the making, right?  Or am I understanding the phrase incorrectly?

           

[mecox]

The term "tanren"  is used for the forge and for the forging process, but its also used for "hard training"   e.g. in all the martial arts such as kendo or judo.  Sword martial arts also use a heavy wood sword called tanrenbo for building stamina.

Tanren now gets used for disciplining, and also for many exercise regimes.....there is also a tanren bra for womens training.

Following that "hyakuren" gets used for something that is well done, well tempered, also well made, and not the literal meaning of "100".

So its possible this is a motto for a particular  sword workshop, or tanren, meaning "well made product".   Maybe....

Mal

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

8 hours ago, mecox said:

ell done, well tempered, also well made,

Thanks Mal!  I figured it would come out to something like that, a figure of speech.  We do that in English, too.

 

I sure wish we had a couple of the smiths from back then to talk these things over with.  I, too, suspect some of these hotstamps are tied to forges and steel companies (like the Yakugi Steel Co.).  But most smiths ran their own forges, didn't they?  Were there large "company forges" where several smiths did their work, and the company forge had a hotstamp they put on everyone's blades? Why would a smith allow a steel company to put their stamp on his blade, unless he worked for or at the steel company's forge.  Or possibly, he got the steel from the company at a reduced rate and in return they got to "advertise" on his blades?