The House of Flying Daggers

For me I raised quite a different issue coming out so close to the release of Revenge of the Sith.

Originally posted by rider Hi, I just (re)viewed the movie, entitled 'the House of Flying Daggers'. I do find that movie quite interesting although it raises soem good questions, that are normal to come with such movies... So, 1) Did such a guild exist in the Tang China of that period (847 AD, if I remember it correctly from the beginning)? 2) Is/was such fighting possible (men flying around, making swords that bend so much...  what were those swords made of... is it possible to throw a dagger like that)?? 3) Was the uniform the soldiers wore true or not? Was it different from county to county or one in all Tang China? 4) Would a soldier be so skilled with weapons? Thanks for any replies,

1) A guild of similiar nature may have existed around 847 A.D.  9th century Tang Dynasty was a period where the empire fractioned into civil unrest and warlord conflicts.  Rebellions, especially with Huang Zhuo in the 890s, were prevalent towards the end.

2) Yes and no.  If you see a wooden spear bend so much, laugh out loud, because it is a violation of physics.  Imperator can tell you more about it - unless the spear is made out of a twig, it is likely against natural laws.  Metal sheets are more bendable, so that depends.

The level of flying - not to mention the absolute disregard of g = 9.81 m/s/s - seen in the movie is the creation of 21st century cinema.

3) The uniforms you see are not uniforms of soldiers, but rather the uniforms of police constables.  I doubt if the uniforms are a true depiction of police uniforms in the Tang dynasty, but the hat is more or less correct.  To answer your second question, during the late Tang Dynasty (post Anlushan Rebellion or after the 750s), military district commanders seized military power from central authority.  Each military district commander raised his own troops and essentially functioned as the "emperor" of his district.  It was common for warlords from different districts to make wars against one another, and I believe military districts would need distinct uniforms to distinguish friend from foe.

4) Again, depends on the frequency of combat. 


Edited by poirot - 26-Oct-2006 at 04:46

I would yet say that RotS was a lot better to my eyes and ears. Nothing surpasses John Williams.

Thanks to everyone,

Originally posted by Poirot ) Yes and no.  If you see a wooden spear bend so much, laugh out loud, because it is a violation of physics.  Imperator can tell you more about it - unless the spear is made out of a twig, it is likely against natural laws.  Metal sheets are more bendable, so that depends. The level of flying - not to mention the absolute disregard of g = 9.81 m/s/s - seen in the movie is the creation of 21st century cinema.

Yes, I was alos thinking that the men must have been superb or whatever for them to bend the laws of physics like that.

Perhaps the movie credits tell us that?

Originally posted by rider Hi, I just (re)viewed the movie, entitled 'the House of Flying Daggers'. I do find that movie quite interesting although it raises soem good questions, that are normal to come with such movies... So, 1) Did such a guild exist in the Tang China of that period (847 AD, if I remember it correctly from the beginning)? 2) Is/was such fighting possible (men flying around, making swords that bend so much...  what were those swords made of... is it possible to throw a dagger like that)?? 3) Was the uniform the soldiers wore true or not? Was it different from county to county or one in all Tang China? 4) Would a soldier be so skilled with weapons? Thanks for any replies,

1) In the late Tang, there were many militia groups that were formed to overthrow the Tang regime. If you mean secret society like the triad, I don't think it was formed until the post Ming Dynasty.

2) It is part of the Chinese wuxia culture that swordmen are capable of flying around in the mid-air and perform some of the dazzling move. I believe it stemmed from the early 20th century wuxia novel. The sword that depicted look like Da Dao, which wasn't invented until the Song Dynasty.

Here is how the Tang 's era sword looks like:



3) The costume is loosely based on the historic Tang era costume, but not 100% accurate. Notably the hat, I believe it is called pu tou in Chinese, traditionally is made out of black fabric, unlike the one depicted in the movie, which look like it is made out of leather or plastic. Another thing is during the Tang Dynasty, I don't think  soldier or local authority had the huge Chinese character sported in their chest like the one you see in the movie. It is most likely developed in the Ming Dynasty era. And Yes, like what Jiangweibaoye said, the garment that Ziyi Zhang put on in the beginning of the movie has Manchus element in it, which of course didn't take place until 700 years later after the Tang .


Here are some of the paintings from Tang Dynasty that show how the real Tang Chinese men were like:












4) Yes. There were many great warriors in Tang Dynasty especially the early Tang era. Even Li shimin, the second Tang Emperor, was known for his swordmanship in the battle in his early years.

I never saw the House of Flying Daggers, but I've seen plenty of other Hong Kong flicks. Speaking of which, Battle of Red Cliffs, John Woo, featuring Chow Yun Fatt, coming in 2008, just in time for the Olympics! Woo-hoo! God that's so far away. Lol.

Edited by Preobrazhenskoe - 26-Oct-2006 at 22:53

I really liked crouching tiger hidden dragon, but I don't think attributing "serious history thinking" to it is appropriate. Defintely a nice imagination.

Many Chinese, Japanese, and Korean historical movies tend to copy Hollywood and waste money on lavish sets e.g. HOFD, Crouching Animals, and Heros of Heaven and Earth.

Two movies that I recommend are Musa the Warrior and The Emperor and the Assassin.

Although not historically accurate, Musa the Warrior has great action sequences that are at least somewhat realistic. 

I personally thought the Emperor and the Assassin was much much much better than Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.  It features even more celebrities (more than Flying Daggers, Hero, and Crouching Tiger combined.  Every minor character in the film is a celebrity making a cameo appearance), and actually does not have a martial arts focus - something I respect given the redundant number of martial arts love fests in the market.  The actual sequences are mostly realistic and do not feature flying people and bendable swords.  Soldiers' uniforms are quite accurate, for once.  P.S. scores on the previous total quiz would have been improved if anyone had seen this film.


Edited by poirot - 30-Oct-2006 at 05:51

I loved the movie, but I require nothing else but mindless aesthetics to do so. Historical accuracy I get enough of in my studies.

Originally posted by Paul I don't think Crouching Tiger is anymore realistic than House of Flying Daggers. Both are fantasy movies, next you'll be criticising Lord of the Rings and Troy of being historically inacurate in some places.

 <crouching tiger hidden dragon>'s history thinking is more about chinese life style and philosophy,and the photography shows the director's loyalty to old hongkong movies,and the music is based on traditional chinese opera.yes,Li An wants to show the beauty of  old China about one hundred years ago and which based on realistical stuff mostly.

the purpose of Li An is to show his respect to traditional Chinese value and beauty in <crouching tiger,hidden dragon>.(maybe partly for realizing a boy's movie dream)

on the contrary,the director of <house of thousand daggers>,Zhang Yimou is lack of ability to find beauty (of history,of past,of others') and respect it.what he wants to show is only himself.and I don't like his countryfied taste and his pale story.


Edited by skylance - 30-Oct-2006 at 21:05