Zhanlu Sword

Blade of Still Water

One of Ouyezi’s five great swords, black and mirror-bright, famed throughout the Spring and Autumn period.

Zhanlu, the “Dark Lake” sword, is Ouyezi’s masterpiece among the five blades of Yue, its metal so pure that it seems to gather night-water in its sheen. Carried by the kings of Yue and Wu, it was said to abandon any ruler who lost the way of heaven. The sword becomes a moral agent: it leaves evil masters and seeks out virtue.