However, it should be pointed out here that embroidered spring knife is not a patent of Royal Guards. In the Ming Dynasty, there were also senior military commanders who were eligible for embroidered spring knives. In the late Ming dynasty, all people who traveled by car as ministers and followers had the opportunity to get embroidered spring knives. Moreover, only officials above a certain level are eligible to get embroidered spring knives, which can be given to ministers as royal gifts, just like pythons eat flying fish. Embroidered Spring Knife is just a status symbol, belonging to the royal items, not actual combat equipment.
In addition to the above-mentioned nobles and senior officials, there are also those who were given embroidered spring knives as officials of Yitai Square Hospital, such as Wu Jie, MD, who was given embroidered spring knives because he cured Wu Zong's stomachache. Except for Mao Zhong, the valiant soldier guarding the border, the other nobles and Royal Guards who are in charge of the emperor's security work won't have many chances to fight with their swords by their personal martial arts, and they are more trusted by the emperor by their personal political reliability. This shows that although the embroidered spring knife has the shape of a knife, as a symbol, it mainly represents the favor of the emperor rather than the name of personal bravery.
Due to the small quantity of ancient embroidered spring knives, and the poor quality of weapons in the late Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to preserve them for a long time, and embroidered spring knives were no longer used in the Qing Dynasty, so we rarely have the opportunity to see the real embroidered spring knife relics now.