Dao
The dao, commonly known as the “Chinese saber”, or “Chinese broadsword” when featuring a wide blade, is a single-edged and moderately curved sword designed primarily for chopping or slashing at opponents, although the curve is sufficiently moderate to allow thrusting as well. Dao handles are traditionally wrapped in cord for a firmer grip, the hilts are sometimes slanted to improve handling for some cuts and thrusts, and the guards are often disc and cup-shaped to keep rainwater out of the sheath.
Dao swords date as far back as the Shang Dynasty (circa 1600 – 1046 BC) during the Bronze Age. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the dao, by now made of iron, were in widespread use among Chinese cavalry, preferred both for its sturdiness and utility as a hacking and slashing weapon from horseback, and its simplicity and ease of use. That simplicity was perhaps the dao’s greatest asset, and ancient Chinese texts noted that it took only a week to make a new recruit proficient with a dao, compared to a month for a spear, and a year for the straight-edged jian sword.
By the middle of the Han Dynasty, daos began replacing jians as the Chinese infantry’s standard-issue sword, and by the close of the Three Kingdom Period (220 – 280), daos had completely supplanted jians in the Chinese military, relegating the jian to the personal defense weapon of the Chinese nobility and as an accouterment for ceremonial court dress.
Dao swords saw combat use as recently as WW2, when a shortage of firearms forced some Chinese soldiers and militia to fight the Japanese with daos, giving rise to “The Sword March”, a patriotic song of the era whose first line goes ”Our daos are raised over the devils’ heads! Hack them off!” As Japanese officers were commonly armed with katana swords, daos (and katanas) hold the distinction of probably being the last swords in history that were used in combat and sword vs sword duels during a war.
