Dadao

Description of the Product

Due to its sturdiness and ease of use the dao, a single edged sword or knife, became a popular weapon during the Han Dynasty (c. 200 BCE-200 CE). It was said that it takes a week to learn dao, a month to learn qiang (spear) and a year to learn jian (a straight double edged sword). During the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE) nomadic warrior tribes from Central Asia conquered parts of China with their horses and sabers, and already by the 11th Century their influence can be seen as the blades of the dao began to curve.

There are four major types of dao, the dadao being the most recent development. It was the traditional weapon of China’s peasant armies. The dadao has an almost axe-like heft, making it a weapon designed mainly for hacking through flesh and bone.

After the fall of the Empire at the beginning of 20th Century, a time of warlords and civil war meant that paramilitary organizations and guerrilla forces were everywhere. The “Dadao Teams” were using this visually impressive blade from the romantic past. As the officers were poorly equipped, they realized the Dadao could be an effective and cheap means of producing terror and compliance in villages. The dadao was used by the Chinese against the Japanese in the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, which sparked the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, eventually a part of the Pacific front of WWII. A famous Chinese march, "The Sword March" commemorates the incident and the dadao.

The dadao can be used single- or two-handedly. The versatility combined with the wide and tip heavy blade made it an ideal sword for highly effective close-quarters slashing and hacking. Although the original sword had no scabbard, we provide a simple carrying case for protection and ease of transportation.
Specs will vary slightly from piece to piece.

• Overall length: 95 cm
• Blade length: 56,5 cm
• Handle length: 36,2 cm
• Weight: 1,05 kg
• Point of Balance: 11,4 cm
• Width at Guard: 4,4 cm
• Width at Tip: 9,7 cm
• Thickness at Guard: 5 mm
• Thickness at Tip: 2,5 mm
• Blade material: 1566 High Carbon Steel
• Sharpness: Very sharp
• Made by Hanwei.