The ''liuyedao'' or ''willow-leaf saber'' is a type of

dao Dao, Dão or DAO may refer to: * Tao (Chinese: "The Way" 道), a philosophical concept * Dao (Chinese sword) (刀), a type of Chinese sword * Dao (Naga sword), a weapon and a tool of Naga people People and language * Yao people, a minority ethni ...

that was commonly used as a military sidearm for both

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

and

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

during the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

dynasties. A descendant of the earlier Mongol saber the liuyedao remained the most popular type of single handed sabre during the Ming dynasty, replacing the role of the

Jian The ''jian'' (pronunciation （劍）, English approximation: ) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the ''jian'' date to the 7th century BCE, during the Spring and ...

in the military. Many schools of

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. Th ...

originally trained with this weapon.Tom 2005, pp. 77-78 This weapon features a moderate curve along the length of the blade. This reduces thrusting ability (though it is still fairly effective at same) while increasing the power of cuts and slashes. The hilts are typically straight, but can be re-curved downward starting in the 18th century. It weighs from two to three pounds, and is 36 to 39 inches long. Many examples will often have a decorated collar at the throat of the blade called a tunkou, which are stylistic holdovers from the preceding designs.

References

Notes

Sources

* * Tom, Philip with Scott M. Rodell (February 2005). "An Introduction to Chinese Single-Edged Hilt Weapons (Dao) and Their Use in the Ming and Qing Dynasties". Kung Fu Tai Chi, pp. 76–85 Chinese swords Blade weapons {{China-hist-stub