The ''wodao'' () is a Chinese sword from the

Ming dynasty 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 dynasty 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-speak ...

. It is typically long and slender, but heavy, with a curved back and sharp blade. It bears a strong resemblance to the Tang sword,

zhanmadao The ''zhanmadao'' () was a single-bladed anti-cavalry Chinese sword. It originated during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and was especially common in Song China (960–1279). General characteristics The zhanmadao is a single-edged sabre ...

Tachi A is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (''nihonto'') worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. ''Tachi'' and '' katana'' generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending o ...

or Odachi in form. Extant examples show a handle approximately 25.5 cm long, with a gently curved blade 80 cm long. The Chinese word "wo" literally means "Japanese", so "wodao" literally means "

Japanese sword A is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794 – 1185) to th ...

". The term "wodao" sometimes refers to Japanese swords, but it mainly refers to similar swords developed in China with Japanese swords used as reference. Chinese wodao was developed based on the Japanese sword used by the

wokou ''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.Qi Jiguang Qi Jiguang (, November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588), courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the ...

(1528-1588 AD), a general of the Ming Dynasty, studied wokou's tactics and Japanese swords to repel wokou pirates. General Qi also wrote a military book named ''

Jixiao Xinshu The ''Jixiao Xinshu'' () or ''New Treatise on Military Efficiency'' is a military manual written during the 1560s and 1580s by the Ming dynasty general Qi Jiguang. Its primary significance is in advocating for a combined arms approach to ...

'' which depicted, among other things, the detailed usage of the wodao. He also included a wodao branch in his army alongside branches of other weapons. Another Ming general Li Chengxun (李承勋), in his own revised edition of ''Jixiao Xinshu'' of 1588, quoted General Qi as saying that the long sword (believed to be referring to the ōdachi and

tachi A is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (''nihonto'') worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. ''Tachi'' and '' katana'' generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending o ...

) was introduced into China during the wokou invasion of the Ming dynasty. The Chinese martial art of wielding the wodao is believed to be a combination of medieval Japanese sword fighting styles and traditional Chinese techniques regarding the use of two-handed weapons. The term wodao was still in usage in China until the Qing dynasty as evidenced in various Chinese novels at the time. In 1921, the Chinese warlord Cao Kun created a branch in his army that specialized in wielding two-handed single edged blades and called it the Miaodao branch. Since then Miaodao became the name for this form of Chinese two-handed single edged blade and the term wodao is now rarely used. The art of wielding the Miaodao can be traced back to the lineage of ''Jixiao Xinshu''.

References

Chinese martial arts terminology Chinese swords Blade weapons {{Sword-stub

See also

References