The handle is made of wood with a rattan wrap that has been gloss lacquered. worked the Kik-shinsho in 1621 into his epic 240-volume standard work Bubi-shi (, Chin. The basic dimension of the next generation miaodao should be: Total Length: 138 cm, Blade Length: 98 cm, Hilt: 31 cm, Blade Width: 3.5 cm and the weight should be around 1250 grams. Nevertheless, most commentators place the genesis of the miaodao with the Ming era martial arts pioneer, General Qi Jiguang. Feel free to post memes, comments, theories, or just discussion prompts about the new and upcoming faction! Qian Kun Miao Dao Chinese Sword Brass Fittings Rosewood Scabbard--sgl9020. This might be because the Nodachi head bends the blade more compared to the Muramasa. A wood block print of a samurai carrying a nodachi/dachi on his back. It may not be as portable as other swords, but it is great for field combat. Named after the Miao ethnic group, the Miao Dao was a popular weapon among Chinese infantrymen and martial artists for its versatility and reach. Then well talk about how it was built and its shrouded history. The Miao Dao sword, sometimes known as the long saber or the Grain Leaf saber, is a Chinese sword that is a treasured part of the Chinese cultural legacy. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Dao. [3] Around 2000, it was polished and named "Kibitsu maru" by the priest of Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama Prefecture. student, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Next on the list is the miao dao, a classic Chinese sword. [9] However, infantry units gradually came to be equipped with yari (spears) in addition to naginata, and because dachi was disadvantageous for mountain battles and surprise attacks, and only a few powerful men could use it effectively, this trend ended for a short time. [3] Norimitsu was a famous line of swordsmiths that began in the Oei Bizen school (1394) and continued until the end of Bizen. . The odachi was a brute force weapon, while the katana rewarded speed, flexibility, and timing. During the late 16th century, its average length increased once again by about 14 centimeters. I dont know of any culture that went through such lengths, so one could indeed say that these are of higher quality than most Chinese swords, but this quality was in the aesthetics of the effects produced by the smith. The Kage-ry style is also used to draw from the belt, using blades of approximately 2.8 shaku. Emperor explaining his role as the keeper of the Sphere. The Miao Dao can be used in combat in various types of scenarios. The Jichimu wood seems to have an open grain structure that lends a secure feel, but things might be different if the hilt were to actually become wet. Back then the long spear turned out to be very effective for larger armies of foot soldiers. In terms of size, it's the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese Miao Dao and the Western longsword or claymore. It is light, long, and easy to strike with. Nodachi Katana was only meant for the expert Samurai, and no other person could carry or use it because of its giant size. 3. . Colonel is the fourth bodyguard of Shogun. 1.When written Liu Yuchan I think it is Liu Yuchun b.1848 The Piandao is a slicing saber mainly because it might be shorter and the curve goes further away from the center line. Among the practitioners were the famous wrestler Chang Dongsheng known as the butterfly and martial artist Han Qingtang who specialized in northern long fist (both eventually moved to Taiwan). The same can be said of the last century of the Qing, from which most Chinese swords today survive. On the better Japanese swords, the Japanese craftsmen took great care in the aestethics of the hamon and hada, and the polisher spent a great amount of time to show these elements. However, as with most terms in Japanese sword arts, there is no exact definition of the size of an dachi. All sorts of weapon skills that had lost their primary function on the battlefield were reimagined as either nationalistically themed training programs or modern close quarters weapons systems by both military and civilian martial artists. There were of course several attempts to get a grip on this situation. The width of the blade is 0.11 feet / 3.5 cm. But I want to introduce these accounts on another occasion. This battle-ready Miao Dao has an overall length of 55 3/4 / 1.4 meters and weighs around 3 lb 6.2 oz / 1.5 kg. The Miao Dao sword type has changed significantly over the years. Exploring this process of social creation can be a challenge. When looking for Miao Dao swords online, pay close attention to the length of the sword. In use, the Miao Dao is safer and more lethal than the Japanese sword. It is made to be perfect for training in Chinese martial arts. Everything on the hilt is nicely fit and polished. Sun stated he informed that smith that his next generation miaodao should have the following feature: 1. I should imagine that there are quite a few Ming enthusiast who would love to get their hands on a decently priced dandao. For more information, please see our When we say "Nodachi" we actually mean the "dachi", but the former term is more widely used. This makes it a perfect length for a sword that can fight in both close quarters and on open battlefields. Alternatively, it could be used as a cavalry-on-cavalry weapon comparable to the Chinese zhanmadao, with the long reach, increased weight and slashing area of the blade offering some advantages over spears, lances and smaller swords. Articles on. With the emergence of the miaodao we see both the effort to appropriate the mythic reputation of Japanese swordsmanship, but also an impulse to claim that this excellence was never truly external to China in the first place. Miaodao is the republican era term for changdao and dandao which both are adopted japanese nodachi which are curved, so miaodao is also curved. Of course, assumptions can be tricky things in the field of martial arts studies. - Colonel's . Down on Earth, these weapons were commonly used by cavalry because their greater length allowed for effective attacks by samurai on horseback. It is a weapon that can be used both as a spear and a sword and is often compared to the Japanese Katana. Jian Swords 101: Unveiling Types, History, and Use, 32 Chinese Sword Types Unveiled: History, Form, and Function, Katana Sheath: The Scabbard of the Samurai aka Saya, Chinese Spear: The King of Chinese Weapons, Best Battle-Ready Katana Swords for Tameshigiri. Because of their size, dachi are usually hung from the ceiling or placed in a stationary position to be polished, unlike normal swords which are moved over polishing stones. 3 photos. Is there any difference in how these two swords are handled. To qualify as an dachi, the sword in question would have a blade length of around 3 shaku (90.9 centimetres (35.8 in)). 182 centimetres (72in)) tall equipped with an dachi guard around his horse. That is the reason why japanese quality swords took so long to be made, and constant refinement of the poor iron ore was needed to make the sword durable. Uesugi Kenshin had men more than six shaku (approx. Let me recapitulate. The blade of the Miao Dao is also slightly longer. It often consists of many brass fittings at the beginning and end, making it look appealing, but it can also be a nuisance. Hold a Dao. The blade tends to be relatively broad and thin, but it emerges from a heavy T-shaped spine that is unlike anything seen on the vast majority of older blades (to say nothing of the Japanese nodachi). sharepoint list filter not working; who played aunt ruby in madea's family reunion; gw2 end of dragons elite specs ranked; coco bandicoot age now; victorian state budget 21 22 The nodachi was the long sword that was used by the samurais before the discovery of the smaller swords. Crafting a modern Miao Dao sword takes a lot of time and effort. General Qi didnt want to try and beat the Japanese warriors in a fair fight. You could probably get away with a nodachi as a substitute in most cases, and I have seen steel sparring versions of those more readily available. (On-yomi in caps) "Tachi" is made up from the characters TAI/TA/futo (i) = thick, fat & T/katana = sword, knife; the reading CHI is an exception and usually not found in dictionaries. Still, my initial feeling is that this blade that should be capable of delivering devastating cuts and thrusts against a wide variety of targets. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. His encounters with combined forces of Japanese and local Chinese coastal raiders led to a healthy appreciation of thenodachi(field sword) which was often employed against Chinese spearmen to great effect. 2. The miaodao that emerged from his 90 day stay in Longquan was a carefully conceived attempt to make a new type of a weapon that would excel in certain types of practice, but not necessarily on the battlefield of the ancient past. In spite of what most people think, his Miao Dao or Chang Dao seems to have had much less to do with defeating the Japanese pirates than his other ideas, like the Mandarin Duck formation. The miaodao () is a Chinese two-handed dao or saber of the Republican era, with a narrow blade of up to 1.2 metres (47 in) or more and a long hilt. A historian inside and out, David is a 26 year old graduate in the field with many certificates. A subreddit for discussing historical fencing and martial arts, specifically European (HEMA/WMA), Or: don't bring a sidearm to a polearm fight :D. Friendly sparring between me and a friend who does Chinese Historical Combat. In an effort to reimagine earlier Ming and Ching tradition, a martial artist and military trainer named Liu Yuchan introduced miaodao troops into the armies of the warlord (and future president of the Republic) Cao Kun. This is where things get interesting. This long blade is double-edged and able to go through almost any type of armor and steel material. Visually the handles are different, Masamune is shorter of the two (93.7mm end to end) and dimpled the full length, Nodachi is longer of the two (108mm end to end) and half-dimpled half-smooth. Still, the urge to dissociate the dandao/changdao/zhanmadao from its obvious Japanese roots seems to have been a driving force in the modern creation of the miaodao as both an artifact and a social system. The blade on the Nodache (especially the open comb plate) is feel much more secure, providing a different experience (not better). The presence of the Japanese on Chinese territory after WWI was an extraordinarily politically volatile question and the adoption of the term miaodao rhetorically distanced the weapon from its foreign roots. Well, not very long :P But it was certainly a lot of fun! The second character in tachi, , is the Chinese character for "blade" (see also do), and is also the same character used to spell katana () and the t in nihont ( "Japanese sword"). Apart from that we know several accounts of famous bushi using the dachi as main weapon and their heroic deeds with them. For exemple, it seems the 7 stars sword offered to the Yamato Monarch was a feat of swordsmithing way superior to what Japanese blacksmiths of that time were able to produce. In Thompson Submachine Gun, Mg 34, Mauser C96, M1917 Browning Machine Gun, Mg 08, Mp 18, Regan, L., Byrne, K., & He, J. With the use of kikuchi-yari and the changes in warfare during the Nanbokuch period, the dachi entered the stage of the Japanese battlefield whereas fighting with this kind of sword should become soon the strong point of the Kage-ry. Privacy Policy. The long and narrow Jian, which looks a lot like the Miao Dao, first appeared in China during the Western Han dynasty. The character for () means "big" or "great"; no () means "field." The spine should be a spherical pipe shape, thinner toward the tip and gradually thicker toward the handguard. For more information, please see our Anyone who would like to test this theory for themselves can pick up one of LK Chens recreations of a long Han dao which, aside from having only a single cutting edge, has no other similarities to any Chinese sword of the Ming, Qing or more modern periods. Afterall, hilts were wrapped in the Ming and the Qing for a reason. The technique is to pull out the sheath rather than drawing the blade. By way of comparison, Sinoswords Affordable Miaodao (a representative example of what else is typically encountered) measures 140 cm overall with a blade that is 98 cm long. A sword that can be a spherical pipe shape, thinner toward the handguard a nodachi/dachi his... Following feature: 1 open battlefields are quite a few Ming enthusiast who would to! 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First appeared in China during the Western Han dynasty were wrapped in the Ming and the Qing a!, via Wikimedia Commons Next on the list is the Miao Dao swords online, pay close attention the...