Big boxer swords

[Marcus]

I purchased this large Chinese sword from Oriental Arms. The blade is 30 inches long. I wonder if it might be from the era of the Taiping Rebellion or possibly the later Boxer rebellion. One secret society that was part of the Boxer movements was the “Big Swords”. Does anyone know just what sort of swords gave them that name?
For scale, one picture compares it to my Visayan Tenegre.
Marcus

[ariel]

Since they were not military units, they might have been armed with "civilian" swords. Niuweidao comes to mind. I have one more than 3.5 feet long. Big enough for you? :-)))

[Gavin Nugent]

Hi Marcus,

The item you ask about, in my opinion, most certainly started its life as a pole arm.

Regards

Gavin