Thanks for the encouragements!
I had wondered the same about the beidao. It could well refer to the way it was carried because names like yaodao, peidao "waist sabers" and daidao "belt sabers" all refer to the way they are carried.
I've checked more in-depth regulations for these arms and it seems the beidao's blade is fairly substantial for it's size: 10mm thick at the base.
Both the standard yaodao the wodao (better known as "miaodao") and the changren dadao are only 7mm thick. All the other weapons in the diagram are also 10mm thick at the base of their blades.
Interestingly, the yanyuedao is not covered in these minutely detailed regulations but they are on lists of equipment ordered and maintained periodically. This means units had considerable freedom in the execution of this weapon, which may help explain why they tend to vary so much in size and shape.
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