Korean (?) dadao

[Ian]

I got an excited message from a young collector friend last night that he had won a dadao on an online Belgian auction. It was a bringback by a Belgian military officer from the time of the Korean War when the UN sent forces to S. Korea to repel the invasion from N. Korea and then a subsequent wave of Chinese military action. He thought this dadao was more likely Korean than Chinese. I was inclined to agree with him, but am no expert on Korean edged weapons, and direct Chinese involvement in the second half of the conflict is well known. All we have at this time are the auction pictures which are reasonable quality.

The blade is 58 cm in length and has numerous markings--none of which look especially Chinese to me. The hilt is rectangular in cross section and wrapped with leather strips, plus an "Elastoplast" repair adjacent to a small rectangular brass guard. The pommel is a flattened ovoid ring, also wrapped with leather strips.

Overall length 84.5 cm.

Thoughts and opinions welcome. My friend is very pleased with himself because he paid less than 100 Euros for the sword!

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Ian,
I can't remember coming across this form whilst researching my own Korean sword. I have had occasion to contact Mr Lee at info@swordsofkorea.com who was extremely patient, helpful and of course very knowledgeable when it comes to Korean swords. Detailed photographs are a must of course. Hoping this is of some assistance.
Regards,
Norman.

[ausjulius]

From northern Vietnam... Somebody has crushed the ring pommel

[werecow]

Yes, I would also say Trường đao from Vietnam. My own example below (awkward angle because these were the seller's pics but it's currently too dark here to take better pictures).

Absolute monster of a sword.

[kronckew]

Vietnamese truong Dao:

[Ian]

ausjulius, werecow, krockew,

Thanks for your suggestions. Yes, the truong dao from Vietnam is another version of the dadao, hence its similarity to the original post (OP). However, the firm provenance for the one I show -- a Belgian officer's bring back after serving in the Korean War (1950-1953) -- makes a Vietnamese sword very unlikely. The sword was collected in Korea more than a decade before the Vietnam War. The OP is either Chinese or Korean IMHO.

After looking more into the history of the Chinese dadao, I'm inclined to think that the OP was introduced into Korea via the Chinese PLA. There is some evidence to indicate that the dadao remained (unofficially) in some units of the PLA up to about 1950 as a cherished weapon celebrating the resistance to the invading Japanese. The dadao was a close-quarter's weapon in the fighting against Japanese forces in the 1930s and 1940s.

So far I have not found any evidence of the Koreans (either North or South) using the dadao in their military ranks.

[Jim McDougall]

This is outstanding recognition and input on this sword! you guys are great!
For me this is educational as I am not well versed in swords of these regions, so it is great to have these details.

What is most interesting is the scenario proposed by Ian, which perfectly illustrates how the indigenous location of a weapon form need not confine it to those specific regions. By definition it remains in form of course, that of its origin, but it can be qualified further, as in this case, by the regions in which it found further use.

When we are lucky enough to have a sound provenance such as this, with its being collected in Korea during that war (1950-53), it becomes historically far more dynamic.

I recall many years ago wanting to find examples of Korean swords. I did not realize what a perplexing task this would be. For one thing, there was virtually zero literature on the topic, and what information I acquired, mostly anecdotal, there did not seem to be any specific indigenous forms. Most examples seemed like this, rather forms from other origins.

Finally I discovered that Korean weapons were rare as the Japanese confiscated most and destroyed them wantonly.
Eventually I did find a KOREAN sword!! years ago.

It resembled a Japanese katana, but with subtle nuances different.
In years after that, there was a Japanese gentleman (one of a number) who traveled through the US at advertised meeting locations to have locals bring in Japanese swords for examination and appraisal. They were buying back the souvenir swords of WWII.

I took my photos of the Korean sword hoping for info. The man (I spoke through an interpreter) looked at the photos, and with disdain handed them back with an almost disgusted look. He uttered something which sounded unpleasant to the interpreter (the man looked away from me)...who in carefully guaged politeness said, 'he has no idea what this is'.

From that moment I could see the rancor that remained from those earlier years, and underlined what I was told about the destruction of Korean arms.