A Chinese dau

Shakethetrees · 14th August 2015, 05:31 AM

As I understand, dao translates to blade or edged weapon as a concept or idea. Daosi is a diminutive that translates to knife. Dadao, on the other hand, means large blade. All Dadao I have seen, both here and in China, were flat or had one or two shallow and narrow fillers running maybe 2/3 of the blade length. The point was of a "clipped" configuration with an expansion where the back meets the clip. Some, but not all, had a hole at this place for a streamer ring.

Guards were, as stated before, either disc/cupped, "S" or "C" shaped with a small scroll or rat tail at each end. During the 1920's to WWII era (loosely interpreted here) there were some with flat "C" shaped guards of cast brass and two narrow shallow fullers as I described. This brass guard terminated in a closed ring cast integrally with the guard. The example I have now (I need to find it!) has a macrame like woven string grip and ring cover that was lacquered. I've seen others with cloth and one with spiral leather wrapping.

There are two similar sized swords, but the names are euphemistic, one being ox tongue sword and I forget the other right now. The blades could be thick or thin, but did not follow the same lines as the Dadao.

I will go on a hunt to flesh out what I have written here, maybe get some pictures and more specific names. I need to find my notes!

M ELEY · 15th August 2015, 01:50 AM

Sorry, I was at work and sleeping!

Timo, I am a horrible judge of weights. My daughter used to have a mini-scale for measuring portions, but it's long gone. Perhaps a more accurate weight would be 3 lbs? Yes, the blade is wedge shaped and tapers from thick to thin at the tip (no gross fluctuations of thickness along its length).

Shakethetrees, please do attach whatever you have! I know there have been other threads on the subject, but there's always room for more! They are an interesting sword type.

14th August 2015, 05:31 AM	#1
Shakethetrees Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Louisiana Posts: 363	As I understand, dao translates to blade or edged weapon as a concept or idea. Daosi is a diminutive that translates to knife. Dadao, on the other hand, means large blade. All Dadao I have seen, both here and in China, were flat or had one or two shallow and narrow fillers running maybe 2/3 of the blade length. The point was of a "clipped" configuration with an expansion where the back meets the clip. Some, but not all, had a hole at this place for a streamer ring. Guards were, as stated before, either disc/cupped, "S" or "C" shaped with a small scroll or rat tail at each end. During the 1920's to WWII era (loosely interpreted here) there were some with flat "C" shaped guards of cast brass and two narrow shallow fullers as I described. This brass guard terminated in a closed ring cast integrally with the guard. The example I have now (I need to find it!) has a macrame like woven string grip and ring cover that was lacquered. I've seen others with cloth and one with spiral leather wrapping. There are two similar sized swords, but the names are euphemistic, one being ox tongue sword and I forget the other right now. The blades could be thick or thin, but did not follow the same lines as the Dadao. I will go on a hunt to flesh out what I have written here, maybe get some pictures and more specific names. I need to find my notes!

15th August 2015, 01:50 AM	#2
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,206	Sorry, I was at work and sleeping! Timo, I am a horrible judge of weights. My daughter used to have a mini-scale for measuring portions, but it's long gone. Perhaps a more accurate weight would be 3 lbs? Yes, the blade is wedge shaped and tapers from thick to thin at the tip (no gross fluctuations of thickness along its length). Shakethetrees, please do attach whatever you have! I know there have been other threads on the subject, but there's always room for more! They are an interesting sword type.