Chinese Sword

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by josh stout

What makes this a "Manchurian dao"? I can see the resemblance between the examples, but I had not seen that designation before. They are interesting in their similarities, given that most oxtails do not have scabbards and tend to be somewhat varied in appearance given their use outside the regular military. Was there a particular Manchu militia group that used them, or is this more of a collectors designation regarding a recognizable type?

They all look like somewhat late examples. The scabbards made from leather wrapped with wire all look post 1900 to me, and the technique certainly continues into the Republican period. I find such nice examples difficult to date sometimes because i am used to very obvious signs of age, but my guess for a date would be 1900 through the mid thirties.
Josh

G'day Josh and well noted.

These examples as I understand it were found up to a couple of decades prior to 1900 and certainly were found up to 1930 too. I tend to think the dao found with the brass cup guards were more towards the 1930's.
If you can refer to an old Scott Rodell catalogue, inventory number 717, you will see these referred to as Manchu Dao's. As for particular units, I cannot comment.
As a note, the single one I presented seems to be covered in a very fine fish skin.

Gav

[Gonzalo G]

Hi Iliad, thank you for sharing! Do you have measures and weight of this piece? Without photos from the back of the blade looks like a machete-style blade. I mean, a plain laminated blade of the same thickness along the whole blade. Doest it has a distal taper? How thick is at the base on the back side? I hope not being troublesome.
Regards

Gonzalo

[Iliad]

Hi Gonzalo, thanks so much for your comments. Overall length 36 and half inches (93 cm); width of back edge at the handguard is 4 mm, tapers to 1 mm at the tip.I have no way of weighing the sword and don't know what a distal is!!
You guys are so knowledgeable it astounds me!
Brian

[Emanuel]

Hello Brian, nice sword. I've been looking for some decent examples of Chinese swords, but it seems quite hard to tell the copies from the older ones.

You gave the distal taper (4mm to 1mm). This indicates that the blade thickness tapers towards the tip. Generally a good sign...copies and fakes don't bother with the distal taper as it's much easier to cut out or stamp out a sword shape out of a sheet of metal of uniform thickness.

Cheers!
Emanuel

[Gonzalo G]

Originally Posted by Iliad

Hi Gonzalo, thanks so much for your comments. Overall length 36 and half inches (93 cm); width of back edge at the handguard is 4 mm, tapers to 1 mm at the tip.I have no way of weighing the sword and don't know what a distal is!!
You guys are so knowledgeable it astounds me!
Brian

Brian, thank you very much for your information! As Manolo said, you already gave me the distal taper. Technical terms are not really a big deal, and they are very easily learnt if you are interested in the geometry of the blade.
My regards

Gonzalo