Talk:Dao (sword)

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Contents 1 Added a pic of a Chinese saber 2 Excessive size/weight? 3 Incorrect sword grip 4 Niu wei dao 5 Major restructuring and cleanup 6 Not all curved swords are "Dao" 7 Change Article Title to Dao (broadsword) or Dao (saber)

[edit] Added a pic of a Chinese saber

This is NOT a katana. It is a Chinese saber

Courtesy of Alex Huangfu of www.hfsword.com

intranetusa 20:21, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Excessive size/weight?

When the Bagua zhang article references this weapon, it is as an excessively large weapon at least during practise so when the real weapons are used they are lighter and held with more strength. Any truth to this? Can you mention it? Tyciol 05:49, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes, there is some truth to this. minghan 13:18, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Incorrect sword grip

It should be noted that pictured is the incorrect way of holding the Chinese broadsword or dao/dou. The sword should be placed in the left hand with the unsharpened side, i.e., the back of the blade being cradled in the arm, not the sharp part which could of course cause serious injury.

For some reason the picture isn't appearing when I open the article. I can get to the photo's page, though, and you are correct, the person is holding the dao backwards. Unfortunately nowadays that is a lot more common than you would imagine, but traditionally it wouldn't have been tolerated. I removed the photo caption from the dao article. Fire Star 22:28, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The new photo works much better, thanks! Fire Star 16:08, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Niu wei dao

"The last and still surviving blade of the Mongols' is the niuweidao (oxtail knife), which is the archetypal "Chinese broadsword" of kung fu movies today. The niuweidao was developed in the Qing dynasty, but was used only by civilians: it was not a war sword."

The Niu Wei Dao was not part of the developmental curve of the military Dao, it existed in parallel to the military Daos. This heavier blade appears in a brief and defined time frame, and is closely related to anti-imperial activities. This perhaps be explict in the text.

I find it a stretch to call it a 'surviving ... Mongol' weapon as in no time was it used by the mongol people, you would not describe the European Falchion as a Mongol weapon though it may share an Mongolian antecedent with the Dao.

Also I would take issue with saying it was 'not a war sword', it was used in armed conflicts such as the Boxer Rebellion, it would be better to say 'not a military issued weapon.'

In addition it should be mentioned that the reason the weapon remains the most common representation of the Dao is due its association with the colloquial Martial Arts of China.

[edit] Major restructuring and cleanup

This article has become rather disorganized, with redundant info, digressions, and little structure. I've gone through it taking a chronological approach to the development of various sorts of dao, aiming for content first, consistency and style in later passes, and trying to get a mass of information properly referenced (this last bit will take a while). Ergative rlt 00:33, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not all curved swords are "Dao"

Tristan's primary weapon was a dao - it seems unlikely that this is the case, since the character in question is meant to be from a West Asian pre-Mongol tribe - and the Mongols did not become the rulers of china until the fall of the Song Dynasty in 1279. This article seems to be written from the POV that all curved swords some from the same Mongol influence (and is referring to this "mongol original" as a dao), most similar articles propose the more likely influence of "a natural development from single bladed tools such as a machete" and parallel similar developments. This needs to be rewritten to a NPOV -- Medains 10:32, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Change Article Title to Dao (broadsword) or Dao (saber)

Hi folks,

Any objections to slightly changing the title of this article to the more accurate: Dao (broadsword) or alternatively, Dao (saber)?

P. Tepper 21:58, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

It's not necessary, and an overspecification of what a dao is. Virog^{It's not}_{my fault!} 07:21, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Not necessary. --mh 09:59, 7 December 2006 (UTC)