Talwar with southern style hilt
With a curved hollow ground blade with a narrow dorsal groove and false backedge.
Ming dynasty saber blade
Introduction
The Chinese saber comes in a great variety of curvatures, profiles, and with different combina
Peidao in iron fangshi mounts
Introduction
The terms peidao or yaodao are synonyms that were in use simultaneously in Q
A fine Chinese yànchìdāo
It comes with its complete set of fittings in a thick gauge of báitóng.
Southern Chinese saber
Introduction
The yaodao, literally "waist saber" was the standard side-arm for the Qing dynas
A spectacular Burmese dha
With overlays of vegetal motifs alternated with animals, actual and mythical.
Chinese saber of the Chaoyang army
Late 18th century, complete with its original scabbard.
19th century Qing military saber
With massive 10mm thick blade with strong distal taper.
18th century Chinese saber
With fine blade, of liuyedao form with a gentle curvature.
Chinese shuangdao - double sabers
With narrow liuyedao blades of moderate curvature.
Silver mounted Sumatran saber
With inscription that reads: Raja Pagaruyung or "ruler of Pagaruyung".
Chinese twistcore presentation saber
An unusually large presentation saber in the style of high-end Chinese military sabers.
Chinese saber with "naginata-hi"
A Chinese waist saber or yaodao / peidao of the first half of the 18th century.
Chinese saber with U-grooves
With twist-core steel and of early liuyedao form. Probably 17th century.
Chinese saber with segmented grooves
With openwork brass mounts in early imperial style.
A talwar with "lehria" chevron blade
With chevron patterned blade of alternating types of steel.
Antique Miaodao
Miaodao simply being a more recent name for the wodao.
A Burmese dha with openwork handle
Made of a single piece of ivory, with a kneeling figure in its base.
Of geese and willows
The differences between 雁毛刀 yanmaodao (goose-quill saber) and 柳葉刀 liuyedao&n
Qing dynasty saber mounts, fangshi & yuanshi
Among sabers of the Qing dynasty, we encounter two basic types of mountings:
A typology of Chinese sabers
Introduction
Historical references on Chinese saber types are scarce, and the information they provide scan
Horn hilted Vietnamese officer's saber
An unusual Vietnamese officer saber of the 19th century, with an all-horn hilt.
A Sinhalese kasthāné
An impressively large kasthāné, dating from the 18th century.
Old Cham sword
In excavated condition. Probably 15th-17th century.
Chinese saber with yatağan style blade
An extremely rare and possibly unique type of Chinese officer's saber, or peidao, of the 18th century.
Broad 17th century Chinese saber
Yet another type that I had not yet seen before.
16th century Vietnamese saber
Showing the strong Japanese influence on Vietnamese sword making of the time.
Exceptional Vietnamese saber
With mountings of meticulously worked copper with silver overlays
Ming dandao
With rare raised backedge.
An unusual dha
An unusual dha with features of various cultures.
All-metal ceremonial guom
With captured French blade, ground down to fit.
Rare Chinese twistcore saber
Background
Most Chinese swords and sabers are made with a hard high carbon steel edge plate sandwich
A signed Vietnamese fighting saber
Presented in this article is a somewhat rare example of a purely practical Vietnamese fighting saber,
A Chinese woyaodao
Introduction
The ridged and facetted blade shape that is so well known nowadays from Japane
A peudeueng peusangan
From the Aceh region, described locally as peudeueng peusangan with a "hulu meu apet" or Indian styled basket hilt.
Chinese long sabers of the Qing dynasty
In the late Ming dynasty, Chinese coasts were raided by Japanese pirates -mockingly called 倭寇 wokou&nbs
Military sabers of the Qing dynasty
According to Chinese symbolism, the strength and martial spirit of a soldier is embodied in the single-edged blade (