[Anders Backlund]

A while ago I designed a kind of dao. I didn't go by any historical references at all, wanting to just make something that had the general character of a large Chinese saber. The result is a curved cutting sword with a broad, untapering blade and a tip made for slashing, having a profile not unlike that of a katana.

Now, after some research, I've found that the closest historical equivalent would probably be the pian dao, or "slashing saber", which is supposed to have a curved, uniformly broad blade. Naturally, I'm very curious to compare these historical swords with the one I designed. Unfortunately the pian dao wasn't very popular and so is very rare to see today. Frankly, I'm finding it impossible to get a hold of a good picture.

So, just wondering if anyone here has or has seen any pictures of the weapon in question.

[Chris Lampe]

Anders,

This is a composite photo of a piandao, from my crude sketch to John Lundemo's finished design, that I had made by Odinblades.com. Philip Tom said the curvature of the blade would put this just slighly into the piandao range. A Kung-Fu magazine article by Philip Tom and Scott Rodell had a picture of a very nice piandao and it was only slighly more curved than this one.


Also, if you follow this link, there is a diagram of five swords. The one labled "liuyedao" or "willow leaf" is actually much closer in shape to the piandaos I've seen.

http://thomaschen.freewebspace.com/photo3.html

[Anders Backlund]

Chris, thanks a bundle! That's just what I was looking for.

That sketch of yours is actually eerily similar to my own. Mine is slightly shorter and doesn't have a hatchet point, but otherwise, the similarities are just mind-blowing.

I suspected I wouldn't have been the first to think of this shape, but it's still fun to see it confirmed.