Like many Chinese weapons, the famous Zhan Ma Dao (斬馬刀, 'Horse-chopping sabre') has been subject to a lot of misinformations and misconceptions. Over the course of China's long history, the term had been applied to many different weapons, which led to confusion over the true origin and purposes of this weapon.
However, upon closer inspection there are indeed traceable similarities between different iterations of Zhan Ma Dao/Jian. In general, they can be roughly grouped into three types:
Type A: Executioner's sword (Han–early Song period)
Very little is known about the horse chopper of this period. Based on its name ("Jian" instead of "Dao"), it is believed that the weapon was a double-edged sword, although its size and shape remain a mystery.
Han Dynasty Zhan Ma Jian (斬馬劍, lit. 'Horse-chopping sword')
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| Five surviving Han period Jian. All swords in this photo, save for the second one from the top, are designed for two-handed use, the longest one being 146 cm in length. All swords are currently kept at Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou, China. It should be noted that none of these swords are explicitly stated to be Zhan Ma Jian, although an actual example (if any survives) should look quite similar to these swords. |
More properly known as Duan Ma Jian (斷馬劍, lit. 'Horse-severing sword'), this weapon was actually a sword of state, made specifically for the emperor for ceremonial purpose and to execute treacherous officials. The sword is believed to acquire its name from the White Horse Oath (白馬之盟), in which a white horse was ritually slaughtered and its blood wiped on the participants' lips as a symbolism of the oath of loyalty and upholding the bloodline of Han emperor Liu Bang (劉邦).
Contrary to popular misconceptions, the original meaning of Zhan Ma Jian was "a sword that is sharp enough to chop through a horse" rather than "a sword
specifically designed to cut down horse".
Sui and Tang Dynasty Mo Dao (陌刀)
While not explicitly described as a horse chopper, Tang Dynasty Mo Dao had been compared to Han Dynasty Zhan Ma Jian, and later Song Dynasty texts also liken the Zhan Ma Dao to this weapon. Mo Dao was primarily carried by
barrier troops to execute cowardly or deserting soldiers, but performed just as well as a battlefield weapon. It was often used alongside other heavy weapons such as
war axes,
quarterstaves, and
flails, in defence as well as during siege and assault. Mo Dao was also one of the preferred close combat weapons of Tang archers and crossbowmen (Ming Chinese continued this practice of
arming ranged troops with heavy polearms).
Many Mo Dao users were exceptionally strong individuals, but the most famous one was probably Tang commander Li Si Ye (李嗣業), who used the weapon to great effect to stop the pursuing Abbasid army after Tang army suffered a defeat at
Battle of Talas.
To date, no surviving Mo Dao has been discovered. Drawing upon descriptions found in various Tang Dynasty texts, Mo Dao seems to be a type of double-edged chopping polearm, up to one
zhang (118.1 in or 300 cm) in length and fifteen
jin (22.48 pounds or 10.2 kg) in weight. It is also speculated that Japanese
ōmi-yari (大身槍) either descended from, or was related to, this weapon.
Type B: Cleaver type (Song–Qing period)
Whether a two-handed sword or a polearm, horse choppers of this period inevitably had a long (usually three chi or more) cleaving blade that ended in very steep clip point or so-called "reverse tanto" point (although many Song Dynasty swords had a blunt square point instead). The blade could be straight (Song period) or slightly curved (Ming and Qing period).
Song Dynasty Zhan Ma Dao
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| Photo of a Song Dynasty sword that matches the description of Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian. Note that the sword edge is facing downward. Image taken from Thomas Chen's website but original source unknown. |
Song Dynasty Zhan Ma Dao represented the long and unbroken Chinese tradition of using large, two-handed war swords as battlefield weapon dating back as early as Warring States period. Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian Chang Bian (《續資治通鑑長編》) describes the weapon as a large two-handed sword with a three
chi (93.6 cm) blade, one
chi (31.2 cm) hilt, and a large ring pommel.
Unlike earlier Zhan Ma Jian and Mo Dao, Song Dynasty Zhan Ma Dao was mass-produced for the rank and file (there was even a special bureau that produced nothing but Zhan Ma Dao). It was also really designed with the intention to cut down heavily armoured cavalry.
Ming Dynasty Zhan Ma Dao
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| A Zhan Ma Dao (left) and a Yan Yue Dao (偃月刀) (right), from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. |
Sometimes known as
Kan Dao (砍刀, lit. 'Chopping sabre'), Ming Dynasty Zhan Ma Dao was a glaive with a three
chi (96 cm) blade, four
chi (128 cm) shaft, and a butt spike. It could be distinguished from other Chinese glaives by its longer blade, clip point tip and lack of
protrusion or
hook on the back of the blade. This type of Zhan Ma Dao could be considered synonymous with
Po Dao (朴刀), although not all Po Dao were Zhan Ma Dao.
Incidentally, Zhan Ma Dao was one of the few Chinese weapons that made an impression on contemporary Western observers. In his book titled Neglected Formosa ('t Verwaerlossde Formosa), Frederick Coyett described
Koxinga's troops "wielded with both hands a formidable battle-sword fixed to a stick half the length of a man", a description that matches Zhan Ma Dao perfectly.
Although labelled as "Ming Dynasty" Zhan Ma Dao in this blog post, this type of polearm was used well into Qing period.
Type C: Ōdachi-inspired weapon (Ming–Qing period)
Clearly inspired by Japanese
ōdachi (大太刀), which was adopted by Ming Chinese as
Chang Dao (長刀), this type of Zhan Ma Dao had a long, gently curved blade and hilt designed for two-handed use. While not specifically designed as anti-cavalry weapon, Chang Dao was indeed used as such by Chinese troops, although the name change only happened during Qing period.
(It should be noted that the name change was rather more like a military designation of an existing weapon, similar to how AR-15 was designated as M16 by the US military.)
Qing Dynasty Lu Ying Zhan Ma Dao
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| Drawing of a Qing Dynasty Zhan Ma Dao, from 'Huang Chao Li Qi Tu Shi (《皇朝禮器圖式》)'. |
Lu Ying Zhan Ma Dao was one of the several types of two-handed sabres issued to
Lu Ying (綠營, Green Standard Army). It was essentially a Qing iteration of Ming period Chang Dao with minor modifications on size and fittings.
For those interested to learn more about Qing period Chinese two-handed sabres, here is a very good article:
Chinese long sabers of the Qing dynasty
Other similar weapons
Qing Dynasty "Zhan Ma Jian"
A truly monstrous sword that dwarfed many actual polearms in length, this weapon had a long and wavy "flamberge" style blade mounted on a wooden shaft that was only slightly shorter than the blade. Its blade alone was longer than most Chinese
jian.
As the sword was a non-regulation weapon and only a handful survived, it did not have an official name. Nevertheless, the sword has been casually referred to as Zhan Ma Jian and certainly looks the part.
Japanese Zanbatō (ざんばとう or 斬馬刀)
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| A modern nakamaki nōdachi being advertised as a zanbatō. Note the black wrapping at the lower third of the blade. |
Contrary to popular misconception, there is no such thing as a Japanese zanbatō. "Zanbatō" is simply the Japanese pronunciation of Zhan Ma Dao and refers to the Chinese weapon. In fact, the term did not even enter common usage until 1970s.
In popular media, any sufficiently large Japanese sword, typically an ōdachi, nakamaki nōdachi (中巻野太刀, a
nōdachi sword with the last portion of its blade wrapped in thin cord, which serves as a secondary grip similar to a zweihänder's ricasso/sub-hilt. It is the predecessor of
nagamaki) or sometimes a
bisentō (眉尖刀), can all be referred to as zanbatō.
