Lang Ya Bang (狼牙棒)

Drawing of a Lang Ya Bang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Maces of the Ming Dynasty

The proper Chinese name for mace is Gu Duo (骨朵), which was a corruption of Gua Zhun (胍肫), meaning big belly or flower bud. It was also known as Chui (錘, can be written as 鎚, meaning hammer), the later term is more common in modern usage.

Suan To Gu Duo (蒜頭骨朵, lit. 'Garlic mace')

Drawing of a Suan Tou Gu Duo, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Suan Tou Gu Duo was a mace with a garlic- or pumpkin-shaped mace head.

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Shao Lin Gun (少林棍)

Drawing of a Shao Lin Gun, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Named after the famous Shaolin Monastery, Shao Lin Gun (少林棍, Shaolin quarterstaff) was a simple quarterstaff measuring eight chi to eight chi five cun in length and two and a half to three jin in weight. It was usually slightly longer than Da Bang (大棒), another Chinese quarterstaff, but lighter. There was also an iron version of Shao Lin Gun, which was one chi shorter, but weighed five times as much as the wooden version.

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Unique weapon of the Ming Dynasty — Chan (鏟)

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Fang Tian Hua Ji (方天畫戟)

Fang Tian Hua Ji (方天畫戟, lit. 'Square sky decorated halberd')

Drawing of a Fang Tian Ji (highlighted), from 'Si Zhen San Guan Zhi (《四鎮三關志》)'.

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San Jian Liang Ren Dao (三尖兩刃刀)

Drawing of a San Jian Liang Ren Dao (highlighted), from 'Si Zhen San Guan Zhi (《四鎮三關志》)'.

San Jian Liang Ren Dao (三尖兩刃刀, lit. 'Three points double edged blade'), also known as Er Lang Dao (二郎刀) due to its association with Chinese war deity Er Lang Shen (二郎神), was a versatile but underrepresented Chinese polearm.

Like its namesake, San Jian Liang Ren Dao had three points and two long, slightly flared cutting edges. The three points of San Jian Liang Ren Dao allowed the weapon to parry, or even bind, opponent's weapon effectively while retaining the ability to deliver powerful stabs, whereas its forward-weighted cutting edges rendered it a devastating chopping weapon.

Being symmetrical, San Jian Liang Ren Dao was also better balanced than other multipurpose polearms such as halberd.

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Gou Lian Qiang (鈎鐮鎗)

Song Jiang (宋江) employs hooked spears to counter the chained cataphracts of Huyan Zhuo (呼延灼). From a Ming period print of Water Margin.

Gou Lian Qiang (鈎鐮鎗, lit. 'Hook sickle spear') was a famous Chinese polearm that combined a spearhead with a single sharpened hook. It should not be confused with Gou Qiang (鈎鎗) or Tie Gou Qiang (鐵鈎鎗).

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Yan Yue Dao (偃月刀)

Drawing of a Yan Yue Dao, from 'Chou Hai Tu Bian (《籌海圖編》)'.

Yan Yue Dao (偃月刀, lit. 'Reclining moon glaive'), also known as Chun Qiu Da Dao (春秋大刀, lit. 'Spring and autumn great glaive') or simply Da Dao (大刀, lit. 'Great glaive'), was arguably the most iconic Chinese polearm. Due of its association with legendary Chinese commander/war deity Guan Yu (關羽), it is also known as Guan Dao (關刀).

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Po Dao (朴刀)

An ornate Po Dao once belonged to Taiping general Luo Da Gang (羅大綱). Private Collection.

Po Dao was a type of Chinese sword or glaive with a cleaving blade that usually ended in a very steep clip point. Po Dao came in one-handed, two-handed, equal handle to blade ratio, polearm and even a "bifurcated weapon" form, although the term generally refers to polearm version in common usage. It should be noted that the weapon's name should be written as "朴刀", even in traditional Chinese. It cannot be written as "樸刀".

Humble Origin

The weapon known as Po Dao first appeared during Song Dynasty. At the time it was also known as Po Dao (潑刀), Bō Dao (撥刀), Bó Dao (博刀 or 膊刀) and many other names. Essentially a weaponised agricultural tool, Po Dao was not considered a "military grade" regulation weapon and commonly found in the hands of militias, bandits, outlaws and rebels alike (and thus enjoyed unusually high exposure in literature, dramas and plays, which tend to portray civilian rather than military life).

Horse Chopper

A Po Dao (highlighted), also known as Zhan Ma Dao, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'.

It is not known exactly when, or why, long-handled Po Dao came to be known as Zhan Ma Dao (斬馬刀), although this may be related to Song general and Chinese national folk hero Yue Fei (岳飛) and his elite army, the Yue Jia Jun (岳家軍, lit. 'Army of House Yue'). Yue Fei and his army famously wielded a weapon known as Ma Zha Dao (麻紥刀, lit. 'Linen-wrapped knife') to chop at vulnerable horse legs of the otherwise heavily armoured Jurchen cataphracts. While the length and form of Ma Zha Dao had been lost to the passage of time (although it is almost certainly a two-handed chopping polearm, a.l.a. Po Dao), Yue Fei's legendary exploits had profound influence on later Chinese military thinking. By Ming period, weapons such as Ma Zha Da Kang Dao (麻紥大砍刀, lit. 'Linen-wrapped great chopping sabre') and Ma Zha Zhan Ma Dao (麻紮斬馬刀, lit. 'Linen-wrapped horse-chopping sabre') started to show up in Ming arsenal records, alongside regular Zhan Ma Dao. Polearm/glaive type Zhan Ma Dao also replaced Song-era two-handed swords as the most ubiquitous horse chopper.

Although Zhan Ma Dao had become a more recognisable name for Po Dao during Ming period, some Ming texts, such as the writings of general Yu Da You (俞大猷), still refers the weapon with its old name.

Cheng Zi Yi's modified Po Dao

Cheng Zi Yi's modified Po Dao and scabbard, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'.

Late Ming period military writer Cheng Zi Yi (程子頤) designed a two-handed sword version of Po Dao in order to make the weapon more compatible with Dan Dao Fa Xuan (單刀法選) techniques. By doing so, he effectively combined two types of Zhan Ma Dao (Type B and Type C) into one weapon.

The new weapon featured ridged cross-section and resembled both Dan Dao (單刀) and Song-era Zhan Ma Dao.

Qing Dynasty Po Dao

Different types of Qing Dynasty Po Dao. Top left: Lu Ying Pu Dao. Top mid: Lu Ying Kuan Ren Pian Dao. Top right: Lu Ying Kuan Ren Da Dao. Bottom left: Lu Ying Chuan Wei Dao. Bottom mid: Lu Ying Hu Ya Dao. Bottom right: Tiao Dao. Images taken from 'Qin Ding Da Qing Hui Dian Tu 《欽定大清會典圖》' and 'Huang Chao Li Qi Tu Shi (《皇朝禮器圖式》)'.

After the fall of Ming, many elements of former Ming military were absorbed into Qing military system and reorganised into either Lu Ying (綠營, Green Standard Army) or Han Jun (漢軍, lit. 'Han army', ethnic Han bannermen). These Han Chinese soldiers retained most of their traditional weapons and equipment, only minimally modified to adapt to the new military regulation.

Under Qing military regulation, Po Dao was divided into several subtypes based on their length and blade profile:

• Lu Ying Pu Dao (綠營撲刀, lit. 'Green Standard Army Pu Dao') was a rather short, one-handed version of Po Dao.
• Lu Ying Kuan Ren Pian Dao (綠營寬刃㓲刀, lit. 'Green Standard Army broad bladed slicing sabre') was a Po Dao with a handle of about equal length to its blade.
• Lu Ying Kuan Ren Da Dao (綠營寬刃大刀, lit. 'Green Standard Army broad bladed great glaive') was a standard polearm-length Po Dao.
• Lu Ying Chuan Wei Dao (綠營船尾刀, lit. 'Green Standard Army stern sabre') was named due to the blade shape's similarity to the stern of a ship. It was a two-handed sword that had a longer and sharpened clip point tip for better thrusting capability. 
• Lu Ying Hu Ya Dao (綠營虎牙刀, lit. 'Green Standard Army tiger tooth sabre') was a larger version of Chuan Wei Dao that had a roughly equal ratio of handle length to blade length.
• Teng Pai Ying Tiao Dao (藤牌營挑刀, lit. 'Rattan Shield Regiment lifting glaive') was a polearm-length version of Chuan Wei Dao with narrower blade. Unlike other weapons in this list, this weapon was issued to Han Bannermen that specialised in rattan shield tactics.

Late Qing period Shuang Shou Dai (雙手帶) and Tai Ping Dao (太平刀)

Mid-nineteenth century export painting depicting a militiaman armed with a Shuang Shou Dai. From Digital Collections of the New York Public Library. (Source: Kung Fu Tea)

As the once great Qing Empire aged and corruption began to run rampant, its hereditary military system also weakened and eventually collapsed. Militias and levies replaced professional soldiers as the main source of recruit, and brought with them many non-regulation weapons. Po Dao, which had its root in agricultural tool and civilian weapon, once again became one of the most common close combat weapons of the Qing army.

Late Qing period Po Dao were generally short polearms with roughly equal length handle and blade. As old regulations and names fall into disuse, these short polearms came to be known as Shuang Shou Dai (雙手帶, lit. 'Double hand carry'), even though the term originally referred to a type of two-handed sabre. After Taiping Rebellion broke out, this weapon gained yet another moniker "Tai Ping Dao (太平刀, lit. 'Taiping sabre')" due to its prevalence among Taiping rebels.

Republican long handled Da Dao (大刀) 

Chinese soldiers during the Second Sino-Japanese War, armed with Shuang Shou Dai-type Da Dao.

Throughout the entire Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese forces often found themselves severely underequipped and had to outfit their soldiers with all sort of sabres, cleavers, and glaives. With little standardisation going on, these weapons were lumped together and collectively called Da Dao (大刀, lit. 'Great sabre') or sometimes Kan Dao (砍刀, lit. 'Chopping sabre') regardless of their length, shape and size. Some Shuang Shou Dai also saw service in the war as Da Dao, and techniques of Shuang Shou Dai became the basis of Da Dao drills.

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