Sikin panjang
A straight, single-edged sword with forked hilt used in northern Sumatra.
Sikin panjang with double crown
A typical example of the better sikin panjang with a golden crown.
Dāo tūnkǒu (刀吞口)
Qing Chinese term for the collar-piece found on some Chinese sabers.
Hùshǒu pán (護手盤)
Qing Chinese word for a disc guard.
Dāo hūshǒu (刀護手)
Qing Chinese for "saber guard".
Bǎgū (靶箍)
Qing Chinese for the ferrule of a sword hilt.
Dāobǎ shù (刀把束)
Qing Chinese for the ferrule of a saber hilt.
Dāobǎ dǐngshù (刀把頂束)
Qing Chinese for "saber pommel".
Dāobǎ (刀把 / 刀把)
Qing Chinese for "saber grip".
Dandpatta
The Marathi name for the pata, a gauntlet sword thought to have been developed by them.
Patá
An Indian gauntlet sword.
Khanda (खंडा)
A type of Indian sword with a heavy, straight blade that widens at the top.
Zulfiqar
An Islamic legendary sword.
Pulouar
A saber associated with the Pashtuns of present-day Afghanistan.
A very good Afghan pulouar
With wootz handle with fine pierced pommel dome.
Fangshi officer's saber
With a good blade and a set of fittings that exceed the quality of most of this period.
Early yútóudāo
With influences from several cultures that are rarely seen on a single blade.
Chinese Shan presentation dha
Presented by the local Dai nobility to a British customs officer in 1936.
Early militia jian
An early Chinese militia jiàn most likely dating from the Ming.
A Shan Kachin style dha
A large Kachin style square-ended dha in Shan style mountings.
Yútóudāo (魚頭刀)
A subtype of Chinese sabers with a peaked spine.
Pèidāo (佩刀)
Literally "waist-worn-saber".
Large Southern Chinese saber
Built around a beautifully forged blade, in full polish, revealing a burl grain pattern.
An antique chángdāo
Its large blade is of ridged cross-section, inspired by the Japanese design.
Vietnamese double swords
A rare combination of full-length double Vietnamese swords with live blades.
Jiāgāng (加鋼)
A construction of edged weapons where a separate piece of high-carbon steel is forged into layers of milder steel.
Markings on Chinese swords
Most markings are found on military edged weapons, usually in the form of serial numbers and characters denoting a place or unit.
Tuánliàn jiàn (團練劍)
The Chinese militia jian. A simple, practical version of the Chinese straightsword.
Jiàn (劍)
The Chinese straightsword.
Dāo (刀)
Used to describe a wide variety of single-edged tools and weapons.
Early Chinese duǎndāo
With rare downward curving grip as seen on artwork of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Republican period fighting jian
A very nice and complete example, circa 1920's-30's.
Dha / da (ဓား)
Burmese word for sword, knife or chopper.
Yànlíngdāo (雁翎刀)
A Chinese saber type that translates as "goose-feather saber".
Yànchìdāo (雁翅刀)
Chinese saber type with a gently curved blade and clipped tip.
Liǔyèdāo (柳葉刀)
A Chinese saber with a gentle curve.
Yànmáodāo (雁毛刀)
A Chinese saber type with a mainly straight blade that curves up at the tip. It literally means "goose-quill-saber".
Dāndāo (單刀)
Literally "single saber", it refers to any type of dāo used solely without shield or weapon in the other hand.
Ban
The national sword of the Kingdom of Sikkim, a monarchy in the eastern Himalayas.
Twist-core steel
A type of pattern-welding using twisted rods of steel.
Huāwéngāng (花文鋼)
A type of pattern welding known in English as twist-core.
A rare Jinchuan sword
A royal sword, probably from the Wasi kingdom in present-day Sichuan province.
A 17th century Manchu saber
A massive 17th century saber blade with markings in Manchu and Chinese.
A "churi chenm" sword
A fine example of a Bhutanese shortsword with "churi chenm" scabbard.
Churi chenm
A type of Bhutanese sword with a triple "W" pattern on its silver-clad scabbard.
Patag
Dzongkha name for the Bhutanese sword.
Niuweidao with Guangxu mark
Dated 1895. Large and heavy, a quality piece.
Niúwěidāo (牛尾刀)
A late form of Chinese saber with a pronounced widening at the tip.
Glossary of Chinese saber terminology
An overview of Chinese saber terminology as found in Chinese texts.