I am still interested in others thoughts and or evidence related to the use of the blade holes in various forms of Chinese dao. I have also posted some pictures of a couple guan dao head (偃月刀 yan yue dao) that have the feature in question. Although I have yet to see a period guan dao example with a tassel adornment attached to the hole/ring, it is standard on modern Chinese martial art practice pieces. This combined with the other evidence I have available at this point suggests to me that these various dao blade holes are more ornamentation related than utility. Any thoughts?
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