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Originally Posted by Timo Nieminen
...I don't recall seeing a scabbard for a Ming chang dao. Yet, these had scabbards when they were used on the battlefield.
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the miaodao, or changdao, were a two-handed anti-cavalry weapon, used by a special front line corps of larger men who used them to sever the horses legs of charging enemy cavalry. apparently also used up to & including ww2.
they had/have a wooden scabbard very similar to a std. chinese dao, suspended on a braided silk sling attached to a broad bronze sash hook & eye, which hooks over a sword sash belt much like a jeb stewart csa sword suspension (also used by yankees i hear). it suspends the sword at an angle somewhat like a long rapier would have been.
mine:
edited: added a curious chinese instructional cartoon showing how the chinese paired to sheath & unsheath their swords, or gingerly grabbed the spine below the guard to get it back in or out by one man. mine is not quite so long, but i can barely get it in & out on my own from the hook suspended slings.
i tried it stuck in my sash like the drawing & couldn't draw the darn thing in the normal method. yiu do not want to get your fingers over the edge, the man is shown keeping them well away. i suspect the decorative bronze habaki-like blade cover on mine forward of the guard also serves to save your fingers should you need to use the lone person draw of fig. two. also i note they are shown with a crossbow casually stuffed in their sash at the back.