Ming late dynasty Chinese Dao (Saber)

[Philip]

Originally Posted by JBG163

Thanks for the correction on terminology Philip ! Wasnt aware of that name.
Here is a type of sword excavated, attributed to 13/14th, found in the Altai and described in the book: de l'épée scythe au sabre mongol ,by Iaroslav Lebedynsky.

The subject of this thread is remarkably similar to "B" in the array of illustrated examples. At any rate, the tunkou or sleeve at the base of the blade was a common feature of Inner Asian sabers during this medieval period, and it influenced the derivative adoption and subsequent evolution of this weapon in late imperial China. The tunkou appears to have originated separately from the habaki on Japanese swords since it is structurally different and there are no "proto-habaki" on any surviving early Japanese blades which have the form that these Inner Asian versions have.