Chinese Dao

[shayde78]

A great example, drac! You are lucky to have the original sheath.
I have two daos, but they are sadly missing the guards. Any suggestions on how to replace? The best I've come up with is trying to carve an approximation from wood, in two halves, and sandwich the blade between. I'd love to hear if anyone has another way.

[drac2k]

Thanks.I'm not sure that all dao had guards; if you could post pictures of yours, I'm sure that some of the other better-informed forum members could comment on your items.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by drac2k

Thanks.I'm not sure that all dao had guards; if you could post pictures of yours, I'm sure that some of the other better-informed forum members could comment on your items.

Just about every example I've seen had a guard. The most typical are the type in the images at the beginning of this post -- made of iron, with stubby quillons curled forward, in a rams's-horn configuration. You also see S shaped ones either of forged iron or cast brass.

Replacing a missing guard is going to take some doing. When originally made, the bare blade had its flattened rectangular tang forged with a "rat tail" extension at the pommel end. The guard was slid on, then the rat tail was forged into the ring shape and the free end welded to the other corner of the tang. The wooden grip was made in two halves, butting the guard up against the shoulders of the blade, and bound tightly with thick braided cord.

A very basic construction, something that any village blacksmith who made farm implements could manage. The twin fullers on the sides of the blade may have been a bit above the pay grade of a peasant smith but the weapon would function just as well without them. This was the whole point behind these things -- a handy, easy-to-manufacture weapon for the masses. In use for centuries by commoners, the blade shape was inspired by hay knives common on Chinese farms until well into the last century and perhaps even today in some places.