Phantom Blade Zero Weapons & Their Real Chinese Origins
Every Phantom Blade Zero weapon named so far, from Sanguine to the Tiger Cannon, matched to its real Chinese counterpart: jian, dao, miao dao, guandao and more.
Launches Oct 29, 2026 · PS5 / PC
WuxiapunkThe real Chinese weapons, history and craft behind Phantom Blade Zero
- years of blades
- 3000+
- layers in folded steel
- 32768
- Goujian sword, still sharp
- 2,500yrs
Launch file
As of 2026-10-27
- Unlock
- Oct 29, 10:00 Beijing · Oct 28, 7 PM PT — one worldwide unlockOfficial launch trailer ↗
- Platforms
- PS5 (Pro Enhanced) · PC on Steam & EpicSteam ↗
- Price
- $59.99 Standard · $69.99 Digital DeluxeSteam ↗
- Reviews
- Metacritic 88 (PC) / 86 (PS5) · OpenCritic 90 · IGN 9/10OpenCritic ↗
- Studio
- S-GAME (灵游坊) · director Soulframe Liang · Unreal Engine 5Official site ↗
- Star
- Donnie Yen plays Mó Yuan (魔渊) and voices him in EnglishPre-order trailer ↗
Start here
Choose your path
- 01 · 6 partsWuxia 101New to wuxia? Start with the words everyone uses: wuxia, jianghu, kungfupunk.Begin →
- 02 · 13 partsThe ArmoryEvery blade in the game, traced to the real weapon it grew from.Begin →
- 03 · 3 partsThe ForgeFolded steel, 2,500-year-old bronze and the smiths of Longquan.Begin →
- 04 · 6 partsNames & TermsWho is Mó Yuan? Why 66 days? Names, meanings and how to say them.Begin →
- 05 · 6 partsThe World Behind the GameAssassins, secret societies, lion dance and the folklore behind the world.Begin →
01 兵器谱
The Armory
Every blade in Phantom Blade Zero has an ancestor. Meet the real Chinese swords, sabres, polearms and hidden weapons behind them.
Jian: The Chinese Straight Sword, Explained
What a jian is, how the double-edged Chinese sword evolved from bronze to steel, its anatomy, how it was used, and why it is called the gentleman of weapons.
Types of Chinese Swords: Jian, Dao, Miao Dao & More
Every major type of Chinese sword, era by era: bronze jian, Han ring-pommel dao, Tang modao, Ming changdao, Qing willow-leaf and oxtail sabres, miao dao and more.
Dao: The Chinese Sabre, From Ring-Pommel to Oxtail
What a dao sword is, how the Chinese sabre evolved from the Han ring-pommel dao to Qing willow-leaf and oxtail sabres, why armies chose it, and how it is used.
Miao Dao vs Katana: History of China's Long Sabre
Miao dao history, sourced: Qi Jiguang's Ming changdao, Cheng Zongyou's 1621 manual, the 1920s name, measured lengths of 1.4–2 m, and how it compares with the katana.
Zhanmadao & Modao: China's Horse-Cutting Great Sabres
The real zhanmadao: the Han “horse-cutting sword” in the Han shu, Li Siye's Tang modao, the Song great sabre of 1072, Qing long sabres and the 1930s dadao.
Soft Snake Sword: The Real Chinese Soft Sword (Ruanjian)
Is the Chinese soft sword real? What Song texts record about springy swords, how the modern wushu ruanjian works, the urumi, and Phantom Blade Zero's Soft Snake Sword.
The Codex
Every name in the game
65 characters, bosses, weapons and terms — characters, pinyin, audio, what each name means and the real culture behind it.
- Character魂Soul
- Character左殇Zuo Shang
- Character沐小葵Mu Xiaokui
- Bosse花千笑Hua Qianxiao
- Bosse彭猛Peng Meng
- Bosse残钢Jagged Steel
- Weapon黑伤Sanguine
- Weapon醉剑Drunken Sword
- Weapon灵蛇软剑Soft Snake Sword
- Mechanics & lore鬼步Ghostep
- Mechanics & lore杀气Sha-Chi
- Mechanics & lore精纯杀气Sha-Chi Essence
02 Know the blade
Anatomy of a blade
Every part has a name and a reason. Learn the pommel, guard, ridge and spine, and the blades in the game start to read differently.
Anatomy plate
剑首 jiàn shǒuPommel
The cap at the end of the grip. It counterweights the blade and stops the hand sliding off; early bronze swords often carried concentric rings or jade discs here.
剑茎 jiàn jīngGrip & tang
The handle. The tang (part of the blade itself) runs inside, wrapped in cord, wood, rayskin or silk for grip.
剑格 jiàn géGuard
The crossguard between grip and blade. Chinese jian guards are compact — they protect the hand rather than trap blades.
剑脊 jiàn jǐRidge (spine)
The raised centre line of a double-edged blade. It stiffens the sword; on composite bronze swords the ridge was a softer, tougher alloy than the edges.
剑从 jiàn cóngFlats
The bevelled faces between the ridge and each edge, ground at a shallow angle to keep the edge keen.
剑锷 jiàn èEdges
Both cutting edges. Jian technique favours precise cuts and thrusts with the front third of the blade rather than brute chopping.
剑锋 jiàn fēngPoint
The tip. “Feng” is also the root of words for sharpness and vanguard — the point leads.
剑穗 jiàn suìTassel
A later decorative tassel tied through the pommel; in performance forms it trails the blade and distracts the eye.
刀首 dāo shǒuPommel cap
An iron or brass cap that locks the handle onto the tang. Han-dynasty sabres used a ring here instead — the famous ring-pommel dao.
刀柄 dāo bǐngGrip
Usually long enough for one hand and a little extra, wrapped in cord or rayskin. Two-handed long sabres (changdao, miao dao) have much longer grips.
刀镡 dāo tánGuard
A disc or bowl-shaped guard. Qing sabres often carry a pierced, saucer-like iron tan.
刀背 dāo bèiSpine
The thick, unsharpened back edge. It carries weight into a cut and lets the blade survive hard parries.
刀槽 dāo cáoFuller
A groove along the blade that lightens and stiffens it. It is not a “blood groove” — that is a modern myth.
刀刃 dāo rènEdge
The single cutting edge, often of harder steel forged onto or into a softer body (sandwich or wrapped construction).
刀尖 dāo jiānTip
The point. Willow-leaf (liuye) sabres curve gently; oxtail (niuwei) sabres flare into a broad, heavy tip for chopping.
The jian is called the “gentleman of weapons”, the dao the “courage of weapons”. Pick a part to see what it does.
03 Timeline
3,000 years of steel
From Shang bronze dagger-axes to Qing waist sabres — scroll to travel sideways through Chinese blade history.
- 01c. 1600–1046 BCEBronze
商Shang
- 戈Ge dagger-axe
- 青铜刀Bronze knife
Bronze age warfare is built around the chariot and the ge — a dagger blade mounted crosswise on a pole for hooking and slashing. Swords barely exist yet.
- 021046–771 BCEBronze
西周Western Zhou
- 柳叶形短剑Willow-leaf short sword
- 戟Ji halberd
The first Chinese swords appear: short, leaf-shaped bronze daggers for close defence. The ji combines a spear point and a ge blade on one shaft.
- 03770–221 BCEBronze
春秋战国Spring & Autumn / Warring States
- 青铜剑（越王勾践剑）Bronze jian (Sword of Goujian)
- 弩Crossbow
The golden age of bronze swordsmithing. Wu and Yue smiths cast composite blades — tough low-tin cores, hard high-tin edges. The Sword of Goujian is still sharp after 2,500 years.
Read more → - 04221–206 BCEBronze
秦Qin
- 长铜剑Long bronze sword
- 制式弩机Standardised crossbow
The first empire standardises everything — including weapons. Swords from the Terracotta Army pits run to over 90 cm, long for bronze.
- 05206 BCE–220 CESteel
汉Han
- 环首刀Ring-pommel dao
- 钢剑Steel jian
Steel takes over. Puddled and “hundred-refined” steel makes the single-edged ring-pommel dao — sturdy, cheap, perfect for cavalry — and the dao begins to replace the jian on the battlefield.
Read more → - 06220–589Steel
三国两晋南北朝Three Kingdoms to Northern & Southern
- 刀Dao
- 槊Cavalry lance (shuo)
Centuries of war refine metallurgy: Qiwu Huaiwen’s co-fusion steel (guangang) mixes cast and wrought iron. Armoured cavalry rides with long lances.
- 07618–907Steel
隋唐Sui & Tang
- 横刀Hengdao straight sabre
- 陌刀Modao long blade
Tang sabres are straight, single-edged and elegantly mounted; the style travelled east, and Nara’s Shōsōin still keeps an 8th-century “Tang great sword”. Tang infantry wielded the fearsome two-handed modao.
- 08960–1279Steel
宋Song
- 手刀Shoudao hand sabre
- 火枪Fire lance
The Wujing Zongyao (1044) catalogues the empire’s arsenal in woodblock plates — sabres, polearms, crossbows and the first gunpowder weapons.
- 091368–1644Steel
明Ming
- 长刀Changdao long sabre
- 雁翎刀Yanling “goose-quill” dao
Fighting coastal raiders, general Qi Jiguang adopts the long two-handed sabre — the line that leads to today’s miao dao. The Wubei Zhi (1621) illustrates hundreds of weapons.
Read more → - 101644–1912Steel
清Qing
- 腰刀（柳叶刀）Yaodao (willow-leaf sabre)
- 牛尾刀Niuweidao oxtail sabre
The waist sabre (yaodao) is the standard sidearm; 19th-century civilians favour the heavy oxtail sabre. The jian becomes a gentleman’s and martial artist’s weapon.
Read more → - 111912–todaySteel
武术、武侠与功夫朋克Wushu, wuxia & kungfupunk
- 武术剑与刀Wushu jian & dao
- 《影之刃零》（2026）Phantom Blade Zero (2026)
Blades leave the battlefield for the training hall, the novel and the screen — and, in 2026, for the kungfupunk world of Phantom Blade Zero.
Read more →
04 锻造录
Forged. Folded. Quenched.
Hundred-refined steel, bronze that never rusted, jade fittings and lacquer: how Chinese weapons were actually made.
01SmeltingLayers: 1
- 01
冶炼Smelting
Chinese smiths had a head start: by the 5th century BCE, blast furnaces were producing cast iron — liquid iron poured into moulds — more than 1,500 years before blast furnaces spread across Europe.
- 02
炒钢Puddling
Cast iron is too brittle for a blade. From the Han dynasty, smiths “fried” it — stirring molten iron in open air to burn off carbon until it became workable steel.
- 03
百炼Hundred refinings
The steel is heated, hammered out, folded and welded back onto itself, again and again. Each fold squeezes out slag and evens the carbon — and doubles the layers.
- 04
夹钢Sandwiching
A hard, high-carbon steel edge is forged between (or wrapped by) softer iron. The edge holds sharpness; the body flexes instead of snapping.
- 05
淬火Quenching
Heated to a glowing cherry red, the blade is plunged into water or oil. The sudden chill locks the steel into a hard structure — the moment that makes or ruins a blade.
- 06
研磨Grinding & polishing
Days of grinding on progressively finer stones shape the geometry and raise the edge, revealing the grain of the folded steel.
- 07
装具Fittings
Guard, grip and scabbard turn steel into a weapon you can carry: lacquered wood, rayskin, bronze or iron fittings, sometimes jade.
Hundred-Refined Steel: How Chinese Smiths Folded Steel
Chinese sword forging explained: cast iron, puddled steel, hundred-refined folding, co-fusion steel and composite blades, with original texts, dates and layer maths.
05 江湖史
History & World
Wuxia, jianghu, assassins and ghosts: the history and mythology the kungfupunk world is built on.
Is Phantom Blade Zero Based on Real Chinese History?
No: Phantom Blade Zero is original fiction in a fantasy China its director places “more or less” in the Ming era. What is real, what is invented, and why it matters.
What Is Wuxia? Meaning, Pronunciation & Phantom Blade Zero
Wuxia (武侠, wǔxiá) means “martial chivalry”: Chinese tales of wandering sword-heroes. Its meaning, pronunciation, 2,000-year history and place in Phantom Blade Zero.
Jianghu Meaning: The Martial World of Phantom Blade Zero
Jianghu (江湖) literally means “rivers and lakes”. How a Zhuangzi image became wuxia's martial world, how it differs from wulin and murim, and Phantom Blade Zero's Wulin.
Wuxia vs Xianxia: Where Does Phantom Blade Zero Fit?
Wuxia vs xianxia: martial heroes bound by human limits vs cultivators chasing immortality. A side-by-side table, plus shenmo, murim and where Phantom Blade Zero fits.
06 Watch
The screening room
Phantom Blade Zero - Official Launch Trailer
Making China's Most Iconic Blade, the Jian
《中华百工》— 龙泉宝剑 | CCTV
Longquan Sword 龙泉宝剑 龍泉寶劍07 游戏指南
Game Guides
Spoiler-light explainers for Phantom Blade Zero players: the world, the names, the terms and what they mean.
- 01What Is Kungfupunk? Phantom Blade Zero's Style ExplainedKungfupunk is S-GAME's name for Phantom Blade Zero's look: wuxia cinema fused with steampunk machines, prosthetics, occult horror and rock, in the devs' own words.
- 02From Rainblood to Zero: The Phantom Blade Series HistoryHow a free RPG Maker game made by an architecture student became Phantom Blade Zero: every Rainblood and Phantom Blade release, the dates, and what Zero changes.
- 03Phantom Blade Zero vs Black Myth: Wukong — Culture ComparedNot a review: how Phantom Blade Zero's wuxia, folk heritage and attack-while-defending combat differ from Black Myth: Wukong's gods, demons and Buddhist world.
- 04Donnie Yen as Mó Yuan in Phantom Blade Zero, ExplainedDonnie Yen plays Mó Yuan in Phantom Blade Zero: who the gold-masked lord is, what 魔渊 means, the wuxia roles behind the casting and what he did as consultant.
- 05Why 66 Days? The Meaning Behind Soul's CountdownWhy does Soul have 66 days to live in Phantom Blade Zero? The official premise, the Sixty-Six Days permadeath mode, the 9/9 date, Rainblood's countdown and lucky six.
- 06影之刃零: Phantom Blade Zero's Chinese Name ExplainedWhat does 影之刃零 mean? Phantom Blade Zero's Chinese title character by character (影, 之, 刃, 零) with pinyin and audio, why it's “Zero” and the series' Chinese names.
- 07Phantom Blade Zero Character Names & Their Chinese MeaningsPhantom Blade Zero character names decoded: Soul (魂), Zuo Shang, Mu Xiaokui, Mó Yuan and the bosses, with hanzi, pinyin, audio, literal meanings and wuxia allusions.
- 08How to Pronounce Phantom Blade Zero Names & TermsHow to pronounce Phantom Blade Zero names and wuxia terms: Soul (Hún), Mó Yuan, Zuo Shang, wuxia, jianghu and Sha-Chi, with pinyin, sound-alikes and audio buttons.
Frequently asked
Q01Is Phantom Blade Zero based on real Chinese history?
Not directly. It is set in a fictional “kungfupunk” world, but it borrows heavily from real Chinese culture: sword and sabre designs, wuxia and jianghu traditions, assassin legends, Daoist and folk religion. This site traces each of those elements back to its real source.
Q02What does “kungfupunk” mean?
Kungfupunk is the style label developer S-GAME uses for the Phantom Blade series: traditional wuxia and Chinese mysticism fused with steampunk-style machinery and industrial grit.
Q03What is the difference between a jian and a dao?
A jian is a straight, double-edged sword, traditionally called the “gentleman of weapons”. A dao is a single-edged sabre, the “courage of weapons”. From the Han dynasty on, the sturdier, cheaper dao replaced the jian as the main battlefield blade.
Q04When does Phantom Blade Zero come out?
Phantom Blade Zero launches on October 29, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store).
Ink & steel · an unofficial fan codex