Timeline
3,000 years of Chinese blades
How Chinese blades evolved era by era: Shang dagger-axes, Warring States bronze swords, Han ring-pommel sabres, Tang dao, Ming long sabres and Qing yaodao.
Era by era
- 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 →