Editing Chinese sword (section)

==Ming dynasty (1368–1644)==
[[File:2014 East Tomb (Fuling, Tomb of Manchu Chief Nurhachi) 94.jpg|thumb|[[Jurchens|Jurchen]] swords]]
[[File:Sword with Scabbard MET DP119022.jpg|thumb|[[Qing dynasty]] jian with jade hilt]]
The dao continued to fill the role of the basic close combat weapon.{{sfn|Lorge|2011|p=177}} The jian fell out of favor again in the Ming era but saw limited use by a small number of arms specialists. It was otherwise known for its qualities as a marker of scholarly refinement.{{sfn|Lorge|2011|p=180}}

The "Horse Beheading Dao" was described in Ming sources as a {{convert|96|cm|abbr=on}} blade attached to a {{convert|128|cm|abbr=on}} shaft, essentially a glaive. It's speculated that the [[Swedes|Swede]] [[Frederick Coyett]] was talking about this weapon when he described [[Zheng Chenggong]]'s troops wielding "with both hands a formidable battle-sword fixed to a stick half the length of a man".<ref>{{citation |url=http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/04/zhan-ma-dao.html|title=Zhan Ma Dao (斬馬刀)|date=7 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2018}}</ref>

{{quotation|Some were armed with bows and arrows hanging down their backs; others had nothing save a shield on the left arm and a good sword in the right hand; while many wielded with both hands a formidable battle sword fixed to a stick half the length of a man. Everyone was protected over the upper part of the body with a coat of iron scales, fitting below one another like the slates of a roof, the arms and legs bare. This afforded complete protection from rifle bullets (mistranslation: should read "small arms") and yet left ample freedom to move, as those coats only reached down to the knees and were very flexible at all the joints. The archers formed Koxinga's best troops and depended much on them. Even at a distance, they contrived to handle their weapons with such great skill that they nearly eclipsed the riflemen. The shield bearers were used instead of cavalry. Every tenth man of them is a leader, who takes charge of, and presses his men to force themselves into the enemy ranks. With bent heads and their bodies hidden behind the shields, they try to break through the opposing ranks with such fury and dauntless courage as if each one still had a spare body left at home. They continually press onwards, notwithstanding many are shot down; not stopping to consider, but ever rushing forward like mad dogs, not even looking round to see whether their comrades follow them or not. Those with the sword-sticks—called soapknives by the Hollanders—render the same service as our lancers in preventing all breaking through of the enemy and, in this way, establishing perfect order in the ranks; but when the enemy has been thrown into disorder, the Sword-bearers follow this up with fearful massacre amongst the fugitives.{{sfn|Coyet|1975|p=51}}|Frederick Coyett}}

[[Qi Jiguang]] deployed his soldiers in a 12-man 'mandarin duck' formation, which consisted of four pikemen, two men carrying daos with a great and small shield, two 'wolf brush' wielders, a rearguard officer, and a porter.{{sfn|Peers|2006|p=203-204}}

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Ming whip, blade, and truncheon.jpg|Ming whip, truncheon, and dao
File:Ming Iron Sword and Whip (19791306721).jpg|Ming truncheon
File:Ming Iron Dao.jpg|Ming dao
File:山文甲.jpg|Ming soldiers carrying a dao and jian
File:Ming jian sword.jpg|Ming soldier carrying a jian
</gallery>