Ceremonial Sword (yidao儀刀), the Defense Sword (zhangdao障刀), the
Cross Sword (Hengdao橫刀), and the Divided Sword (modao陌刀).^10 The
Ceremonial Sword was a court weapon that could be decorated with gold
and silver; in the Six Dynasties period it was also referred to as an“Imperial
Sword”(yudao御刀). The Defense Sword was a weapon of personal
defense. The latter two kinds of sword, the Cross Sword and the Divided
Sword, were the weapons used in the military. The Cross Sword was called a
Belt Sword (peidao佩刀) before the Sui, when it started being called a Cross
Sword. The Divided Sword was a new kind of sword thatfirst saw use in the
Tang dynasty.
The Divided Sword is described as having an overall length of seven feet,
divided between a three-foot blade and a four-foot handle, with an iron butt
point. It was believed to have developed out of the“Horse Beheading Long
Sword”of the Han Dynasty. The weapon was so named because it was able
to behead a horse. This same weapon in the Tang was also called a Long
Blade (Changdao長刀).^11 Unlike the double spear mentioned above, this
was not the idiosyncratic weapon of an individual warrior, but something
wielded by large units of men. One military encyclopedia states:
In one army, there are 12 , 500 officers and men. Ten thousand men in eight sections
bearing Belt Swords; Two thousandfive hundred men in two sections with Divided
Swords.^12
A number of other accounts bear witness to the use of the Divided Sword in
large army formations, noting on one occasion a formation of 5 , 000 men
armed with this weapon. The leverage of the long handle would have made
it a devastating weapon at close range. It lacked the ability to fend off
cavalry like a spear, which was a serious weakness, yet it saw action on a
number of battlefields. Curiously, despite its popularity in the Tang, the
Divided Sword seems to have disappeared from the battlefield afterward.
Some warriors continued to use the long sword even though it was no
longer in general use on the battlefield. Apart from these individuals, the long
sword was most likely to be seen as a weapon of self-defense for gentlemen,
or in performances. As the long sword movedfirmly, and permanently,
away from general battlefield use, it came to be associated in a positive
way as the elegant weapon of a cultivated, literate man. A good example
of this was in the person of Li Bo (Bai), one of the greatest poets of the Tang.
Not only did he“fence with the long sword”but he also“practiced knight
errantry,”in his younger days actually killing some people. Other educated
men as well as a few generals were also noted for their practice of long sword
fencing. Sword dances with the long sword were clearly associated with
Martial Arts Training 103