Miao Dao

The Miao Dao or (rice) grain leaf sabre…

^… a twentieth century ‘pipe backed’ blade with a thin narrow edge. It is flexible for its (long!) length without being too wobbly. The current thinking is that the sword was influenced by the Japanese nodachi during the Ming Dynasty, leading to the development of the Chang Dao / Dan Dao swords, with a subsequent sprinkling of European influence (the pipe back), probably from the Prussians who were advising Chinese troops at the time, finally leading to the Miao Dao in the early 1900’s.