Miao Dao

^… 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) in the early 1900’s, probably from the Prussians who were advising Chinese troops at the time.