Changdao was a type of anti-cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 sword used in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 during the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

. Sometimes called Miao dao

Miao dao

The Miao Dao is a Chinese two-handed dao or saber of the Republican era, with a narrow blade of up to 1.2 meters or more and a long hilt. The name means "sprout saber", presumably referring to a likeness between the weapon and a newly sprouted plant...

(a similar but more recent weapon), the blade very much resembles a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese ōdachi

Odachi

An , was a type of long Japanese sword. The term nodachi, or "field sword", which refers to a different type of sword, is often mistakenly used in place of ōdachi. It is historically known as ōtachi....

. This weapon was adopted by General Qi Jiguang

Qi Jiguang

Qi Jiguang was a Chinese military general and national hero during the Ming Dynasty. He was best remembered for his courage and leadership in the fight against Japanese pirates along the east coast of China, as well as his reinforcement work on the Great Wall of China.-Early life:Qi Jiguang was...

, who acquired a Kage-ryū (Aizu)

Kage-ryu (Aizu)

is a traditional school of swordsmanship founded by Aizu Hyūga-no-Kami Iko in c.1490. This school is also sometimes called Aizu Kage-ryū after the name of its founder...

 manual from Japanese wokou

Wokou

Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...

, studied and modified it for his troops and used against enemies on the Mongol

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

 border circa 1560. It replaced the zhǎn mǎ dāo

Zhanmadao

The zhanmadao was a single-bladed anti-cavalry Chinese sword of the Song Dynasty.- General characteristics :The zhanmadao is a sabre with a single long broad blade, and a long handle suitable for two-handed use....

 as a "horse slaying" weapon; if the Japanese blades were derivatives of the zhǎnmǎdāo, the changdao would effectively be a third-generation replacement of the original sword. At the time of General Qi it had a specified length of 1.95 meters, similar to the Japanese ōdachi. Its handle was long, apparently slightly more than one-third of its total length, and its curve shallower than that of Japanese swords. Commanding up to 100,000 troops on the Mongol border, General Qi found this weapon so effective that up to forty percent of his commandos had it as a weapon; it stayed in service throughout the late Ming dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

.

See also

• Ji
  Ji (halberd)
  The ji , the Chinese halberd, was used as a military weapon in one form or another from at least as early as the Shang dynasty until the end of the Qing dynasty. They are still used for training purposes by many Chinese martial arts...
  
  
• Wodao
• Nagamaki
  Nagamaki
  The nagamaki is a Japanese pole weapon with a long and heavy blade with an equally long hilt, used by the samurai warriors of medieval Japan. The nagamaki is very much like the Japanese naginata or a glaive.-History:...
  
  
• Naginata
  Naginata
  The naginata is one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades in the form of a pole weapon. Naginata were originally used by the samurai class in feudal Japan, and naginata were also used by ashigaru and sōhei .-Description:A naginata consists of a wooden shaft with a curved...
  
  
• Zanbatō
  Zanbato
  A is an especially large type of Japanese sword, the historical use of which is disputed. The sword closely resembles the Nodachi or ōdachi, however it differs from the Nodachi by having a ricasso of approximately 12 to 18 inches . This lends more credence to the theory of the sword having a...