It was used as an anti-cavalry weapon, dating from Emperor Cheng of Han, made to slice through horse's legs.
Chinese names are interesting in that there are virtually infinite given names and a relatively small set of family names.
However some names are still widely used around China.
The blade was 114 centimetres long and very straight with a slight curve in the last half.
Possible variations of these Chinese swords were the changdao, miao dao, and wodao.
Women in New York City have the legal right to go topless since 1992. Zbranek initially rode out the category four storm in the boat but as the storm grew in intensity, the winds caused the boat to wreck into the pier and ruptured the side of the boat.
He got out and sought shelter in his car until daybreak.
2, recorded in March 1997, is Lei Qiang's second album since he resettled in Montreal, Canada and his second opus for the label Oliver Sudden.
Just like the first volume, released two years earlier, Qiang is accompanied by the Shaanxi Provincial Song & Dance Troupe, conducted by Zhou Yu Guo.
Surviving sharpened examples point to actual use as weapons, but their rarity, and the training necessary to use them, strongly suggest that they were only rarely used as such.
Also known as "tiger hook swords" or qian kun ri yue dao (literally "Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon sword"), these weapons have a sharp blade similar to the jian, though possibly thicker or sometimes unsharpened, with a prong or hook (similar to a shepherd's crook) near the tip.
While sometimes called an ancient weapon and described as dating from the Song dynasty to Warring States or even earlier, most antique examples and artistic depictions are from the late Qing era or later, suggesting that they are actually a comparatively recent design.