Could This Have Been the Real Weapon of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei???

In this video we hit the controversial topic of what were the real weapons of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. In short, we don’t know exactly, but for sure they were not the Crescent Blade Guan Dao and Snake Tongue Spear we associate them with because those two weapons did not exist until centuries later in the Song dynasty. So we can look at what weapons were available in the Han Dynasty, and what they were most likely to use based on their military rank, and commonly fought on horseback. This leads us to speculate that they used polearm weapons like the Sha, Pi, or Qiang. I personally think they would have used a Sha as their main polearm, but that is only my opinion, so what do you think?
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[GradyGillis]

Very well done. I have no problem with the duality of researching and building a picture of the highest probability reality of the Three Kingdoms period on the one hand while simultaneously preserving the legends and myths of the novel. It isn't even a solid fact that Luo Guanzhong wrote the thing. All reputable sources simply say it was attributed to him. The novel is a work of historical "faction" that is in some ways similar to the Horatio Hornblower and Richard Sharpe series. In those, real history is a backdrop for fictional characters and adjustments are made as necessary for good stories. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in my opinion, is more fact-based and uses people and events with historical provenance for the skeleton of the story. The novel is really more about using the heroes (and anti-heroes like Cao Cao and Lu Bu) to teach lessons about culture and humanity. Greed and pride, loyalty and treachery, selflessness and selfishness, heroism and cowardice are all shown in the framework of a crumbling and divided empire with all the inherent paranoia and fear-driven evil against the noble and honorable intents of the heroes who are trying to preserve the Han dynasty. The novel was supposedly published right at the end of the Yuan dynasty of the Mongols and the beginning of the Ming dynasty that restored Han rule. What better timing for a story about the greatness of Han character as portrayed by the larger than life protagonists?
The real or most probable weapons of the heroes absolutely have their place in history and martial arts. So do the ones we have from the novel. They represent the heart of the intent of the story and removing them devalues the intent of the novel to uplift the Han by using larger than life images of the heroes. The weapons are all part of that. Plus, who doesn't like the Guan Dao?

[RlKrav]

I think it's likely that Zhang Fei's serpent spear was not the name of his spear but his spear style when fighting. He may have used a spear style so well it looked as flexible as a snake and could strike as fast as one as well.

[Intranetusa]

Great video. I will add that the Han Dynasty did have a glaive-like weapons that may have resembled the Guan Dao/Green Dragon Crescent Blade. This is seen in the metal remains of a glaive-like weapon (that almost looks like an Egyptian Khopesh) and depictions of some other glaive-like weapons in some tomb carvings. So it's possible that Guan Yu could've used a weapon that may not have resembled the traditional Guan Dao, but still sort of resembled a glaive.

[strangerblvd]

What an informative episode. Great editing and pacing as well. I didn’t know anything covered in this episode so it was awesome to learn.

[robertlim]

You have deep thinking, and I respected you

[NihonJujutsu]

Bonjour Sifu 🙏🏼

merci pour cette superbe vidéo
passionnante 🙏🏼
Bon week-end

[alexxu]

guanyu's dao can be a single-edged sha with narrow straight blade like han dao, I don't think a double-edged polearm will be called a dao in legands, now zhangfei's snake spear i suspect might be a sha with tip broke off and he's like oh thats more badass and kept it that way

[WhiteApeMA]

There definitely comes a point as time goes on being into this kinda stuff, where it's like, stage 1: "omg! Guan Dao! Named after Guan Yu the legend!" Stage 2: "Everything I thought was based on a bunch of ancient lore and propaganda. Boo-hoo..." And finally Stage 3: Acknowledging the lore, the historical reality, and learning to appreciate them both while knowing the difference.
But man, when you first dive in, you see historical texts and depictions that look something like what you practice and it can be so exciting! Just learn not to be too disappointed when it turns out it was a page out of an old romance novel. Haha!
Great video, Sifu!

[MrDCrosswell]

Guan Yu is actually supposed to have made up a pair of Dadao for himself.
These were his main go tos.
Yes, curved blades have existed in Chinese weaponry for some time.
Straight blades, regardless of how they are termed, are employed in a totally different manner to that of a single-edges sabre type.

[Kid-A]

Ooh ooh! I know some of the blades! I asked you to review them a long time ago.

[RealLifeHoodBilly]

I got samurai warriors two playing in the abckground yourbdramatic music and the fighting sounds in the background are so perfect together.

[User-kjxklyntrw]

Update info. 1 feet in ancient Qin Dynasty (predated Han dynasty) China is around 28 cm (because we can see Teracotta Warrior were made copy real live warrior height, and Teracotta warrior height around 175-200 cm, that mean 1 average feet measurement at that time is equal with nowaday 170 cm men feet, that around 28 cm). Meanwhile 1 Chi (eastern han dynasty ruler) is around 24 cm. So 1 Cun 1/10 of Eastern Han Dynasty Ruler 24 cm is 2, 4 cm). So Cao cao 6 Chi 7 Cun is around 160 cm. Mean while Guan Yu not using Chi (Ruler) measurement, for too tall people (above 1, 9 meter), they using feet measurement, 9 feet x 28cm = 252 cm. The Green Dragon Saber that wield by Guan Yu is not ordinary standart spear at that era, it special personal customized weapon to black smith, to attain that long sabre (Green Dragon Crescent Sabre), the black smith make it thick, that why it weight around 44, 5 kg. (Chang Fei also customized his weapon Snake Spear, not standart ordinary soldier weapon) Because Guan Yu well known as Giant Strong Martial Art Artist, so He able to wield it with ease). Ancient Chinese Warrior Strong Men able to lift more than 100-150 kg with one hand. So it is acceptable if Guan Yu Sabre weight 44, 5 kg. Meanwhile LuBu Giant Red Horse that using by Guan Yu is Rare Wild breed giant Horse (wild horse is growth bigger and stronger than stock horse), possibly Wild Giant Ferghana Horse (the height from toe to head top is 2, 3 m). Liu Bei 7 feet x 28 cm is around 196 cm. Chang Fei 8 feet x 28 cm is around 224 cm.

[darkcorsair]

loved the video!! thanks for sharing it with us

[kokovas]

Very interesting indeed. I just checked wiki also, weapon like naginata which is bit similar like a Ta Dao, appeared from historic references only during the 10th or 11th century. Makes me really wondering what Guan Yu really used as his long blade weapon.

[bigskytv]

Amazing knowledge (and analysis/theories). Don't know how you know so much about ancient Chinese stuff but two thumbs up!

[muteme]

when you grew up playing dynasty warriors as a kid in elementary. early development of han dynasty history love grew deep within

[Rancorous_Redwood]

Awesome bit of context! I love the balancing of traditional cultural depictions and their place against archeological and historical evidence and acknowledging the need and place for both.
Also, it's damn cool to see someone actually doing cutting with Chinese weapons! It certainly is not like the Chinese martial arts that I have been around.

[theadmiral]

Great video!!! 👍👍🙏🙏🙏 I’m training Shaolin staff with a 2m 16kg yoga bar. Eventually I’ll have a 2.5m kuan dao made… aiming for 20-25kg….. 💪💪🙏🙏🙏

[User-kjxklyntrw]

Those weapon already exist in Han dynasty, but it more like special customized weapon to blacksmith, not common weapon.

[lavenoiro]

I would to know what short saber looks like.