niuweidao

{{Short description|Type of Chinese sabre}}

{{Italic title|reason=:Category:Chinese words and phrases}}

File:Niuweidao (Oxtail saber)2.jpg

File:Chinese saber.jpg shaped like a liuyedao (note: controversial. This knife is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. It should be a niuweidao that is often mistaken for a liuyedao)]]

The niuweidao ({{zh|c=牛尾刀|p=niúwěidāo|l=ox-tailed sword}}) was a type of Chinese saber (dao) of the late Qing dynasty period. A heavy bladed weapon with a characteristic flaring tip, it is the archetypal "Chinese broadsword" of kung fu movies today. It was first recorded in the early 19th century (the latter half of the Qing dynasty) and only as a civilian weapon: there is no record of it being issued to Imperial troops, and it does not appear in any listing of official weaponry. Its appearance in movies and modern literature is thus often anachronistic.{{citation

| last = Tom

| first = Philip M. W.

| s2cid = 191359442

| title = Some Notable Sabers of the Qing Dynasty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

| journal = Metropolitan Museum Journal

| volume = 36

| year = 2001

| pages = 211

| doi=10.2307/1513063

| jstor = 1513063

}}{{citation

| last1 = Tom

| first1 = Philip M. W.

| last2 = Rodell

| first2 = Scott M.

| author-link2 = Scott M. Rodell

| title = An Introduction to Chinese Single-Edged Hilt Weapons (Dao) and Their Use in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

| journal = Kung Fu Tai Chi

| date = February 2005

| pages = 78–79

}}