The Guandao's origin

[Razznik]

I searched on Wikipedia and it turns out it is named after Guan Yu. I thought about this and then asked myself:

• Did Guan Yu ask for a halberd-like weapon to be tailored especially for him, or is it that he used it so much that they named it after himself.
• If it wasn't made for him, when was it "created" or "introduced" to the world?

Thanks for answering my questions!

 

[Flying Crane]

It is far from certain that Guan Yu ever used the Guan Dao, or that he invented it. Popular culture may have assigned the weapon to him. It is even uncertain that the weapon existed at all during Guan Yu’s era.

 

[Damien]

The likelihood of Guan Yu using it is pretty low, although polearms have been in use in China for over 3000 years. Ji for example go all the way back to the Bronze Age. I've seen Western Zhou (about 1000-800 BC) bronzes which look a bit like a guan dao. It's entirely possible that he used a halberd of some description, but I don't knw what the historical records of the era actually say on the matter, if anything.

Proper guan dao/pu dao probably came into existence somewhere between the 10th to 13th century, which is similar to when halberds and associated weapons became popular in Europe. I expect most weapons were in use for some time in certain circles before they became widely popular in militaries; there are plenty of quirky weapons out there that never really took off (sword blades anyone?), so it could have been invented a little earlier.

 

[geezer]

...there are plenty of quirky weapons out there that never really took off (sword blades anyone?)

Sword blades? Seems like they were widely used for a few thousand years...er perhaps you meant sword-guns?

 

[Damien]

Sword blades? Seems like they were widely used for a few thousand years...er perhaps you meant sword-guns?

Haha, yes I definitely did!

I mean no one has ever heard of a sword having a blade.....

That's what you get for browsing forums before bed