The mysterious background of Quan Vu’s Bao Dao in “Three Kingdoms performs the meaning”

Quan Vu invited the best craftsman in the craft of casting weapons to make his own sword.

Guan Yu is the leading general in the Three Kingdoms under Luu Bei. Thanh Long Yen Nguyet Dao is the weapon associated with this general’s image. This is an extremely powerful weapon, but not many people know about its background.

Sword of Guan Yu on screen

The Thanh Long Yen Nguyet knife was forged by Guan Yu when he was about to fight the Yellow Turban army in the novel “Three Kingdoms acting”. Legend has it that Quan Vu’s dragon fruit weighed 82 pounds (about 49 kg today).

Image of Thanh Long Yen Nguyet and Quan Vu in “Three Kingdoms acting”.

Thanh Long Yen Nguyet is a weapon with a pointed tip, a long handle, a blade shaped like a semicircle, and a dragon engraved on the blade. Yen Nguyet means curved like half the arc of the moon. When Quan Vu went to war, people still called it Thanh Long knife because of the green color of the blade when cutting at the enemy.

This image of Bao Dao is clearly depicted in the 1994 film version adapted from the novel “Three Kingdoms” by writer La Quan Trung. In the movie, Guan Yu (Luc Thu Minh) wanted to make himself a satisfactory weapon, so he found many blacksmithing masters to discuss. The nobles all agreed that using a great knife is the most majestic. The great saber is divided into 5 levels: Tiet Dao, Cuong Dao, Nhu Cuong Dao, Thanh Cuong Dao, and Bao Dao.

Video: Excerpt from Quan Vu’s training process of Thanh Long Yen Nguyet in the movie “Three Kingdoms” in 1994.

In which, Bao Dao is the legendary type, because even the best blacksmith who trains thousands of lucky knives can only get a Thanh Cuong knife, not a Bao Dao. However, Quan Vu is adamant that no matter how much it costs, he will pay to forge Bao Dao. Guan Gong served earnestly day and night, personally searching for all the materials they asked for, no matter how difficult it was. Therefore, more than a dozen great masters of gas refining were grateful, and in addition to their eagerness to become a legendary weapon, they devoted all their efforts to forging knives.

After more than a month, the blacksmiths had more than a dozen Nhu Cuong knives, but none of them satisfied Quan Vu. A month later, they were able to practice a Cuong Dao, but Guan Yu was still not satisfied and asked to continue practicing.

On a moonlit night, Guan Yu and a few blacksmiths drank wine together. Inadvertently, a cup of wine poured into a piece of jade that he had worn since childhood. Immediately, the jade pendant suddenly glowed and gave off a cool dim light, and at the same time, the fire in the nearby forge suddenly lit up.

Quan Vu holds the Qinglong Yen Nguyet knife and rides on the Red Horse.

The blacksmiths saw a strange omen, so they thought it was a sign that a god was about to come out of the world. They asked Guan Yu to attach the jade piece to the blade he was forging right after taking it out of the furnace. While smelting in the water, the jade piece suddenly glowed and emitted a white gas that soared into the air.

When the blade was just finished forging, suddenly a stormy wind began to rise, then 1780 drops of blood rained down from the air. The Confucianists there analyzed that it was the blood of the Thanh Long (blue dragon). For that reason, it was called the Blue Dragon Yen Nguyet Blade. According to historical records, Yan Yuetao killed a total of 1780 people.

After Guan Yu’s death, Thanh Long Yen Nguyet’s sword was usurped by Phan Chuong, a general of Dong Ngo. In the end, Quan Hung, son of Quan Van Truong, avenged his father and took back the legendary Bao Dao.

Yen Nguyet Dao in history

Thanh Long Yen Nguyet new knife appeared from the Song Dynasty.

According to author Roger Pelissier of the book “Complete Martial Arts”, the Yen Nguyet saber is a weapon born in the Song Dynasty (that is, about 9 centuries after the Three Kingdoms period), often used in practice and performance. majestic solemnity, not in battle.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Knife was largely used as a tool to test the strength of those who wanted to become military officers. Chinese historians all believe that, in the Three Kingdoms era, the technology of making weapons had not yet reached the level of sophistication to be able to make a great blade like the Qinglong Yen Nguyet Dao like the writer La Quan Trung Mo. described in “Three Kingdoms interpreting meaning”.

Guan Yu’s familiar weapon is something similar to a spear or spear, not a long sword or the legendary Blue Dragon blade.

Most of the knives used in the Three Kingdoms period had a narrow blade, about 1m in length, quite large in thickness, and had one blade. Generals of the Three Kingdoms period, including Guan Yu, are said to have preferred to use long spears to attack their opponents on horseback.