中国刀剑

从左向右排列：春秋式剑、战国式剑、秦剑、汉剑、明剑、清剑

中国的刀剑类武器在传统上可分为“刀”与“剑”两个大类。其中“剑”通常为两侧对称的双刃式设计，主要的攻击方式为刺/扎/截等，在英语中通常意译作“longsword”；与之相对的，“刀”一般则是一边开刃的单刃式设计，并且自宋代起刀身整体多为弯曲式，主要攻击方式为劈/砍/切等，在英语中通常意译作“saber”或“knife”。

中国的刀剑历史最早可追溯至上古时代，最早的青铜剑于西周时期便已经出现，刀剑的材料在战国时代后期开始改为使用更为耐操的锻铁与钢材。而在现代，解放军海军的仪仗刀自2008年起开始仿照中国传统刀剑的样式而设计。除蝴蝶双刀等特殊武器之外，一般的中国刀剑在长度上通常都为70—110 cm（28—43英寸）左右，但一些情况下也会有超长的刀剑被使用。

除了古代中国之外，日本古代也曾在公元3至6世纪期间使用过中国式刀剑，但后者在平安时代期间逐渐演化为了日本刀并随之被其所最终取代。

参见

• 中国剑术
• 中国甲胄
• 中国攻城武器
• 日本刀
• 印度刀剑
• 朝鲜刀剑

书目

• Andrade, Tonio, The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History, Princeton University Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-13597-7 .
• Behr, Wolfgang. Stray loanword gleanings from two Ancient Chinese fictional texts. 16e Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale, Centre de Recherches Linguistiques Sur l'Asie Orientale (E.H.E.S.S.), Paris. 2002: 1–6. 
• Brindley, Erica Fox, Ancient China and the Yue, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-107-08478-0. 
• Brindley, Erica Fox, Barbarians or Not? Ethnicity and Changing Conceptions of the Ancient Yue (Viet) Peoples, ca. 400–50 BC (PDF), Asia Major 16 (2): 1–32, 2003 [2023-10-26], JSTOR 41649870, （原始内容存档 (PDF)于2023-03-26）. 
• Coyet, Frederic, Neglected Formosa: a translation from the Dutch of Frederic Coyett's Verwaerloosde Formosa, 1975 
• Crespigny, Rafe de, Fire Over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty, 23-220 AD, Brill, 2017 
• Graff, David A., Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900, Routledge, 2002 
• Graff, David A., The Eurasian Way of War: Military practice in seventh-century China and Byzantium, Routledge, 2016 
• Kitamura, Takai, Zhanlue Zhanshu Bingqi: Zhongguo Zhonggu Pian, Gakken, 1999 
• Lorge, Peter A., Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-521-87881-4 
• Lorge, Peter, The Reunification of China: Peace through War under the Song Dynasty, Cambridge University Press, 2015 
• Milburn, Olivia, The Glory of Yue, 2010 
• Peers, C.J., Ancient Chinese Armies: 1500-200BC, Osprey Publishing, 1990 
• Peers, C.J., Medieval Chinese Armies: 1260-1520, Osprey Publishing, 1992 
• Peers, C.J., Imperial Chinese Armies (1): 200BC-AD589, Osprey Publishing, 1995 
• Peers, C.J., Imperial Chinese Armies (2): 590-1260AD, Osprey Publishing, 1996 
• Peers, C.J., Soldiers of the Dragon: Chinese Armies 1500 BC - AD 1840, Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2006 
• Peers, Chris, Battles of Ancient China, Pen & Sword Military, 2013 
• Perdue, Peter C., China Marches West, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005 
• Robinson, K.G., Science and Civilization in China Volume 7 Part 2: General Conclusions and Reflections, Cambridge University Press, 2004 
• Swope, Kenneth M., A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592–1598, University of Oklahoma Press, 2009 
• Wood, W. W., Sketches of China, 1830 
• Wagner, Donald B., Iron and Steel in Ancient China, E.J. Brill, 1996 
• Wagner, Donald B., Science and Civilization in China Volume 5-11: Ferrous Metallurgy, Cambridge University Press, 2008 
• Wright, David, From War to Diplomatic Parity in Eleventh Century China, Brill, 2005 
• Late Imperial Chinese Armies: 1520-1840 C.J. Peers, Illustrated by Christa Hook, Osprey Publishing «Men-at-arms», ISBN 1-85532-655-8

外部链接

• http://www.shadowofleaves.com/Chinese_Sword_History.htm （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
• http://www.chinesesword.net/Swordplay/Swordplay1E.htm （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）