Dragon Cavalry Sabre 1895-1928

Near the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing army suffers major defeats in wars with modern powers. Recognizing the outdated weaponry and training of its military, the Qing government embarked on a military reform by establishing a new army model after modern western military practice. The Beiyang New Army was formed.  Beiyang, North China Sea in Chinese, referred to the vast region around the coast of North China Sea where the new army was established. By 1905, there were more than 70,000 troops in six regiments of the Beiyang New Army. Each regiment had one cavalry unit, with three battalions per unit and four teams per battalion and equipped with 1,046 cavalry sabers. With their training in German systems by German instructors, the cavalry saber of the New Beiyang Army was copied from the German M1889 cavalry saber, except that the eagle emblem on the M1889 guard was changed to a Chinese dragon emblem.

The blade was made in Solingen and bears the Solingen mark. A horizontal pipe back ridge forms on the back of the blade, and becomes a central ridge at the tip. The hilt of the saber was equipped with a steel guard and the guard was connected to the head of the hilt through an integrally made finger guard, and the grip was made of Bakelite, the first synesthetic plastic. The scabbard was made of nickel-plated steel and has two sheath rings with fixed hanging loops.

Total Length: 98cm
Blade Length: 83.4cm
Blade Width: 2.8cm
Blade Thickness: 8mm
P.O.B (from guard): 10cm
Weight (without scabbard): 938g
Edge: Sharp

All dimensions are approximate and may vary from piece to piece.