The earliest standard combat knife in the history of China sword is the ring-head knife that appeared in the Western Han Dynasty. Huan Jian is han dao, who can be said to be the ancestor of China's ancient combating Dao. It is of great historical significance and is the beginning and source of the ancient history of combating Dao in China. Ring-edged sword was the first standard combat knife forged in large quantities in ancient China, and it was also the most lethal cold weapon in melee at that time.

In the war between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, its heavily armed soldiers played a huge role by virtue of their own terrorist attacks, and indirectly contributed to the Xiongnu's westward migration. This is of great significance in the history of our country. The format of ring head knives is generally long, ranging from 100 cm to 120 cm.

The characteristic is obvious, that is, the top of the handle of all ring knives has an oblate ring. This ring is not only used for decoration, but also plays a role in balancing weight. It is a very practical part, and the "ring knife" is also named after this ring.

Because iron and steel smelting's technology entered a stage of rapid development in the Western Han Dynasty, the output and quality of steel were greatly improved, so the ring head knife was made of steel, and the forging method was the same as that of Han Jian, which made its blade very tough and of good quality.

The only drawback is the rough appearance, which is not as exquisite as tangdao's late Dao. Ring-head knife has a straight and narrow blade, a thick back and an inclined blade.

Moreover, the ring-headed sword has no lattice (the part between the body and the hilt is used as a guard), so it can only be attacked but not prevented. This is the biggest difference from later Dao, which fully shows the most ferocious and primitive side of Dao weapon.

Ring-head knives can be divided into five types according to the connection mode between the "ring" at the top of the handle and the knife body. The first is that the ring head and the knife are forged separately, and then welded together after completion; The second one is similar to the first one, except that the ring head is cut with the same notch as the handle and then welded.

The third type is relatively rare, that is, the handle is slotted and the forged ring head is welded in the handle. Generally, the quality of the ring head knife in this way is excellent; The fourth is to forge the ring head and the handle into a whole, then weld it with the blade body and reinforce it with nails (a circular fixture used to fix the handle and handle of weapons).

The fifth method is non-welding, and the ring head and the knife are integrally forged. The ring head knife forged in this way will be inlaid with very delicate dragon and sparrow patterns inside the ring head, which is called "dragon and sparrow big ring"

Ring-headed Dao appeared in place of Han Jian in the same period, and it is a weapon specially forged for actual combat. Its outstanding performance has been continuously influencing the dynasties after the Han Dynasty, especially the Tang Dynasty. Tangdao of various specifications was forged on the basis of ring-head knives, which realized the unprecedented prosperity of knives and weapons.

Ring-headed Dao not only had a long-term influence on the history of China's Dao, but also was strongly sought after in outland, especially in Japan (called Japan in Han Dynasty). In Japan at that time, han dao in China was a very precious knife, and there were more or less dozens of han dao in Japan's home in big noble.

At that time, there were countless Japanese folk imitations of han dao. Looking at the ancient Japanese Dao now, you will find some shadows of Korean Dao. Nowadays, han dao and other ancient knives are no longer sharp weapons in the hands of soldiers on the battlefield, but have become precious history and culture in China.

As a work of art, it is placed in our history museum, so that future generations can imagine the bloody scenes of ancient soldiers holding them to fight and defend the frontier from their bodies.