Dao is a type of single-edged cutting weapon occupies a significant place in Chinese weapon classifications. The hieroglyph "Dao" designates a weapon with a curved blade and sharpening on one side. Thus, the prefix dao is added to the naming of knives and sabers.

The Dao sword in ancient China was the most common weapon of the regular army and the wushu. With the development of Shaolin wushu and based on the need to use monks in battle, the sword-dao became one of the most used types of weapons among monks-fighters. A holistic system of sword technique, the Dao, was formed in the Shaolin monastery in the middle and late periods of the Ming dynasty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the sword-dao technique of the Shaolin Monastery was widely used in countless battles. Starting from the Qing dynasty, the number of taolu with the sword-dao increased, and the technique of possession was constantly improved.

Shaolin exercises with a sword-dao are distinguished by an abundance of rotations around the head, turns and "sweeping" blows, and such techniques as thrusting, lifting from bottom to top, chopping blows from top to bottom, interceptions and others, made up an integral system of technical actions.