However, historically speaking it is likely that Guan Yu most likely would not have used a dagger-axe (ji) . While the famous novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong describes him as wielding the guan dao, this description might be an anachronistic one, as there is no illustration to show that it was ever used prior to the 7th cent. Tang dynasty or the Song dynasty when it was first illustrated in the military manual Wujing Zongyao. The guan dao, therefore, was likely neither invented nor ever used by Guan Yu, meaning that it is somewhat of a pop culture-derived misnomer. However, some historians believe that the guan dao was simply an uncommon, rare weapon prior to the Song dynasty and was thus not illustrated before then.