Chinese Weapons Throughout the Centuries

In the past, China has been known for the brutality and gruesome extent of their weapons.
They have been using special weapons for war purposes and also amongst civilians or as a
part of their martial arts teachings. Several of the traditional weapons are still being
practiced at many Chinese martial arts schools around the world. In the last twenty years,
China has quickly ascended from a regional to global military power. China has since gone
from a green to blue water navy, the air force has been actively developing fifth-generation
fighters, and their army has been extensively modernized. A wide range of new Chinese
weapons are under development, some alarming in their potential, and a cause for great
concern. Being covered here are five weapons, distinctive to the Chinese, which have been
used in the past, some more recently than others, either in their wars or in their martial
arts.

The Zhua
Zhua can be translated to mean to grab, to catch
or To snatch
The Zhua is an ancient Chinese staff weapon. It
consists of a clawed iron hand on a six foot pole. A
Sun Tzu expert said This was designed to take away
shields. And when that shields out of the way, your
face is next. This savage weapon was primarily used
to rip shields out of the hands of opposing warriors
and leave them exposed for upcoming attacks. It
would have also been used for ripping and tearing at
enemies and grabbing rider off horses. It proved to be a gruesome weapon, tearing a
human head apart and smashing the skull to pieces. This obviously lead to depressed
fractions or literally taking the top of the skull apart.

The Hook Sword

This sword called by many other names including a
Twin Hook, fu tau, shuang gou, is an exotic Chinese
weapon usually associated with northern, and now
sometimes southern, styles of Chinese Martial arts and

Wushu weapons routine. The blades were curved into a hook shape at the end, similar to a
sheperds hook, which allowed the user to connect the blades by the tip and wield them as
a single, long ranged weapon. These swords measured from between four to six feet from
the top of the hook to the end of the sharpened hilt. There were also a few other
components of this weapon. The sword is black and the hook of it is used for slashing,
slicing, catching weapons as well as tripping opponents. The ends of the hilt are shaped
into daggars. Lastly, the cresent guard comes in handy for blocking attacks and slashing.
When the hook swords are used together, one can combine a technique where the two
swords are hooked together, with the user swining one causing the dagger of the second
sword to slash the opponent. These blades were mainly used by civilians as the Chinese
military did not use them in any of their armies.

The Nest Of Bees

This weapon consists of a tube in the shape of a hexagon
filled with dozens of rocket- tipped arrows. The container
and arrows combined are made with materials such as
wood, paper, bamboo and gun powder. The tube starts
close at the base and widens towards the top in order to
help the arrow propel effectively. It is not the most
accurate black power weapon, however, it is capable of
firing off multiple arrows simultaneously in all different
directions. A drawback would be that it is a two handed
weapon, making it awkward or slightly difficult to move
around. More times than not, the tips of the arrows were
poisoned, or flammable materials such as pitch, bitumen
or resin were added to them, therefore increasing the
number of deaths caused. These deadly arrows can
penetrate flesh straight to the bone and they can travel
long distances, up to six hundred yards while only
weighing 6.5 pounds. They were built with consistent formulas that allowed fairly
predictable fight patters. Additionally, the arrow batteries could also have been fitted with
shoulder straps and worn like a backpack into battle. The plus side to this is it can also be
used to protect the warrior from flying debris.

War fan
A war fan is a fan used for use in either warfare or martial arts and can serve as both

offensive and defensive purposes. They are called tie shan in China,
literally meaning steel fan. War fans were first used as weapons
in the 16th century. At first glance, one could not tell the difference
between a war fan and a regular everyday folding fan, so this was a
definite pro for the warrior. This made it a stealth weapon as it could be taken into public
places without being detected. They were also portable,
lightweight and easily concealed. The war fans were used
generally to deflect a sword or spear attack, but offensively
in an open positing they could be used for slicing, while in a
closed positing they were used for stabbing. They could
also be used as a throwing weapon, as they had good range
and their round shape gave the bladed end a greater
advantage as it had a better chance of hitting the target. In
the past, war fans were made of iron or other metals but
now modern day fans are usually made of steel. More than
likely, the war fan would be used as a secondary weapon to
the sword in the case that the sword was knocked out of the users hand.

Chinese Armour
Not necessarily considered a weapon but more so defensive,
protective gear. China has had a series of armours
throughout the centuries. The Shan wen kia, also known as
mountain pattern armour was worn by high ranking
officers in China from at least the Tang (618-907) through
the Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. This type of armour is
made from numerous small pieces of steel shaped like the
Chinese character for the word "mountain". Each piece is
interlocked and secured to a cloth or leather backing. It
effectively covers the torso, shoulders
and thighs while remaining
comfortable and flexible enough to
allow movement. These heavy
lamellar armours extend from their neck down to their legs. Also
during this time, in order to protect important body parts, senior
Chinese officers used mirror armours, while cloth, leather, lamellar,
or Mountain pattern armour were used for the rest of the body.
Altogether, this design was called "bright armour". The mountain
pattern armour design was more effective that the full plate armour
in the sense that it was more cost effective, easy to manoeuvre in

and lighter. Different types of soldiers wore armours at different weights, some were
heavier than others.
Ultimately, China throughout the centuries has had a vast number of cleaver weapons
which would be considered highly destructive and that has not changed in recent times.
They will continue to produce effective weapons to empower China, protect themselves
and their people in battle or from any other danger.