The jian, also called tie tian or the Chinese swordbreaker, is a traditional Chinese quad-edged straight mace or club built with a rectangular cross-section and sharp corners so it could be used to damage an opponent's bladed weapon on impact. Some variants ended in a sharp tip and could also be thrown, giving rise to a Chinese idiom describing a hidden decisive tactic held in reserve. Surviving examples, including the truncheon attributed to the Song dynasty chancellor Li Gang, confirm the weapon's use in medieval China; it is functionally related to the flexible Chinese whip, another tubular blunt weapon of the same tradition.
Facts
Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)Sword / Polearm / Bladed 1 Weapon Class (category)Club / Mace / Blunt Weapon 1 Classification
Service Status Weapon Class In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Source Wikipedia: Jian (sword breaker)LeadQuote, Lead
The jian (simplified Chinese: 锏; traditional Chinese: 鐧; pinyin: jiǎn) or tie tian (鐵鐧 or 鐵簡, lit. 'iron slip'), also known as Chinese swordbreaker or Chinese truncheon, is a type of quad-edged straight mace or club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Jian (sword breaker)
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
- Weapon class (sword-polearm-blade) is a pre-industrial/melee weapon type by its own nature per the entity's own sourced description text; not carried in current active military service.
In Group: Medieval Maces, Axes and Striking Weapons, Lead
is a type of quad-edged straight mace or club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges
View the SourceWikidata: Jian (sword breaker)
Wikidata Q15934779, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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