Jian (sword breaker)

Chinese mace or club weapon

For the double-edged sword, see Jian.

Jian (middle) depicted in Chinese military compendium Wujing Zongyao

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,[1] is a type of quad-edged straight mace or club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges. The traditional Chinese weapon has a rectangular (occasionally hollow ground) cross section with sharp corners, making it ideal to focus on damaging other weapons with brutal impact.[2][3]

Some variants end with a sharp tip. It was occasionally used as a throwing weapon, which gave rise to the idiom "sa shou jian (撒手鐧, lit. 'cast away jian')" that later corrupted into "sha shou jian (殺手鐧, lit. 'killing hand jian', also translated as 'assassin's mace')".[4]

Jian is functionally similar to Chinese whip, a type of blunt weapons in tubular shapes.[1]

## Gallery

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* Truncheon of Chancellor Li Gang, Song dynasty

## See also

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Look up 鐧 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Bian (weapon)
* Eighteen Arms of Wushu
* Jitte
* Swordbreaker

## References

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1. ^ a b "Chinese Whip / Truncheon". chineselongsword.
2. ^ "Chinese Sword Breaker". Reliks.
3. ^ "A Chinese sword breaker (jian)". mandarinmansion.
4. ^ Khan, Saif Ul Islam (2017-04-04). Assassin's Mace: A Chinese Game Changer. Rohan Vij. ISBN 978-93-85563-03-4.

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Types of Chinese weaponry

Swords|

| Short swords|

* Dadao 大刀
* Dao 刀
* Hudie shuangdao (butterfly sword) 蝴蝶雙刀
* Jian 劍
* Liuyedao 柳葉刀
* Niuweidao 牛尾刀
* Piandao 片刀
* Yanmaodao 雁毛刀

|

Long swords|

* Changdao 長刀
* Miaodao 苗刀
* Wodao 倭刀
* Zhanmadao 斬馬刀

Polearms|

* Guandao 關刀
* Ge (dagger-axe) 戈
* Gun 棍
* Ji 戟
* Podao 朴刀
* Qiang 槍
* Hongyingqiang 紅纓槍
* Tang 镗
* Yueya chan (monk's spade) 月牙鏟

Roped/chained|

* Liuxing Chui (meteor hammer) 流星錘
* Sheng biao (rope dart) 繩鏢
* Jiujie bian (nine section whip) 九節鞭
* Sanjie gun 三節棍
* Chang xiao bang 長小棒

Projectile|

* Nu 弩
* Zhuge nu 諸葛弩
* Fire arrow 火箭
* Huoqiang 火槍
* Tu Huo Qiang 突火槍
* Huochong 火銃
* Shouchong 手銃
* Rocket cart 火箭車
* San yan chong 三眼銃
* Che Dian Chong 掣電銃
* Xun Lei Chong 迅雷銃
* Wankou Chong 碗口銃
* Hu dun pao 虎蹲砲
* Thunder crash bomb 震天雷

Handheld|

* Biān 鞭
* Chǐ 尺
* Chúi 錘
* Emeici 峨嵋刺
* Jiǎn 鐧
* Lujiao dao / Yuanyangyue (deer horn knives) 鹿角刀, 鴛鴦鉞
* Hook sword 鉤
* Ji lian 鷄鐮
* Fenghuo lun 風火輪

Protection|

* Armour and helmet 甲胄
* Shield 盾
* Hook shield 鉤鑲

Major lists|

* Eighteen Arms of Wushu

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