Qiang (spear)

Common card · No. 318395

Qiang (pronunciation: [tɕʰjáŋ], English approximation: chyahng, simplified Chinese: 枪; traditional Chinese: 槍; pinyin: qiāng; Jyutping: coeng1) is a Chinese term for spear. Due to its relative ease of manufacture, the spear in many variations was ubiquitous on the pre-modern Chinese battlefield. It is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the gun (staff), dao (sabre), and the jian (straight sword), called in this group "The King of Weapons". Common features of the Chinese spear are the leaf-shaped blade and red horse-hair tassel lashed below. The tassel shows elite troop status, which also helped it serve a tactical purpose. The length varied from around 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) long, up to 6 m (20 ft) in length. According to general Qi Jiguang, the Ming military categorized spears above 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) as short spears, 4 m (13 ft) as long spears, and spears below 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) as spiked staffs, which were used more for hitting than stabbing. Spears used in war were typically...

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