Question: Chinese spears

[Timo Nieminen]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

Hmm, so would the tassels be a newer Qing dynasty innovation?
I wouldn't rule that out... I mean, Chinese cold weaponry did not stop developing in the Qing, in fact I think there were interesting shifts, such as the big popularity of double blades (double jian, double dao, butterfly swords), the innovation of the ox-tail saber, and the widespread use of the da-dao as an official weapon, symbol of Chinese nationalism, and a symbol of the older days of the Ming dynasty, etc.

I think some of these changes were a result of civilianisation of weapons. The military weapons were cannon for artillery, spear and musket for infantry, and bow and sword for cavalry. The military solution to a spear is another spear, or arrow or bullet.

What is the civilian solution to a spear? Either carry your own spear, but that isn't convenient. So carry a double weapon. Double dao is much better against a spear than a single dao. Much easier to carry than a spear. So a good civilian solution, given the knowledge of how to use it, and hopefully one doesn't run into a skilled spearman.

The oxtail dao is optimised for slicing unarmoured opponents. Good for the civilian martial artist. In principle, it might have made for a nice light cavalry sword, but was not adopted as such.

I don't know if or how dadao fit into this.

Increased dependence on militia blurs the lines between civilian and military, and contributed to this civilianisation of arms.