The Spear in Chinese Martial Culture
By David Black Mastro (aka TrueFightScholar)
The spear has played a huge role in both hunting and fighting arts
all over the world, and China, with her vast martial heritage, is no
exception. In his excellent article, "The Spear: An Effective Weapon
Since Antiquity", author Robert H. Dohrenwend, Ph.D., noted, "The most
important weapons in the Chinese military were the bow and arrow and the
spear (
qiang), and there were specialized bodies of soldiers
trained to use each weapon." In our modern age, where so much attention
has been given to the more fantastic aspects of the Chinese martial
arts, we would do well to remember Dohrenwend's observation. Chinese
warriors relied on the fundamental missile and melee weapons of the
time, just like everyone else: the bow & arrow, the spear/lance,
and the sword & shield.
Another crucial aspect to
understanding the reality of Chinese martial arts (or any other martial
arts, for that matter) in their proper historical context is knowing
just what the term "martial art" means. The word "martial" comes from
the Latin term
martialis, which literally means "of or belonging
to Mars (the Roman god of war)". Thus, a "martial art" is a "war art".
The Chinese term
wushu is synonymous with "martial art", though
when used in the historical sense it should not be confused with the
"wushu" of today, which is a type of performance art that was developed
during the Cultural Revolution. In their useful text,
Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals--A Historical Survey,
Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo soberly noted, "For most of China's
history, martial arts had one purpose--imposing one's will upon another
by force or fear." The simple spear played a major part in this grim
task.
According to Robert Dohrenwend, bronze metallurgy
originated in the Mediterranean some 5000 years ago, and spread
eastwards via Central Asia, and eventually to China. These early
bronze-headed spears were effective, but the spear became even more
durable and lethal, with the advent of iron working. Dohrenwend wrote
that iron metallurgy began with the Hittites some 3500 years ago, and
spread around the world from there. Such technology reached China about
2500 years ago.
Unlike the Japanese
yari, the
qiang
of the Chinese most often featured a socketed spearhead, like Central
Asian, Middle Eastern, and European spears. While the Japanese
preferred their white oak for the shaft of their
yari and a composite oaked-cored & bamboo laminated shaft for their
nagae-yari
(long spear/pike), the Chinese apparently used white wax wood, which is
a species of ash. Europeans also generally preferred ash for their
polearms, as it is lighter, stronger, and more flexible than oak.
Chinese
military practice resembled that of Europe to some degree, in that
spearmen often operated in cooperation with troops armed with
sword-and-shield, and gave each other mutual support. In the West, this
integration of spearmen and swordsmen arguably reached its height with
the Spanish
colunela (lit., "little column"), which featured pikemen, arquebusiers, and
rodeleros
aka targetiers (sword-and-shield men), in a ratio of 2:2:1. The
pikemen were useful against both cavalry and other pikemen, while the
swordsmen provided close support. In the Chinese military, the
preferred weapons of the sword-and-shield troops were the single-handed
saber (
dao) and the round rattan shield (
tengpai). At around 29" in diameter, the
tengpai was similar in size to European targets (or targes). The saber type used most often was the willow leaf saber or
liuyedao,
which featured a single-handed grip, a disc-like handguard, and a
slightly curved single-edged blade of uniform width. It was a light and
handy weapon.
The integration of the spear and sword was
manifest in the celebrated "Mandarin Duck Squad" unit/formation, created
by the great Ming general, Qi Jiguang. During the mid-16th century
AD/CE, the southern Chinese coast was ravaged by Sino-Japanese pirates (
wokou in Chinese and
wako in Japanese). In
Late Imperial Chinese Armies 1520-1840, Chris Peers pointed out that, at that time, the manpower of the
wokou was 2/3 Chinese--however, even some of their Chinese warriors used very long Japanese swords (
no-dachi, which led to the reintroduction of two-handed
dao into the Chinese military) and the corresponding method of
kenjutsu. In General Qi's "Mandarin Duck Squad", four men were equipped with long spears, which outranged the
no-dachi of the enemy, but they were nevertheless supported by two sword-and-shield men.
The
overall impact of the spear on Chinese martial culture can be seen in
the legend regarding the origins of the internal art of Xingyiquan;
according to the legend, Xingyi was created by General Yue Fei, sometime
during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D./C.E.). According to
Kennedy and Guo in
Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals, Yue Fei
based Xingyi "on his mastery of the spear". Even if we question the
reality of this story, it reveals much about how highly regarded the
spear was, as a weapon.
Chinese spear technique was similiar to
that of other cultures, and one of the most noteworthy tactics is the
dreaded "slip-thrust", where the weapon is driven by the rear hand, as
the shaft slides through the forward hand. As noted in my previous
essay on Japanese spears, the "slip-thrust" gives the spearman a
tremendous advantage against users of shorter weapons like swords, since
it is so difficult to properly gauge distance.
The spear continued to be a primary weapon, into more modern times. In
Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts,
Draeger and Smith pointed out that, during the Opium Wars, the British
acknowledged that the Chinese spear was "far superior" to their
bayonets. This should not surprise us--the spear is a purpose-built
polearm that is comparatively light and maneuverable, whereas the
rifle-and-bayonet is, at best, an improvised polearm that is both
shorter and clumsier than the vast majority of spears. The Chinese
predilection for spears and sabers might be one reason why American and
European military forces retained not only bayonet work, but saber &
cutlass drill as well, right into the beginning of the 20th century.
One can see old photos of cutlass practice on board American vessels
like the armored monitor, U.S.S.
Monadnock, which was often stationed in China, and cutlass practice was also carried out on the Australian monitor
Cerberus,
which was involved in the supression of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
The retention of bayonet and sword technique in these modern Western
militaries was quite likely a functional reaction to unpleasant
experiences against Asian foes armed with traditional edged weapons,
like the Chinese, the Filipinos, the Moros, etc., and it reveals much
about the respect that modern soldiers had, for such warriors and their
skills.
For Further Reading:
Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts by Donn F. Draeger and Robert W. Smith
Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals--A Historical Survey by Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo
Chinese Swordsmanship--The Yang Family Taiji Jian Tradition by Scott M. Rodell
Ancient Chinese Weapons--A Martial Artist's Guide by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming
"The Spear--An Effective Weapon Since Antiquity" by Robert E. Dohrenwend (from the Volume 16 ~ Number 1 ~ 2007 issue of
Journal of Asian Martial Arts)
Late Imperial Chinese Armies 1520-1840 by Chris Peers (Osprey Men-At-Arms series)
Warriors of the Steppe--A Military History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to 1700 A.D. by Erik Hildinger
Pavia 1525 by Angus Konstam (Osprey Campaign series)
A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century by Sir Charles Oman
David Black Mastro - The spear in Japanese martial culture
