23 January 2016

Lang Ya Bang (狼牙棒)

Wolf's tooth club
Drawing of a Lang Ya Bang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.
Lang Ya Bang (狼牙棒, lit. 'Wolf's tooth cudgel') is a two-handed spiked cudgel that bears strong resemblance to English holy water sprinkler, as well as Japanese kanabō. Lang Ya Bang appeared relatively early in China's history, during Spring and Autumn period, although its most recognisable form, that of a wooden club with metal spikes, only arose in popularity during Song period.

Bronze head of Lang Ya Bang, possibly ceremonial, of the ancient Dian Kingdom.Yunnan Lijiashan Bronze Ware Museum.
There is a prevalent myth that associates Lang Ya Bang with the fearsome Jurchen warriors of the Jin Dynasty. In truth, Jin warriors, being generally mounted, were more feared for another type of blunt instrument known as Qiao Bang (敲棒, lit. 'Knocking cudgel'), which is a one-handed club with octagonal cross-section.

Cheng Zi Yi's modified Lang Ya Gun (狼牙棍)

Soldier wielding a Lang Ya Gun, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'.
Late Ming period military writer Cheng Zi Yi (程子頤) designed a different Lang Ya Bang with an elongated head and shortened handle. He claimed that his design is better suited on horseback than the original version.

3 comments:

  1. Hello, please, i make more reaserch about that special weapon and can't find any information stipulate that the origin of that kind of weapon is from Dian Kingdom.
    More likely i found that there is similar weapons as it in the central plain under the Zhou dynasty and even some under the Jin (265-420) and under the nothern and southern dynasties.
    So please, where come from your source about are coming from?
    By the way, thank you very much by the extremly great work you do here.
    Best regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should have modify my post to say "early user" since the weapon itself is not some rocket science. You are correct though, the Warring States wolf-tooth cudgel predates Dian Kingdom.

      https://i.imgur.com/aZSJgzs.jpg
      This is a Dian Kingdom Wolf-tooth cudgel.

      Delete
  2. The Chinese Armed Police still uses them
    https://images1.epochhk.com/pictures/18002/850d285egw1f6zm8ew907j20i80i8436-e1471635952558@1200x1200.jpg

    apparently there exists tactical baton versions as well

    ReplyDelete

< > Home

Random Quotes & Trivia

GREAT MING MILITARY © , All Rights Reserved. BLOG DESIGN BY Sadaf F K.