Zhua Zu Sha Ma Feng Lian (撾足殺馬風鐮)

Drawing of a Zhua Zu Sha Ma Feng Lian, from 'San Cai Tu Hui (《三才圖會》)'.

Zhua Zu Sha Ma Feng Lian (撾足殺馬風鐮, lit. 'Foot-catching, horse-killing wind sickle') was a simple yet vicious trap designed for anti-cavalry warfare. It consisted of a small wooden hexagonal or rounded hoop with twelve inward-pointing nails made of iron or bamboo, tethered to a sharp sickle blade with a rope.

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Di Yong Qiang (地湧鎗)

UPDATED NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Sprung trap (left) and unsprung trap (right), from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Di Yong Qiang (地湧鎗, lit. 'Ground surge spear'), also known as Di Yong Shen Qiang (地湧神鎗, lit. 'Ground surge divine spear') was a simple yet deadly pressure plate-activated spiked trap. Designed to be easy to use, mass-producible and disposable, Di Yong Qiang consisted of a flat, rectangular wooden frame, a wooden plank serving as pressure plate, and up to eight steel spikes connected to the pressure plate with ropes and eye bolts.

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Ji Li (蒺藜)

A string of caltrops, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Ji Li (蒺藜, lit. 'Puncturevine') was the Chinese name for caltrop. It was usually made of iron, although sometimes wood was used instead. Multiple caltrops, usually five or six, were often strung together with a one bu long rope, so that they could be deployed quickly and retrieved for latter use. Stringed caltrops could be hung on Ai Pai (挨牌) or spear shaft for ease of transportation.

Beside deploying caltrops via normal means, Ming Chinese also used grenades, land mines and explosive shells filled with caltrops.

Standard, four-pointed caltrop was sometimes known as Ling Jiao (菱角, lit. 'Water caltrop'), while caltrop cooked in human feces to inflict infection was called Gui Jian (鬼箭).

A four-pointed wooden caltrop (lower left) and two four-pointed iron caltrops (lower right), from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

A multi-point iron caltrop (highlighted), from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Gui Jian (鬼箭)

Gui Jian, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Gui Jian (鬼箭, lit. 'Ghost arrow') was a type of iron caltrop that was cooked with either human feces or poison so that it wouldcause infection when stepped on. It was a very dirty weapon and poses great danger to its user, and thus usually stored inside a container made of bamboo. Instead of planting the caltrops one by one, user of Gui Jian simply scattered the caltrops directly from the container.

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