Tie Bian (鐵鞭, lit. 'iron whip')
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| Drawing of a Tie Bian (highlighted), from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
The Tie Bian, often shortened as simply Bian (鞭, whip), was a type of Chinese blunt weapon. It was a segmented solid metal rod with multiple prominent bamboo-like nodes mounted on a sword hilt. The metal rod of the Tie Bian usually had rounded cross section.
Tie Jian (鐵鐧 or 鐵簡, lit. 'Iron slip')
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| Drawing of a Tie Jian, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
The Tie Jian, also known simply as Jian (鐧), was a subtype of the same me. Like the Tie Bian, it was a solid metal rod mounted on a sword hilt, although it did not have nodes, and had a concave square cross section. The Tie Jian resembled the Chinese Tie Chi (鐵尺) Okinawan Sai (釵, lit. 'Hairpin') and the Japanese Jitte (十手, lit. 'Ten hands') superficially, and was the predecessor of both of them, although it was much longer.
The Tie Jian was occasionally used as a throwing weapon, which gave rise to the idiom "Sa Shou Jian (撒手鐧, lit. 'Cast away Jian')" that was later corrupted into "Sha Shou Jian (殺手鐧, lit. 'Killing hand Jian', also translated as 'Assassin's mace')".
While both the Tie Bian and the Tie Jian were often compared to law enforcement weapon such as (police) baton, they were in fact deadly battlefield weapons designed to kill. They fulfill the same role as mace and war hammer — to bypass heavy armour with blunt trauma.
Tie Bian and Tie Jian had several advantages over typical mace and war hammer. They had more reach and better balance than their top-heavy counterparts, and thus could deliver faster blows more rapidly. They were also compatible with most forms of sword techniques, including thrusting and parrying. A blow from these weapons was very hard to parry, and body armour and helmet offered little protection against the blunt trauma inflicted by this devastating weapon.
Two-handed version of Tie Bian and Tie Jian also existed. Comparable in size to Chang Dao (長刀), two-handed Tie Bian and Tie Jian were significantly heavier than their smaller counterparts. They also drew some parallels to European estoc.
The Tie Jian was occasionally used as a throwing weapon, which gave rise to the idiom "Sa Shou Jian (撒手鐧, lit. 'Cast away Jian')" that was later corrupted into "Sha Shou Jian (殺手鐧, lit. 'Killing hand Jian', also translated as 'Assassin's mace')".
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| Tie Jian made by famous Northern Song general Li Gang (李綱), currently kept at Fujian Museum. This specimen has a length of 38", and weighs 8 lbs. |
Tie Bian and Tie Jian had several advantages over typical mace and war hammer. They had more reach and better balance than their top-heavy counterparts, and thus could deliver faster blows more rapidly. They were also compatible with most forms of sword techniques, including thrusting and parrying. A blow from these weapons was very hard to parry, and body armour and helmet offered little protection against the blunt trauma inflicted by this devastating weapon.
Two-handed version
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| Two-handed Tie Jian (left) and Tie Bian (right), from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. |
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| An extremely rare two-handed Jian. Private collection. |
