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The jian (Mandarin Chinese:, Chinese: 劍, English approximation: / dʒ j ɛ n / jyehn, Cantonese:) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BCE, during the Spring and Autumn period; [1] one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian.
Historically, Chinese swords are classified into two types, the jian and the dao. A Jian is a straight, double-edged sword mainly used for stabbing ; the term has been commonly translated into the English language as a longsword .
In Chinese mythology, in various sources, associated with much related mythological material, various swords are said to have been forged by Gan Jiang (who studied under Ou Yezi) and Mo Xie (also transliterated as "Kan Chiang" and "Mo Yeh"), who were a husband and wife pair and eponymous makers of paired swords [20] Gan-jiang was the male, Mo ...
In military culture throughout history, the sword symbolised the warrior's soul. Chinese sword culture idealizes sword skill and regards swords as a virtue and a symbol of personal social and cultural accomplishment. [10] The sword embodies the spirit of the Chinese people and has been praised in art works and legends for thousands of years.
Jian (middle) depicted in Chinese military compendium Wujing Zongyao. The jian (simplified Chinese: 锏; traditional Chinese: 鐧; pinyin: jiǎn) or tie tian (鐵鐧 or 鐵簡, lit. 'iron slip'), also known as Chinese swordbreaker or Chinese truncheon, [1] is a type of quad-edged straight mace or club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges.
Jian (Chinese: 聻; pinyin: jiàn; Wade–Giles: chien) refers to the "ghost" of a ghost. [27] Just as ghosts frighten men, ghosts of ghosts frighten ghosts. A story in volume 5 of Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio contained the following line: "A person becomes a ghost after death, a ghost becomes a jian after death." [28]
The Chinese spear and dao (liuyedao and yanmaodao) were commonly issued to infantry due to the expense of and relatively greater amount of training required for the effective use of the Chinese straight sword, or jian. Dao can often be depicted in period artwork worn by officers and infantry.
The Chinese equivalent of this type of sword in terms of weight and length is the miaodao or the earlier zhanmadao, and the Western battlefield equivalent (though less similar) is the Zweihänder. To qualify as an ōdachi , the sword in question would have a blade length of around 3 shaku (90.9 cm (35.8 in)).