Qiang (spear)

Qiang (qīang,槍) is the Chinese term for spear. Due to its relative ease of manufacture, the spear in many variations was one of the most ubiquitous weapons of the pre-modern Chinese battlefield. It is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the staff, saber, and the sword, called in this group "The King of Weapons".

Common features of the Chinese spear are the leaf shaped blade and red horse-hair tassle lashed just below. When the spear is moving quickly, the addition of the tassle aids in blurring the vision of the opponent so that it is more difficult for them to grab the spear they are being attacked with behind the point. The length varied from between 7ft (2 meters) commonly used by nfantry increasing up to 13 ft (3 meters) favoured by cavalry.

Many Chinese martial arts feature spear training in their curriculum. The conditioning provided by spear technique is seen as invaluable and in many styles it is the first weapons training introduced to students. Moreover, some schools of empty handed fighting in China credit spear technique as their foundation, including Xingyiquan and Bajiquan.