There were 18 types of weapons in ancient China, so what exactly were the real battlefield weapons?

China has a saying about traditional weapons, which is ? eighteen kinds of weapons? Eighteen kinds of martial arts? , which refers to proficiency in these eighteen weapons. These eighteen weapons have a variety of say, generally speaking is: knife, gun, sword, boring, stick, fork, rake, whip, mace, hammer, axe, hook, sickle, pickpocket, abduction, bow and arrow, rattan card. In the world of opera we can often hear another expression, but it is much the same. That is the knife, gun, sword, halberd, axe, battle-axe, hook, fork, whip, mace, hammer, grasping, 镋, stick, long lance, stick, abduction, meteor hammer.

So many weapons, mainly individuals for martial arts fitness. In single combat, each weapon is able to play a variety of unique role. However, when it comes to the battlefield, it is subject to the constraints of battlefield conditions. Some weapons are popular on the battlefield for a while, but due to the change of battlefield conditions, they will be slowly eliminated.

Let's ignore what the art world says and look at it according to the first statement. Within these eighteen weapons, the last to be eliminated is the bow and arrow. This kind of weapon, since its introduction, has been active in the battlefield. It was known for its long range of attack and great killing power. Especially when cavalry dominated the battlefield, it played an important role in both offense and defense. For example, Genghis Khan's army relied on it to sweep the Eurasian continent, England relied on the longbow to defeat the superior French army several times, and China's Qing Dynasty even claimed that mounted archery won the world. Its use continued until the rifle matured. When the rifle was first introduced, it was simple to operate, fast and early rifle **** existed for quite a long time.

The rest of the weapons, according to the requirements of the war, to meet the conditions of simple manufacturing, easy to use, lethal. Within these weapons, knives, guns, swords, whips, mace, hammers and axes stood out. Some of the other weapons became decorative ceremonial weapons, and some became the exclusive weapons of some military generals. For example, the gilt boring used by Yuchenghe inside the play, and the hook and sickle spear of Xu Ning, the Golden Gunner.

Among these weapons, the use of the sword in the battlefield is relatively early. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, bronze swords were used in large numbers on the battlefield. In the Terracotta Warriors pit of Qin Shihuang, bronze swords were unearthed in kind, which have lasted for thousands of years and are as good as new. There is also the famous Goujian Sword, which shows the wisdom of our ancient working people. In the West, the main weapon of the ancient Roman legions was the bronze short sword, on which the Roman legions relied to build their empire across three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe.

But with the change of time, the battlefield conditions have changed, the gradual improvement of defensive armor, the sword has been difficult to adapt to the needs of the battlefield, and slowly out of the battlefield. However, the sword was endowed with cultural connotations and became a symbol of the gentleman, a decorative weapon worn by the scholarly men as a status symbol.

With the withdrawal of the sword, the knife took the place of the sword and became the master of the battlefield. To the development of many styles, for example, in the Tang Dynasty, the Stranger's Sword reigned supreme. Infantrymen held it to restrain cavalry. Later, China's Tang sword spread to Japan, became the object of Japanese imitation, developed the modern Japanese sword.

And the same goes for guns, which have slowly changed over the years. From go to the spear, from the spear to the gun, through the long evolution to become what it is now. The gun is called the king of weapons, can attack and defend, is an indispensable weapon of the battlefield. The horse lance in the gun used to be the magic weapon of the Tang cavalry to win.

With the popularity of heavy armor, heavy mounted cavalry became the main force on the battlefield. In order to combat this type of soldier, blunt weapons were developed along with it. Hammers, whips and mace became popular weapons. In the Song Dynasty, to counter the cavalry of the Jin, the Song army developed the great axe, which cut the horse's legs on the bottom and the cavalry on the top, and played a major role on the battlefield.

With the development of modern weapons, the vast majority of ancient weapons have been withdrawn from the battlefield. Most of these weapons became equipment for the people's fitness. However, the role they played during the long years of antiquity should not be forgotten by us.