Jian (sword breaker)

For the double-edged sword, see Jian.

Jiǎn (middle) depicted in Chinese military compendium Wujing Zongyao

The Jiǎn (simplified Chinese: 锏; traditional Chinese: 鐧; pinyin: Jiǎn) or Tie Jian (鐵鐧 or 鐵簡, lit. 'Iron slip'), also known as Chinese swordbreaker, is a type of quad-edged straight mace or club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges. The traditional Chinese weapon has a rectangular (occasionally hollow ground) cross section with sharp corners, making it ideal to focus on damaging other weapons with brutal impact. It also ends with a tip.

It was occasionally used as a throwing weapon, which gave rise to the idiom "Sa Shou Jian (撒手鐧, lit. 'Cast away Jian')" that later corrupted into "Sha Shou Jian (殺手鐧, lit. 'Killing hand Jian', also translated as 'Assassin's mace')".

There was also a two-handed version.

See also

• Eighteen Arms of Wushu
• Swordbreaker
• Jitte