The Bian () or Tie Bian () and Gang Bian (), also known as Chinese whip or hard whip, is a type of tubular-shaped

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

or rod

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

designed to inflict blunt damage with

whipping Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

motion. Despite having a rigid construct, the Bian whip shares its name with the horsewhip and

chain whip The chain whip, also known as the soft whip, is a weapon used in some Chinese martial arts, particularly traditional Chinese disciplines, in addition to modern and traditional wushu. It consists of several metal rods, which are joined end-to-e ...

. Thus, the weapon is sometimes translated as the hard whip to distinguish it from the others. According to the book ''The Chain Whip'', a whip in historical text may refer to the both soft whip and hard whip due to the ambiguity in the

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

. "Both the hard whip and the soft whip can both be referred to simply as ''whip'' (鞭) in Chinese." A typical whip is made with

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

and has a length of around . Bamboo node-like protrusions are attached to the weapon body at regular intervals to reduce the contact surface and enhance the striking effect. The whip is stiff and does not bend. It weighs . The weapon is used mainly on horseback with one hand, sometimes with two whips in both hands. Comparing to the top-heavy Chinese hammer, the whip has better reach and balance. The weapon is also compatible most forms of

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

techniques, including parrying. Whip is functionally similar to the Jiǎn, a type of blunt weapons in ancient China.

Gallery

File:Ming whip, blade, and truncheon.jpg, Hard whip of

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(top and bottom) File:Ming Iron Sword and Whip (19791306721).jpg, Hard whip of Ming dynasty File:Qing Steel Sword and Whip (19217908494).jpg, Steel whip of

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(bottom) File:Wujing Zongyao flails.jpg, A

flail A flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing, the process of separating grains from their husks. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the other (the swipple) to st ...

-like iron whip (right) in ''

Wujing Zongyao The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), sometimes rendered in English as the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044. The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by Ze ...

'' File:武備志茅元儀明朝兵器 21.jpg, Two types of iron whips (middle and right) in military compendium ''

Wu Bei Zhi The ''Wubei Zhi'' (; ''Treatise on Armament Technology'' or ''Records of Armaments and Military Provisions''), also commonly known by its Japanese translated name Bubishi, is a military book in Chinese history. It was compiled in 1621 by Mao Y ...

References

Clubs (weapon) Chinese melee weapons {{Blunt-weapon-stub

Gallery

See also

References