Monk's Spade
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A monk's spade (; also, ), also called a Shaolin spade, is a Chinese
polearm A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly melee we ...
consisting of a long pole with a flat spade-like blade on one end and a smaller crescent shaped blade on the other. Neither blade was designed to be sharpened. In old China,
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
monks often carried
spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...
s (shovels) with them when travelling. This served two purposes: if they came upon a corpse on the road, they could properly bury it with Buddhist rites, and the large implement could serve as a weapon for defence against bandits. The crescent was designed as defense against small to medium-sized predators such as wild dogs and leopards. The way it is used is to hold the animal at bay by positioning the crescent at the animal's neck and pushing it away if needed. Over time, they were stylised into the ''monk's spade'' weapon.


See also

*
Khakkhara A khakkhara (; ; ; ), sometimes referred to in English as a pewter staff, is a staff topped with metal rings traditionally carried by Buddhism, Buddhist monks, particularly in East Asian Buddhism. Originally used as a noisemaker to announce a m ...
* Sasumata


References

* Holmes Welch, ''The Practice of Chinese Buddhism 1900—1950'',
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...
, 1973 * Chlumsky, Nathan (Sensei). (2023) 'Inside Kungfu: Chinese Martial Arts Encyclopedia.' (2nd ed.)
Amazon Publishing Amazon Publishing (or simply APub) is Amazon's book publishing unit launched in 2009. It is composed of 15 imprints including AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, 47North, and Topple Books. Amazon publishes e-books ...
, ISBN 979-8561743771 Edged and bladed weapons Chinese polearms Ritual weapons Ceremonial weapons {{Polearm-stub