C.1735-1796. The Qianlong Emperor, fifth of the Qing dynasty, expanded China and its influence through a number of border wars including seating the Dalai Lama as ruler of Tibet with a Chinese garrison for support. The rebels of the Lhasa riot were subdued, gathered and sliced to death (also known as death by a thousand cuts). The Chinese spear (qiang) was one of the four major Chinese weapons along with the staff, saber and straight sword. The spear was fundamental to Chinese military success though the rarity of surviving examples belies its role. Surviving examples are almost invariably heavily rusted suggesting a common history of survival. We were able to find only 5 antique examples in our research. This example is 14 ¾” length with waisted leaf shaped point and butted seam conical socket with an integral iron mount at the transition.
