Weapons and armor in Chinese mythology, legend, cultural symbology, and fiction
Other weapons from Chinese mythology, legend, cultural symbology, and fiction include the shield and battleax of the defiant dancer Xingtian, Yi's bow and arrows, given him by Di Jun, and the many weapons and armor of Chiyou, who is associated with the elemental power of metal.
Chinese mythology, legend, cultural symbology, and fiction features the use of elemental weapons such as ones evoking the powers of wind and rain to influence battle.
Chinese mythology is encountered in the traditions of various classes of people, geographic regions, historical periods including the present, and from various ethnic groups.
[3] One of figures of classical mythology is Xingtian, a defier of Heaven and a dancing wielder of shield and weapon.
The great archer Yi was given a bow and arrows by Di Jun, in order to dispel the noxious presence of nine of ten over-heating suns.
[9] The mighty warrior, later general, and subsequently deified Guan Yu is particularly associated with his glaive weapon, known in China as a yanyuedao, "crescent moon blade", or as a guandao.
A weapon weighing about 100 pounds (~45 kilograms), purported to be the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, is on display at the Purple Cloud Temple in China today.
Despite the weight, Guan Yu was said to have ridden alone for a thousands of miles, carrying his weapon, and to have capably wielded it one-handed, according to the somewhat mythologically-based novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
According to the Chinese mythological account Classic of Mountains and Seas, Chiyou, various allies fought against Huangdi at the plain of Zhuolu.
Yinglong, the winged dragon, finally defeated Chiyou (Sima Qian, "Wǔdì Běnjì", Records of the Grand Historian).
[12] The mythological Chiyou was supposed to have invented weapons and war, Chiyou's legendary war with Huangdi included enhancing the technology to use of artificial mists and possibly the use of the compass as a countermeasure by Huangdi, and evoking the powers of wind and rain to influence battle.
[17] Also known as Kan Chiang and Mo Yeh, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie were a husband and wife pair and eponymous makers of paired swords, with Gan Jiang having studied under Master Smith Ou Yezi, according at least to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue.
Famous sword smiths documented in mythology include Ou Yezi and the husband and wife pair Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.
The Gan-jiang and Mo-xie swords were sometimes said to have been forged from the liver and kidneys of a metal-eating hare residing in the Kunlun Mountains.
[21] "Club" is the large stick that he [ Feng Meng, that is ] made of peach wood to batter Yi to death with.
