Jian

The jian (simplified Chinese: 剑; traditional Chinese: 劍, Mandarin Chinese: [tɕjɛ̂n], Cantonese: [kim˧], English approximation: jyehn) is a Chinese term referring to all double-edged straight sword. Professional jian practitioners, who were often romanticized in historical records, folklores and wuxia literature, are referred to as jianshi (Chinese: 劍士; pinyin: jiànshì; lit. 'swordsman') or jianke (Chinese: 劍客; pinyin: jiànkè; lit. 'sword guests', a term dating from the Han dynasty referring to retainers or warriors errant skilled in swordfighting). The first Chinese recorded sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BCE during the Spring and Autumn period, with one of the earliest archaeological specimens being the famed Sword of Goujian. Early jian were made of bronze, which remained prevalent to as late as the Qin dynasty, but by the early Western Han dynasty bronze jian were largely supplanted by later ones made of carbon steel due to advancements in ironworking. Historically, the more ubiquitous one-handed jian have blades varying from 45 to 80 cm (18 to 31 inches) in length, with an average weight of a 70 cm (28-inch) blade-length jian would be approximately 700–900 g (1.5–2.0 pounds). Bronze jian tend to be much stouter (shorter, wider and thicker) and slightly heavier than steel jian, although slender, chrome-plated bronze swords uncovered among the Terracotta Army have lengths of 81–94.8 cm (31.9–37.3 inches), which are on par or even exceeding many Iron Age swords. There are also larger two-handed jian, though much rarer, used in many styles of Chinese martial arts or historically as anti-cavalry weapons (e.g. zhanmajian). In Chinese culture, the jian is often revered as "the Gentleman of Weapons" and is considered one of the four first-tier weapons of the Eighteen Arms along with the gùn (quarterstaff), qiang (spear) and dao (saber or single-edged sword). Historically, the military role...