ANCIENT CHINESE MILITARY WEAPONS

from the Beijing Military Museum

One of the best places to see ancient Chinese military weapons is the Beijing Military Museum. I haven't been there and it's likely I never will. So when Alf posted a link to one of his photo albums after a recent visit, I asked him if it was okay to show them here. Alf has his own site but it's about Japanese swords, not Chinese ones. You can find him at Japanese Swords and Armour

If you do a search for the Beijing Military Museum, it will yield lots of photos of architechture, tanks, rockets, etc. I wasn't able to find another collection like the one here on this page. I've made it into a slideshow so you can take a leisurely look at the ancient Chinese swords, armour and other weapons, for yourself. There is no commentary on the slideshow. I won't pretend to know what to say about these weapons. Some of you may wish to comment on one of the pictures via the article submission form on the Martial History page.

Lovely ancient Chinese Military Weapons in the
Beijing Military Museum

Some Close Ups

The Beijing Military Museum displays arms and armour, pictures and other artifacts from 5000 years of ancient chinese Military history. The pictures on this page are from one of the permanent collection halls, so they will be there for you to look at if you get the chance to pop in for yourself.

A collection of polearms at the Beijing Military Museum.

China had an almost unlimited supply of polearms over its military history. The second one on the row above is probably a Tang spear. The top was made of wrought iron and the shaft of wood. These were probably used by the Green Brigade. The fifth one from the left is similar to the one pictured on the martial history page - a Guan Dao. Or it might be a type of Yan Yu Dao - the name coming from the Chinese for crescent moon.

A nice example of sword grip wrapping

This is a very nice example of grip wrapping on an ancient chinese military sword. For more about this and links to how it is done in the original old styles see our grip wrap page

Some very old Chinese swords.

The jade underneath endures way beyond the age of steel in a sword. All that is left of these, which were probably used on the battle field, is a general shape. Even in this poor condition there is much an expert can learn about ancient Chinese military weapons.

Gold pommel on an old sword.

One of the things experts look for is the motifs, such as the one imprinted into this gold covered pommel. It helps place them in the right age category and sometimes even in the right district, to one who knows what to look for.

The following two pictures were contributed by Dave who has his own website selling, and providing quality information on, Japanese swords. It's called the Samurai Sword Shop.

This page is open for contributions if you have genuine knowledge of any of the artifacts pictured. We'd also like experiences relating to this article.

Have you been there or do you own one?

If you have visited the Beijing Military Museum or if you have knowledge of any of the ancient chinese military  weapons shown, I'd love to hear from you. Please share your experience or knowledge.
OR
If you own a genuine antique Chinese weapon you're proud of, we'd love to enjoy it with you. Post your favourite picture and tell us about it so it can have a small page of its own.

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