On the Chinese Ko-halberd(戈)

Abstract

Ko-halbed, a typical Chinese weapon, had been used as a basic weapon of the foot-soldiers and of the charioteers since the Late Hsia or Early Shang dynasty, when this weapon is believed to have been invented. It is a weapon adopted for more than one thousand years by Chinese fighting force from then until the end of the Warring States. According to Li Chi, the typology of this weapon is very important to study, because it shows three well-recognized developmental stages

during over the one thousand years of the Classic period in Chinese history. I believe this weapon is important for archaelogists to study not only about the typology itself but also about the impacts of this weapon on the war-strategies during the battles with other tribes and on the development of the Shang society.