Assassin's mace

A photo of the ancient Chinese assassin's mace
The assassin's mace of ancient China was a rectangular club designed to break sharp weapons in combat by hitting them

An assassin's mace (Chinese: 杀手锏; pinyin: Shāshǒujiǎn) is a legendary ancient Chinese weapon. It is now used metaphorically to describe certain Chinese weapons systems. The term has its roots in ancient Chinese folklore, which recounts how a hero wielding such a weapon managed to overcome a far more powerful adversary. The eponymous assassin's mace was a club which was used to break an enemy's blade in combat, or a hand mace that could impact through an enemy's armor. According to American military analysts, the term is now used in China to describe a specific type of military system that demonstrates asymmetrical warfare[note 1] and anti-access/area denial[note 2] capabilities to counter the United States. Whether assassin's mace refers to a government-defined class of weapons or is merely used in the Chinese government to describe these weapons is disputed.
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