Nangseon

The nangseon (Chinese: langxian, also calles "nangseonchang" in Korean) was a branched spear with many thorns attached to the branches. It is also called 'multi tip spear'. The blades could be dipped in poison. The nangseon was a perfect weapon for defense. It would be difficult for the opponent to get near the person holding the nangseon without getting touched by the thorns. The nangseon is already being mentioned in the 16th century martial arts manual Muyejebo.

The weapon was probably an invention of the Chinese general Qi Jiguang (戚继光) of the Ming Dynasty who describes it in his manual titled Ji Xiao Xin Shu which served as an example to the Muyejebo. The nangseon acted as the backup up of the shield (deungpae) bearers in a Mandarin duck formation.