Spear

The Chinese spear or Qiāng (槍) has been at the front lines of battle in China for most of its history.

It is so central in the Chinese arts of war it is placed among the 4 Great Weapons and given the title, "the King of Weapons" (百兵之王).

The spear we see in martial arts today has its roots in the Qing dynasty.

Most Qing dynasty spears were light and of varying lengths, with a diamond shaped spearhead. They often had a horse-hair tassel. The wood used to make spear-shafts varied by region, but the most common choices were Chinese white wax-wood, and Rattan.

The length and point of balance also varied on the intended use of the spear. Spears meant for throwing were shorter, and weighted towards the front.  Shorter spears that were designed for close combat and multiple hand positions, had the point of balance around the middle. And finally the longer spears, designed for longer reach, tended to have the point of balance placed further back.

Spear shafts also usually tapered with the thinnest part near the spearhead, and the thickest part towards the back. (throwing spears were opposite to this.)

Historical spears were thick and hard, but they were also flexible. However, they were not quite as flexible as those used by modern Wushu practitioners. (this statement applies to more weapons than just the spear.)

There was a happy medium between not flexible enough, and too flexible. The point was make it flexible enough to absorb the shock of impact without breaking, or transferring the energy into the users hands, which would make it much harder to hold onto. Spears that are too flexible, like those used in modern Chinese Wushu, make for flashy movements, but also make it more difficult to strike accurately. Spears or other weapons that sag or flop like a wet noodle, are not historically accurate, nor would they even be useful in actual combat.

Two Modern Chinese Tassel Spears

The horse-hair tassel had 3 possible uses:  Decoration,  Distraction, and to keep blood from dripping down the spear-shaft, making it more difficult to grip.

My opinion is that it was mainly for decoration, mostly because I don't think it was that effective at drawing attention away from the spear point, which was very close to it. And I would rather not comment on the third option, due to its rather disgusting and gruesome nature.

Spear techniques in Chinese martial arts can be either one handed or two handed. The basic hand grip usually has both hands placed at the back of the spear shaft. This is historically accurate, however, I am not completely sure how this applied to military tactics and troop formations.