The flying guillotine is a legendary Chinese ranged weapon used during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor in the Qing Dynasty.
Schematic of the flying guillotine as shown in the 1978 Hong Kong film Flying Guillotine 2.
Etymology, history and description[]
The weapon supposedly hails from the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor during the Qing Dynasty. There are stories and crude drawings detailing its appearance but no clear instructions on its use or production are known to exist. The consensus is that the weapon resembled a disc or flattened dome with a bladed rim and a chain or rope attached to the weapon's top, allowing it to be wielded as a bladed flail or thrown like a flying buzz saw. According to legend, the weapon's deadliest feature, and the source of it's English name, was its ability to decapitate a victim by being thrown on top of their head. Once landing, a pressure switch in the disk's underside would release the rim to fall over the head and encase it in a silken trap. A tug on the chain would then trigger concealed blades along the interior of the rim to swing out and cut through the neck. There is also evidence that the weapon may have been soaked in deadly poison before use, such that it can kill a person immediately when blood is drawn (literally "at the sight of a drip of blood"), which gives rise to its Chinese name.
In media[]
Various forms of media often associate the weapon with Tibetan assassins sent to China to kill legendary fighters.
The "improved" guillotine (left) as shown in the 1976 Hong Kong film Master of the Flying Guillotine.
The 1976 Hong Kong film Master of the Flying Guillotine serves as an unofficial sequel to another film Flying Guillotine (1974), produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio and directed by Ho Meng-hwa. In 1978, the Shaw Brothers Studio produced two more movies, The Flying Guillotine 2 and Vengeful Beauty. Other films in which flying guillotines are shown include Octopussy (1983), The Heroic Trio (1992), Iron Monkey 2 (1996), Seven Swords (2005), The Machine Girl (2008) and The Guillotines (2012).
The underside of the guillotine as shown in the 1974 Hong Kong film Flying Guillotine.
The flying guillotine is featured in television programmes such as Hung Hei-Gun: Decisive Battle With Praying Mantis Fists (1994), the National Geographic Channel Asia documentary Kung-Fu Killers,[1] and a 2011 episode of Mythbusters.
See also[]
- Chakram
- Guillotine
- Wind and fire wheels
References[]
- ↑ "National Geographic Channel Asia 'Kung Fu Killers'". Natgeotv.com.au. http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/kung-fu-killers/. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
External links[]
- (Chinese) "血滴子"与雍正特务政治的真相
The original article can be found at Flying guillotine and the edit history here.