Assassin's mace

An assassin's mace (Chinese: 杀手锏; pinyin: Shāshǒujiǎn) is a legendary ancient Chinese weapon. 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. "Shashou Jian" was a club with which the assassin incapacitated his enemy, suddenly and totally, instead of fighting him according to the rules.[1] According to many military analysts, the term is now used in China to describe a specific type of military system that demonstrates asymmetrical warfare and anti-access/area denial capabilities to counter the United States, though whether "assassin's mace" refers to a defined class of weapons or is merely used in the Chinese government to describe these weapons is disputed.

Etymology and origin

The term "shashoujian" is composed of three characters that literally mean "kill", "hand", and "mace", and can be interpreted in multiple different ways when translated to English, with the Foreign Broadcast Information Service using over 15 different translations from 1996 to 2005.[2][3]: 311–312  Typically, "shashoujian" is rendered in English as "assassin's mace", where the two character compound "shashou" is interpreted as "assassin" and "jian" is interpreted as "mace".[3]: 313  However, the term can also be translated as "killing mace", as the term "shoujian" refers to a small hand mace used in ancient China to kill heavily armoured enemies.[3]: 314  The definite origin of the combined term shashoujian is elusive, but has its roots in Chinese folklore where the term is typically used to describe a secret weapon of surprising power used to overcome a more powerful adversary.[4][3]: 316 

Modern usage

While the term as a figure of speech has been around for centuries and has been revived in contemporary Chinese pop culture, one of the main disputes is on its usage in a modern military context.[5] The term is frequently used in Chinese military contexts to describe new weapons systems, and many American military analysts interpret this as referring to a new class or type of weapon developed by China.[3]: 312 [5] Other writers dispute this characterization, with critics of the term's usage have called it a popular expression roughly equivalent to the English idioms "silver bullet" or "trump card", and means anything which ensures success.[1][6]

Application to military systems

Proponents of the term "assassin's mace" to describe Chinese military development say that the Chinese government uses the term to describe a group of technologies or strategies that are specifically designed to counter the United States and displace it as a world power.[7] Scholar Rush Doshi suggests that People's Liberation Army strategists developed the concept of these weapons after the United States proved its conventional superiority to Iraq in the Gulf War, and that fulfilling the concept necessitated the development of the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force, sea mines, and anti-ship ballistic missiles.[8]: 69–70  Analysts also describe "assassin's mace" as being specifically focused on asymmetrical warfare and anti-access/area denial tactics.[8]: 69 [3]: 342 

Submarines

American analysts agree that submarines are a key component of assassin's mace weaponry, but propose different reasons for how they fit into that paradigm.[8]: 83–86 [3] Doshi describes assassin's mace submarines as those that can attack American carrier battle groups using anti-ship missiles and sea mines, while being weak in land-attack capabilities.[8]: 86  In Doshi's view, the assassin's mace concept requires China's navy to use a mix of diesel electric and nuclear submarines in contrast to the American policy of only using nuclear submarines.[8]: 85  Doshi proposes that China chose to incorporate diesel-electric submarines into their fleet as an asymmetrical weapon because they are cheaper and quieter than the nuclear submarines used by the United States.[8]: 85  While diesel-electric submarines do not have the range of a nuclear submarine, this would be an acceptable trade-off in a conflict close to Chinese territory where the submarines are used to deny American access to the Asia-Pacific region.[8]: 85 

To contrast, Jason Bruzdzinski, a director at the Mitre Corporation, describes nuclear ballistic missile submarines as being "the shashoujian of the Chinese navy".[3]: 343  Bruzdzinski's view is that such a submarine would be stealthy and have a large range, meaning that it would be resistant against pre-emptive strikes and serve as a nuclear deterrent.[3]: 343  Bruzdzinski says that Chinese analysts view the threat of nuclear weapons as being able to deter a technologically superior force such as the United States from entering into a conflict with China.[3]: 344–345 

Sea mines

American analysts consider sea mines as being a core part of "assassin's mace" as they are able to cost-effectively deny access to an area.[8]: 86–90 [3]: 342–343 [9] According to Andrew S. Erickson, professor at the American Naval War College, Chinese military strategists describe sea mines as "easy to lay and difficult to sweep" and label sea mines as "assassin's mace" weaponry, having invested significant resources into developing them.[9]: 1–2  Chinese military analysts have also said that attacks utilizing sea mines against the USS Tripoli and USS Princeton during the Gulf War demonstrated significant vulnerability of American ships to this type of weaponry.[9]: 4 [10][3]: 342 [11]

Missiles

Anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) are considered by Doshi and Chinese government sources to be another major assassin's mace weapon.[8]: 90–94  The Science of Second Artillery Campaigns, a textbook published by what is now known as the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, says that ASBMs should be used as "assassin's mace" weapons for "deterring and blocking enemy carrier groups".[8]: 92 [12] Doshi points to Chinese analyst Dong Lu,[8]: 92  who summarized the Chinese viewpoint on ASBMs:

Since the end of the Cold War, the aircraft carrier has become a symbol of the might of a great power, while the ballistic missile has also become an effective weapon for developing countries around the world to safeguard their own security and challenge great powers. The might of an aircraft carrier is based on the disparity between the comprehensive powers of rich and poor states. The ballistic missile, on the other hand, seeks to exploit the temporal lag in the development of offensive and defensive technologies… ASBMs are undoubtedly an effective means of deterring military intervention at the present.

— Dong Lu, Naval and Merchant Ships, translated in Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) Development.[13]

See also

References
  1. Hambling, David (2 July 2009). "China Looks to Undermine U.S. Power, With 'Assassin's Mace'". Wired.com. Retrieved 27 August 2013. Sha Shou Jian a popular expression used by sports commentators, businessmen and even in romantic advice columns. Alastair Johnston of Harvard University criticizes the way Washington pundits want to make the Assassin's Mace "mysterious and exotic": it's simply the decisive, winning quality. In sports, the Assassin's Mace may be the key goal-scorer; in business, it's any quality that puts you ahead of the competition; in love, it might be the subtle smile that wins over the object of your affections. Johnston suggests that a fairly idiomatic translation would be "silver bullet"...
  2. Pillsbury, Michael (January 2000). "China Debates the Future Security Environment". National Defense University Press. Retrieved 27 August 2013. Chinese writings on the future of warfare and the revolution in military affairs (RMA) frequently use three Chinese ideograms to signify something that can be used in a war that will surprise and overwhelm the enemy, vital parts of exploiting the RMA. The three ideograms (sha shou jian) literally mean "kill," "hand," and an ancient word for club, or "mace." U.S. Government translations have rendered this term as "trump card," "magic weapon," or "killer mace." None of these translations is wrong, but none captures the full meaning. The importance of the term can be seen in its continued usage over time, both originally in traditional Chinese novels and ancient statecraft texts, as well as today in the daily military newspaper. Behind these three ideograms may lie a concept of victory in warfare through possession of secret weapons that strike the enemy's most vulnerable point (called an acupuncture point), at precisely the decisive moment. This entire concept of how RMA technology can win a war cannot be fully conveyed by its simple English translation of "trump card."
  3. Scobell, Andrew; Wortzel, Larry; Bruzdzinski, Jason. "Demystifying Shashoujian: China's "Assassin's Mace" Concept". Civil-Military Change in China: Elites, Institutes, and Ideas After the 16th Party Congress. Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute. ISBN 1-58487-165-2. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. Khan, Saif Ul Islam (2017-04-04). Assassin's Mace: A Chinese Game Changer. Rohan Vij. ISBN 978-93-85563-03-4.
  5. Ho, Soyoung. "Panda Slugger, the dubious scholarship of Michael Pillsbury, the China hawk with Rumsfeld's ear". Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015. And what about the "Assassin's Mace," one of Pillsbury's major preoccupations? Here, Pillsbury appears to have taken a common Chinese term, shashoujian, and decided, based on his own unfamiliarity with it ("I first saw this unusual term in…1995," he writes in a 2003 article) that it indicates what he calls a "secret project." In fact, though, the term has been around for centuries and has been revived in contemporary Chinese pop culture, a slangy phrase that appears in articles about everything from soccer to romance. Pillsbury cites public speeches by Chinese leaders and articles in Chinese newspapers that speak of developing "shashoujian" weapons, but he never explains how this adds up to evidence of a secret program. It's as if a Chinese researcher, hearing a U.S. official speaking of a need for "kick-ass weapons," were to become confused by the term "kick-ass" and conclude that there must be a secret "kick-ass weapons" program. In short, Pillsbury has identified a secret program that, by all indications, is literally no more than a figure of speech.
  6. Ho, Soyoung (July–August 2006). "Panda Slugger". Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2013. The term "assassin's mace," more commonly translated as "trump card" (shashoujian) is, according to Pillsbury, integral to a Chinese notion of "inferior defeats superior."
  7. Pillsbury, Michael (2015). The Hundred-Year Marathon: China' Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 134–155.
  8. Doshi, Rush (2021). The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, USA. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197527917.001.0001. ISBN 9780197645482.
  9. Erickson, Andrew S.; Murray, William; Goldstein, Lyle (2009). Chinese mine warfare: a PLA Navy "assassin's mace" capability (PDF). Newport, R.I.: China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College. ISBN 978-1-884733-63-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  10. Fu, Jinzhu (March 1992). "Mine Warfare in the Gulf War". Modern Ships (75): 30–33.
  11. Zhou, Yi (March 1, 2002). "Aircraft carriers face five major assassins". Junshi Wenzhai: 4–6.
  12. Yu, Jixun (2004). The Science of Second Artillery Campaigns. Beijing: Liberation Army Press.
  13. Erickson, Andrew S. (2013). Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) Development: Drivers, Trajectories, and Strategic Implications. Washington, DC: Jamestown Foundation. p. 36. ISBN 978-0983084266. JSTOR 10.7864/j.ctt1dgn67n.
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