The cudgel, having one end bigger then the other, look like the pestle for pounding grains, so it is also called chu, the Chinese term for the pestle. It was already a popular weapon in the Shang Dynasty. Mencius described the miserable scenes on the battlefield when king Wu of the Jhou fought king Jhou of the Shang by saying that the river of blood carried the cudgel, sieliu piaochu. Bang and gun, are the later general terms for this striking weapon family including dantougun, shuangtogun, shuangjhegun, sanjhegun, caogougun, langyabang, tianmengun, mengun, and jiaogun.

       The cudgel was one of the five main weapons used in infantry; the others were the bow and arrow, the spear, the lance and the halberd. The metal head was added on the shu in the Jhou Dynasty, so it transformed to be like the mace. There are three to six spikes on the head of the elevated cudgel, in order to make it more lethal. According to Zuoshih Chuciu, the close guard of Duke Huigong of the Jin used his shu to strike Duke Mugong of the Cin, when the two countries had a battle. Mugong six layers of armor was penetrated by the head of the weapon.

       This weapon is also called jhang or bang. A square iron headed bang weighing 12 jin is recorded in the book, Liu Tao, written in the Warring States Period. General Wuciu Jhen of the kingdom of Jhongshan in a battle held this weapon against the invader, the kingdom of the Jhao, according to the book Lyushih Chunciu. There were 31 bronze bang found in the tomb of Emperor Cin Shihhuang. A two-meter long steel bang found in a tomb built in the early Han Dynasty has a square head. It is more deadly than the one made of bronze.

       Among ordinary people, this weapon is used without the steelhead on it. Tianmengun for example, is a middle size weapon with both ends encircled by bronze bands. It is used in the forms of Shaolin in the north but not in the southern China.

       Dantogun, is said to have been invented by General Yang Wulang of the Song after he became a monk in the Wutai Mountain. He broke through the surrounding enemies and ran into the temple on the mountain after his troops were defeated. He was not allowed to practice the ciang spear in the temple, so he removed the head of the spear and just used the shaft and invented a form for using it called Wulang Baguagun. The founder of the Song Dynasty, Jhao Kuanyin, was famous for using the weapon call shuangtogun or cimeigun, The length of this club is from the ground to a man eyebrow. Jhao used his gun to fight his way to become the national leader.

       Other popular cudgels include the two-section-cudgel, shuangjhihgun and three-section-cudgel sanjhihgun. It is said that they were all invented by Jhao Kuangyin. The three-section-cudgel was the logo of the northern guarding business, biaojyu. The two-section-cudgel was Bruce Lee favorite. It was introduced world wide in Bruce movies in the 70s. It is banned from being carried in the USA, because of its deadliness.