The jiaan and the jian are two different characters in Chinese, but they are similar when it comes to using them. The jiaan, have no sharp edges but have three or four angles. They are short and can be used as concealed weapons. The term of this weapon probably derives from the bamboo slip, jhujiaan, which were used as a writing medium before paper was invented. In the vernacular novel, Siyou Ji, the monkey Sun Wukong confronts the lion spirits who hold the three-angle-jiaan as weapons. It is always carried on the waist and used as a close body weapon. It is also called shuangjiaan, double jiaan, because it always goes as a pair.

       A general of the Tang called Cin Ciong was famous for using this non-blade weapon. He carried a pair of liusingjiaan, which was handed down from the earlier generations of his family. This pair of liusingjiaan weighed 130 jin, and the forms going with this weapon were very fast like the moving serpent and the dropping snowflake. His most powerful form was called shashoujiaan. It was said that when he taught his cousin Lou Cheng the forms of using the jiaan, he kept the secret of shashoujiaan, because he came across the idea that he would no longer be the best in using the jiaan, if he taught shashoujiaan to his cousin. The slang shashoujiaan, which means the most powerful and secret skill, derives from this story. Although Cin Ciong was an excellent martial arts master, he had lived in poverty before he joined the army and became a General. In order to survive he once sold his horse and pawned his jiaan. He got very little money from the pawn shop, because his precious weapon was treated as recyclable steel.