Agreed Philip, the boar spear suggestion was simply noted as this pike seems to defy any other examples (those curious hooks and the side pieces). The example of the Qianlong cavalry rider with lance coincides somewhat with some other reading I came across concerning pikes, and the adding of such protective side plates/blades.
In "Arms and Armor of the English Civil Wars" by David Blackmore, p.75, discussing pikes it notes the narrowing of the ash stave toward the head presented the likelihood of the pike being sheared by sword cut. Also the thinner part of the stave could break upon force of impact and penetration.
He notes long thin steel plates (cheeks or langets) but is unclear if these refer to the reinforcing/attachment langets screwed into the shaft or added plates as seen on this example.
Having sharpened blades on the sides of the shaft as mentioned with the Chinese example makes sense toward the grabbing of the end of the weapon. But as we have seen, this does not seem to have been a known element in any degree.
With lances, it seems that the purpose in use was not impalement, but jabbing thrusts, at least as described in most of what I have found. In the Battle of San Pascual in California in the Mexican war, the casualties of the US forces suffered as many as a dozen or more lance wounds each.
With pikes, I'm not sure as they were literally a barrier against encroaching cavalry typically, and the impact must have been pretty powerful in a fast moving target.
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