The only place I've seen the lajatang mentioned was Draeger's The Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia, in the section of Kuntao (Chinese) weapons from Java and Madura (p. 83).
It made it's way to Dungeons and Dragons, where I first saw it. My guess is it's something like a monk's spade, but I'm not sure.
Draeger's illustrations on p.82 and 83 are so bad that it would be great if people could post illustrations of the real items, if they have the book. Has anyone seen a "siangkiam" for example? Is that one of those chiangjian that no one ever shows pictures of either?
Best,
F
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