Yuchang Dagger

The Fish-Gut Blade

Small dagger hidden inside a cooked fish by assassin Zhuanzhu to kill King Liao of Wu.

Yuchang, the “Fish-Gut” dagger, was small enough to be hidden in the belly of a cooked fish. The assassin Zhuanzhu carried it before the King of Wu, opened the fish at the feast and struck — ending the king and beginning the reign of Helü. The dagger’s name is a lesson in concealment: the deadliest blade is the one that looks like dinner.