17 replies to this topic

[浪淘音]

Thomas Chen posted this on the sword forum and i just had to show it here



this type of armor probably slowly evolved out of Three Kingdoms era gear into the heavy cavalry armor used during nanbei Chao/Sui era then finally to that form during the Tang dynasty

no doubt the basis for what samurai would use

[TMPikachu]

It's from a prop/costume website though, so I'm not sure how authentic it is, like with the mask.

and I think it was just listed as "Asian armour"

They also re-use the mask for a set of "samurai armour"


It looks like Chinese armor though. Reminds me of the guys working the ballista in Siege Weapons cover, sorta.

[浪淘音]

It's from a prop/costume website though, so I'm not sure how authentic it is, like with the mask.

and I think it was just listed as "Asian armour"

They also re-use the mask for a set of "samurai armour"
It looks like Chinese armor though. Reminds me of the guys working the ballista in Siege Weapons cover, sorta.

read 中國古代軍戎服試

oh wait, forgot you can't read Chinese

anyway, the armor of Tang, 5 dynasties was exactly like that (even the robe underneath which is very important)

also, about the mask, 5 dynasties and Song era, masks were very common. Japan got the idea from that

WRONG again, Tim but good try nonetheless

[TMPikachu]

Aw shucks, WRONG again (all caps too). I should just shut up and go kill myself.

Thanks for clarifying the credentials. I was just suspicious of it, as it was just listed as "Chinese armor" or something vague like that when I first found it. Having it verified by you should be credible enough.

I've never seen depictions of masks worn by Chinese before though, only seen it on Japanese. Do you know where I could find some Chinese war masks? Other than that one up there.

Did you think I was saying "you're WRONG sucker! ha!"? I've just never seen a Chinese war mask before, and it was on a props website.

The arm guards/vambraces and leather gloves too? So it's all authentic in design?
It makes sense for this to be Tang, as Japanese armor looks pretty close to it.

Like how there's an armored skirt, with thigh guards beneath it.

Would the sash be to tighten the armor around the waist/hold the sword, etc? Or would a leather belt strap be more common?

Sorry if I was offensive with my previous post.

[Thomas Chen]

Thomas Chen posted this on the sword forum and i just had to show it here

this type of armor probably slowly evolved out of Three Kingdoms era gear into the heavy cavalry armor used during nanbei Chao/Sui era then finally to that form during the Tang dynasty

no doubt the basis for what samurai would use

I didn't post that... someone else did... The armour depicted is not really accurate...

This below would be a more accurate rendition of Tang armour... A mural from a Tang tomb:

[浪淘音]

hmmm well

5 dynasties and Song era armor pretty much looked like those replicas

the helmet, neckguards, chest plate and even the robe underneath and the boots are shown in the book Ancient Chinese armor

and Song dynasty era, without a doubt, wore masks though i can't find the scan online thats shown in that book about the masks



5 dynasties



Song

[Liang Jieming]

Here's the famous picture in color. I think there was another thread already on Tang dynasty armour.

[TMPikachu]

Does anyone else know of the masks?

I'm extremely curious about them.

浪淘音, do you know how similiar they were to Japanese masks? Did they come in pieces (as some Japanese masks did) or was it one piece? Do you know what materials they were made of? I would imagine iron if it was to protect.

[Wujiang]

I thought we had a thread on this image already.

Anyway, The helmet is a direct copy from a statue of the Tang dynasty
The armour's design can be anything from the Northern & Southern Dynasty right down to the Ming
Finally, the only record we have of Chinese wearing masks to war is during the Southern Song dynasty. Altohugh that mask is actually a japanese mask.

[浪淘音]

I thought we had a thread on this image already. 

Anyway, The helmet is a direct copy from a statue of the Tang dynasty
The armour's design can be anything from the Northern & Southern Dynasty right down to the Ming
Finally, the only record we have of Chinese wearing masks to war is during the Southern Song dynasty. Altohugh that mask is actually a japanese mask.

no, no,no

there are statues of armored soldiers with those masks on from 5 dynasties era. ****, i wish i had scans of them.

anyway, i made a boner. the armor is 5 dynasties/Song. please look at the scans i put up in my previous post

[Wujiang]

there are statues of armored soldiers with those masks on from 5 dynasties era. ****, i wish i had scans of them.

Perhaps you can give us a website ? I would love to know which statue you are refering to.

Why are you so certain it a 5 dynasty - Song armour ? Only armours I know of that have lamella laced onto the shoulder straps were from the Han era. All the other dynasties only have leather straps, including the 5d and Song.

[浪淘音]

Perhaps you can give us a website ? I would love to know which statue you are refering to.

not from a website, its from the book 中國古代軍戎服飾. go buy the book and look up 5 dynasties era and you can clearly see statues of armored and masked warriors.

anyway, the replica armor in the first post is exactly like Song/5 dynasties era armor even down to the boots and robe(look at the other set of scans i posted, wait a moment for them to load), maybe not exactly like Tang but pretty close

[Wujiang]

not from a website, its from the book 中國古代軍戎服飾. go buy the book and look up 5 dynasties era and you can clearly see statues of armored and masked warriors.

I have the book on my shelf. Please point out the page and picture number

edit: ah I see what you are talking about. But those are not proven to be masks. The statues are tomb guardians. They are not humans so it is likely those are their original faces

[浪淘音]

I have the book on my shelf. Please point out the page and picture number

edit: ah I see what you are talking about. But those are not proven to be masks. The statues are tomb guardians. They are not humans so it is likely those are their original faces

i'm gonna take it at "face" value and assume that some of these images were used as masks. either way, using masks is nothng uniquely japanese

anyway, the armor is as is(Song/5 dynasties)

[TMPikachu]

This book?

Are all the pictures in the book done in the style of the cover? If so, since human faces are clearly shown, spotting a mask wouldn't be too hard.

On the Japanese face masks, did they only come into use in Japan when the Tang dynasty was around? That would be potential evidence of it being an import from China.


Were the arm guards 'solid' (not made of lamellar) with leather gloves too?

So you are saying that the prop armor made is 100% authentic looking with no deviations? If so, that's pretty cool.


(looks like one of the shoulder guards is hanging loose though)