(NOTE: I've posted this same thread in SMQ)

Recently, in another thread I've started in the Early Modern Age Forum entitled Spanish Armada vs. the Ming Treasure Fleet, found here at http://www.simaqianstudio.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7318, our member here at SMQ, the glorious and beloved Byzantine Emperor (yes, you should bow to him, lol ) had asked about equipment of Chinese soldiers (including armor garb and weapons) during the 15th century AD. Without breaking topic from that thread, he made a suggestion to start another thread on this topic, so here it is folks! Let's discuss...

First, let's start with weaponry, specifically-speaking, swords. During the Ming Dynasty, the sword type known as the pei dao began to become more widespread and used in more popular fashion amongst military units than other Chinese sword types, most notably the jian (generic term for a double-edged Chinese sword, most often used by Chinese nobility). The pei dao had evolved from the ancient Chinese dao, which could refer to any number of swords (or even domestic knives) in the style of a single-edged blade meant for slashing and chopping. Although the jian and some types of daos are more straight in appearance (like a European broadsword), the single-edged blade of the pei dao was more saber-like, used first by the Central Asian Turks who used the saber-style sword since at least the 8th century AD, adopted by the Mongols of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty (1279 -1368 AD), and then continued in practice towards the Chinese reestablishment of control during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The style of the curved, single-edged blade for swords spread to other peoples as well, only with different names, for example, the Persian Shamshir, the Indian tulwar, the Afghani pulwar, the Turkish kilij, the Arabian saif, the Mameluke scimitar, and of course the European saber and cutlass.

According to wiki, the four types of pei dao swords are thus:

*yanmao dao, or "goose-quill saber." This weapon, similar to the earlier zhibei dao, is largely straight, with a curve appearing at the center of percussion near the blade's tip. This allows for thrusting attacks and overall handling similar to that of the jian, while still preserving much of the dao's strengths in cutting and slashing.





*liuye dao, the "willow leaf saber." The most common form of Chinese saber, this weapon features a moderate curve along the length of the blade. This reduces thrusting ability (though it is still fairly effective at same) while increasing the power of cuts and slashes. This weapon became the standard sidearm for both cavalry and infantry, and is the sort of saber originally used by many schools of martial arts. Perhaps due to that same popularity the name "willow leaf saber" has now become somewhat generic, and is sometimes applied to other forms of dao (such as the niuwei dao, below).





*pian dao, "slashing saber." A deeply curved dao meant for slashing and draw-cutting, this weapon bears a strong resemblance to the shamshir and scimitar. A fairly uncommon weapon, it was generally used by skirmishers in conjunction with a shield.



*niuweidao, the "oxtail saber." A heavy bladed weapon with a characteristic flaring tip, this is the archetypal "Chinese broadsword" of kung fu movies today. It is first recorded in the early 1800s (the late Qing dynasty) and only as a civilian weapon; there is no record of it being issued to troops, and it does not appear in any listing of official weaponry. Its appearance in movies and modern literature is thus often anachronistic, and it is also sometimes mislabeled as a willow-leaf saber.



These swords of course, can be adapted to the Chinse weapon known as the guan dao, or pole-sword and polearm in English, as examplified here...









Other names for the guan dao sword are the formal Chinese title of yanyue dao (meaning Reclining Moon Blade in Chinese), or it's Japanese version, the naginata.

Glad to be of service,
Eric
More stuff in the next entry!


Ok, I'm back. Now that I've introduced this thread with a bit of history on Chinese swords and the types of swords common during the Ming period, let's look at some Ming Dynasty types of armor worn by common infantry, cavalry, naval marines, and military officers, shall we?

Before delving into the good stuff (pictures), I'll display a brief history and run down of Chinese armor before the Ming period (1368 - 1644), taken from wikipedia.org (which, keep in mind, isn't always the best place on the web for referencing Chinese history).

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_armor, which briefly describes Chinese armor and warfare starting from roughly the 17th century BC, and cutting off at around the 5th century AD...

Ancient armour
Most armour of ancient China was made of leather and animal hide, but later bronze and iron were used. One of the early armours that were used, was from Shang: early Shang nobles wore breastplates, that were made from pieces of shell tied together. The bulk of the army had little more than shields, made of leather with a bamboo frame. Bronze helmets were used and were highly decorated.

After the defeat of the Shang, the Zhou used many weapons and types of equipment that originally came from the Shang. However, the Zhou incorporated some of their own different or unique styles of armour. One type was the kia, a sleeveless coat of animal hide formed on a wooden dummy. The hide used was of buffalo and rhinoceros, buffalo was more often used later on, because of the disappearing of rhinoceros in the region. Another armour used by the Zhou was the kiai, a boiled leather on a fabric backing. The Zhou helmet -- like the Shang - was made of bronze, but less decorated.

Chariots were used extensively during the Spring and Autumn Period. The chariots were mainly used as a shock weapon and a platform for archer; but chariots were restricted to flat terrain and when used against well organized infantry, it was often defeated. Shang chariot was often drawn by two horses, but four are occasionally found in burials. The crew of the chariot consisted of an archer, a driver, and sometimes a third armed with a spear or dagger-axe.

Chariot use declined during the Warring States Period, probably because of the introduction of crossbow and cavalry. Zhou chariots were protected by leather, and sometimes came with a canopy to protect the crew, but this was probably removed before going into battle. Chariot horses were protected by animal skins -- most popular was tiger skin.

The production of weapons was, in most states, control by central government. The most popular weapon of the time was the sword. For this reason, most armour was made to protect against slashing attack. Spears, dagger-axes and many other weapons were used, but were consider inferior to the sword in close combat. Another weapon that was used was the crossbow, which had a range of 600 paces. To counteract this, shields were used to counter the threat of the crossbow. The shields were mostly made of leather and wood, and varied in sizes. The metal that was used most for military purpose was bronze.During the Warring States Era, most armour was made of leather or bronze, or combination of both. Wrought iron (God I hate wikipedia sometimes, they got this completely wrong, I'll explain why below) begun to appear in the 5th century BC, but didn’t begin to replace bronze until the 2nd century BC. Qin have a reputation for having superior weapons and armours, when compared to the other states. It is believed that Qin was the first states to mass-produce iron weapons and armours, which contributed to their victory against their rival states.

Most of the Warring States maintained large armies, numbering anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000. With such a large number of men, it became prohibitive to give all of them armor. Armour was most common for elite soldiers. The armour usually wore by these soldiers consisted of a lamellar cuirass and helmet. The lamellar cuirass wore by these men was made of hundreds of small overlapped metal or leather plates laced together to make a flexible and light protection. Some terracotta warriors wear no armour; it is suggested that these were skirmishers or support troops for the chariots. Of the terracotta warriors thus uncovered, Pit 1 shows approximately 61 percent of the soldiers wearing armour, Pit 2 over 90 percent, and pit 3, being in a command compound, 100 percent. Unarmored warriors tend to be placed at the front of these terracotta formations. Traces of paint that were found on Qin terracotta warriors suggesting that the Qin colored their armour black. The terracotta warriors also showed a wide variety of armour used by the Qin, which included leather and bronze. Examples of armour from the ancient China are rare. Qin Shi Huang ordered weapons, and probably armour too, to be burnt. That might be the reason for so few extant examples of ancient armour.

Medieval Armour
Chinese armour developments in medieval times began with the fall of the Qin dynasty in 207 BC and the rise of the Han Dynasty in 202 BC. The early Han army numbered possibly in the hundreds of thousands, so armour was standardized to meet the need. One of the armours used by the Han was the liang-tang, or "double-faced armour", a lamellar cuirass usually made of leather, but which could also be made from metal, which was worn over the shoulder with a strap. This armour was used by both the infantry and the cavalry. A much heavier and expensive version, consisted of iron plates laced together, was worn by officers. The infantry were armed with a great variety of weapons, which included sword, spear, halberd, and crossbow. The cavalry were similarly armed, but used smaller crossbows compared to the infantry, which could be used mounted. Shields continued to be used, mostly made of wood or metal. Some sources suggest that the Han placed infantrymen with large heavy shields in front, while crossbowmen and archers were deployed behind them. As they marched, the front ranks repelled attacks, as the rear constantly showered the enemy, but this formation must have been rare.

Armour for horses began to appear around the end of the Han dynasty, but the earliest armour found dates back to 302 AD. Full armour for cavalry appeared during the 4th century AD. During the Three Kingdoms Period, fully armoured cavalry were extensively used for shock. Early horse armour came in one piece, but later armour came in multiple pieces: chanfron (head protector), neck, chest, and shoulder guards, flank pieces and crupper. Most cavalry served as mounted archers, and sometimes remove their arm protection to used their bows or crossbows. By the time of the Han, the primary metal used was iron. But bronze weapons and armour continued to be used for some time.

There's but one thing that really bothers me about this wiki article, and that needs to be fixed. Chinese iron was never wrought iron, an iron obtained by the bloomery technique which was a practice used elsewhere in the world during the death of the Bronze Age and the initiation of the Iron Age. The death of the Chinese Bronze Age came in the 6th century BC (same century when Confucius lived) when cast iron was innovated by the Chinese discovery of the blast furnace, which reached temperatures higher than 1130 degrees celsius in order to melt iron ore into a liquid to be casted-and-molded into any shape without laborious beating and collecting of the bloom sponge found in wrought iron, thus the name cast iron should be used here. Anyways, moving onto explaining lamellar armor and its use elsewhere...

[img]http://www.warriortours.com/china-photos/xian/xian.terra.cotta.warriors.50008485w.jpg[/img]

Picture of a Qin era (221-207 BC) kneeling crossbowman, just one of 8,099 Terracotta figures of the Terracotta Army built and assembled by Qin Shihuangdi (the First Emperor of Qin), and placed in his tomb by 210 BC. His armor is of the lamellar-type, small plates of armor fitted together to make an armored vest around the chest and upper-arms.

Taken from lamellar armor article in wiki...

Lamellar armour is a kind of personal armour consisting of small rectangular plates (lames) which are laced together in parallel rows. Lamellar armour evolved from scale armour. It is made from pieces of lacquered leather, iron, steel or horn held together with silk, leather, or cotton thread. When the lames are made up of leather one would often water harden it or impregnate it with wax in a process called cuir bouilli. Various materials have been used throughout the ages across many cultures, with different techniques of construction and designs of coverage. A common technique was approximately 30% animal fat mixed with 70% candle wax stirred until blended, applied with a brush and allowed to cool, afterwards excess was scraped off and readded to the next batch.

Lamellar was an armour that, when made out of materials such as leather, facillitated a high mobility for a comparably high level of protection. Lamellar was often worn as augmentation to existing armours, such as over a maille hauberk. The lamellar cuirass was especially popular with the Rus, the Scandinavian settlers of Russia, as it was simple to create and maintain.

Lamellar is pictured in many historical sources on Byzantine warriors, especially heavy cavalry. It is thought that it was worn to create a more deflective surface to the rider's armour, thus allowing blades to skim over, rather than strike and pierce.

Developed by the Assyrians circa 900–600 BC, the style was used up through the 16th century. It is generally associated with the Japanese Samurai, although the armour came to Japan from contact with Tang Dynasty China. It is also associated with the steppe people of southern Russia and Mongolia.

Now for the pictures! Hooray!

First up, one of many armor styles that was used during the Ming Dynasty was the old Tubo (Tibetan) style of iron-plated, chain-linked, lamellar-flap armor, as demonstrated in this picture below...

[img]http://www.tibet.cn/tibetzt-en/xzbz/Put%20them%20on%20your%20body/pic/003s.jpg[/img]

This armor retained a non-rusting quality due to silver being smelted into the iron, a style of armor which was originally used during the reign of Tubo bTsan-po Dri-gum-btsan-po, 2 millenniums ago in Tibet.

This next picture is from the Ming Tombs in Beijing, and shows great detail from a Tomb Guardian stone statue, shown below. Notice on this stone portrayal of the Tomb Guardian the fish-scale and lamellar leather/iron (or steel) armor covered by silken robes, the adorning helmet and tassel, and metal belt-clasp at the center of his waist in the form of a dragon's head (or is it a lion's head?). He's holding a blunt, battering baton weapon in one hand, while in his left hand he appears to be gripping his sheathed sword by the hilt. Judging by his officer-looking-status, the sword is most likely in the classic, lengthy jian (double-edged-sword) of the nobility.

[img]http://home.pacbell.net/eevans2/China/P1010248%20Ming%20tomb%20statue.JPG[/img]

Although the statue representation is a good one, here is a rare picture of a full Chinese armor set, as seen below.

[img]http://i18.ebayimg.com/04/i/06/a0/3b/55_1_b.JPG[/img]

...and a better-looking close-up below this...

[img]http://www.myhd.cn/users/penhuoqi/0/SP/sd18.JPG[/img]

Some Ming Dynasty era (1368 - 1644) Imperial cavalry guards, notice the saber daos they wield in the first picture, as well as the long guan dao (pole-swords) they're weilding in the second picture, along with lamellar-scale, brigandine, and jack-of-plate styles of scale armor...





This next pic shows Ming troops being transported by a small river boat...



Now for some pics of actual helmets.


First, I've found a nice precursor to the Chinese Ming era (1368 - 1644 AD), as I've found this pic from http://chinese-armour.freewebspace.com/photo.html, and these Chinese helmets below are actually more than 2,000 years old, since they are dated to the Warring States Period (481 - 221 BC). You can tell by the green rust over a near orangish tint that the first helmet is cast of bronze, while the severe rust and coloration of the plates of the second helmet indicates cast-iron.



I couldn't pull it up on google images, but here's a clickable thumbnail (using imageshack) of a Ming Dynasty helmet now found in a museum in Japan, as it was used in the Imjin War of the 1590s, where Joseon (Korea) and Ming (China) were allied against a Japanese naval invasion of Korea.



These next pictures are actually from an 18th century Qing Dynasty military uniform, but it shows the brigandine style of armor found in the late Ming period, with the lamellar plates of steel riveted into the suit itself, as well as a picture of the metal helmet used.











[img]http://www.denner.ca/weapons/eastern/Chinese22.jpg[/img]

Description taken from http://www.denner.ca/weapons/eastern/index.html: Blue silk with heavy silk embroidery. Light steel plates in the shoulder covers, chest and back, secured by light steel rivets. The thighs are covered with narrow light steel plates in three rows which would have been covered in the same blue silk as the rest of the suit. However, the covers are gone. The same armour plates as above are fastened inside as well. The helmet is typical Chinese of the period, plain steel, small visor and plume holder on the top, the neck guards are not present. The edges of the various pieces are frayed where they were bound with black silk. Complete with a temple pole arm, the top piece of which is made of brass nicely engraved, on a black wood staff. Overall, the whole suit is quite spectacular.

Actually, conflict in matters of classification of Dao. Scott Rodell, who people often use misguidedly as an authority on the matter, often gloss over these conflicts and impose his own selection of evidence on these matters. Without addressing these conflicts, it causes the general public to believe it to be absolute. Which I often believe to be unbecoming of a scholar.



These are actually more commonly refered to as Yaodao or Peidao.



Actually, evidence indicates that this is more likely to be the Liuyuedao. It is Scott Rodell's own simplification of the matter that has everyone believing it isn't.


These two are often mixed because they have been referred to using both names through a number of times in primary sources and I believe that even those of the ancient times often gets them mixed up so there is actually no definitive way to know which is which. However, the first sword is actually referred to most as Yaodao or Guandao which essentually just means sidearm or issued weapon.

Those are fake.

Thanks for the analysis Wujiang. One thing to clarify from earlier as well, as I will add to the statement of wrought iron in China. This is the improved paragraph...

There's but one thing that really bothers me about this wiki article, and that needs to be fixed. Early Chinese iron of the Zhou and Warring States period was never wrought iron, an iron obtained by the bloomery technique which was a practice used elsewhere in the world during the death of the Bronze Age and the initiation of the Iron Age. The death of the Chinese Bronze Age came in the 6th century BC (same century when Confucius lived) when cast iron was innovated by the Chinese discovery of the blast furnace, which reached temperatures higher than 1130 degrees celsius in order to melt iron ore into a liquid to be casted-and-molded into any shape without laborious beating and collecting of the bloom sponge found in wrought iron, thus the name cast iron should be used here. Wrought iron was not found until the Han Dynasty, when the Chinese figured out how to puddle molten pig iron and reduce it's carbon content. However, they also figured out how to melt wrought iron and brittle, over-carburized cast iron together to form an iron-alloy intermediary: essentially, steel. Anyways, moving onto explaining lamellar armor and its use elsewhere...

Eric

Do a search. There should be half a dozen threads on Chinese armour.

One question though, Wujiang? Just looking at the pics, I can only imagine what the weight of the armour would be like. Would that have impeded the swiftness (and thus battle-worthiness) of the soldiers?

Yeah, I know, but sheesh, could you be any more condescending about it? It took me a while to compile all of this stuff, I'll have you know! Lol. This is the one and only thread I'll ever make on here about Chinese armor, so just entertain me for the moment, Wujiang, ok?

Eric

That wasn't supposed to be condescending in anyway. Sorry if you got that idea. If I was being condescending, I would have said something like "isn't it incredible that god invented the search function" or something along those lines. Anyway, sorry if there was a misunderstanding.


Mok, which pic are you talking about ? If you are talking about the 'actual piece', then like I said, it is a fake.

No, the stone statue. Sure looks heavy to me. But in actuality, was armour that heavy or cumbersome?

Not as much so as a European knight with large, heavy plates of armor (although this is an advantage in many other regards). Lamellar armor is renowned for the user's ability to move swiftly and have flexible advantage as he is guarded by tons of tiny different linked or sewn plates of armor.

Eric

Good to know!

Well, lets put it this way, any armour is always more cumbersome than no armour. Wearing clothes is always more restrictive than not. But the question is often a matter of how it is reduced.

This comes in two levels. The first is the movement of the limbs, in which like all asian armour, the shoulder joint and the areas under the legs are generally unprotected. Thus leaving the joints able to move freely. Protections are added over these areas such as the use of a tuiqun (note that Ming armour's developement took another step from the previous dynasty that it developed the adjustable tuiqun).

The second is how to distribute the weight of the armour over the thus stopping the armour from 'slumping'. This is accomplished by the various straps over the torso that tightens the armour into the body. The shoulder straps, the belt, as well as the fasteners of teh armour itself were designed to do this. With the entire body baring the weight of the armour rather than just the shoulders and waist, it would actually 'feel' lighter.

Nice, thanks Wujian.

I've posted this same thread in SMQ, and the member Byzantine Emperor there poses a question that I can't answer, but that maybe you guys can help me out with.

"The decorative work on this scabbard and others you posted is amazing. Who typically, in Chinese society (Ming), did the ornamental work on the scabbards? I mean, was it the blacksmith who made the blade or was there a separate artisan class that was responsible for it."

Thanks,
Eric

[quote name='Non-Han Nan Ban' date='Aug 14 2006, 04:35 PM' post='4836789']
These next pictures are actually from an 18th century Qing Dynasty military uniform, but it shows the brigandine style of armor found in the late Ming period, with the lamellar plates of steel riveted into the suit itself, as well as a picture of the metal helmet used.













I would like to find some color photos or drawing of the Ming versions of this. I have an artist that I will be having draw plates for a forethcoming booklet on the Imjin war and I want to have the correct look for the troops.

Any pictures of this style of armor that was used by the Ming during the Imjin conflict?

Brian

Some time ago, Thomas Chen posted an image of Ming soldiers at or around the time of the Imjin war. They were dressed in what looked to be colour-coded, ankle length coats of brigandine. Some of them have a reinforcing disk strapped across the chest area.

I take it that this image is not available ay longer?

I do have one image that shows Ming Troops from a book on Ancient Chinese Armor. The gunner appears to be wearing a white brigandine armor.

Brian

The late Ming armour looks almost identicle to Qing armour which I believe the Qing adopted.


Here are ming troops in korea.




The pictures in "manchu veritable records " show ming soldiers dressed identicle to qing soldiers, however the drawings are black and white so I don't know what color were Ming soldiers wearing.


I can't find good quality ones, you have to find the book.
here are some drawings in the books on battles between later jin and Ming troops during Nurhaci's time.

nurhaci takes Liaoyang, this is ok quality.

I have it saved to my HD. I'll upload to my Flickr gallery soon.

IS IT JUST ME OR IS iT WHY I CANT VIEW THE PICTURES????

It's not just you, many of these pictures have gone defunct; who knows why. They originally worked, as memory recalls from last year.

Eric (En Rui)