Could anyone confirm, speaking from a weapons specialist point of view, is there any difference between a 盾 and a 楯. Is the first a generic shield and the second a specific wooden shield? The characters come from the famous 矛盾 (máo dùn) Classical Chinese story. Especially in traditional versions, the 楯 character is used, although the difference between the two is not one of traditional and simplified.

On a related point: the first character 盾 is obviously pronouced dùn and I am reliably informed that the second is pronounced dùn, too, if it is used in the meaning of a shield (i.e. a variant character), but the Wenlin dictionary, for example, gives: zòu, shǔn, chūn, chǔn, shùn and sūn with the primary meaning as shield or horizontal bar - but despite all of the multi-pronunciations, dùn is not one of them. It is all rather frustrating.

It is a small point, but I would like to be clear - any enlightenment on the topic would be most appreciated.

Thanks - Graham

I am very interested in what you find out. The shield I know of was the rattan tengpai, which seems unrelated to the one you are discussing.

Josh

From: http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/03/fanyan.htm



From Fang Yan Jiao Jian:

盾 at the East of the Guan (關) is 瞂 (fa2) or 干 (just like 扞 han4 -- ward off, resist). At the West of the Guan (關), some call it 盾.

From: http://baike.baidu.com/view/109672.htm.



Translated: Guanxi: Today's Shaanxi or Gansu provinces. It means the areas west of the Hangu Pass and Tong Pass.

The Guan (Pass) was 函谷关 (Hangu Pass) or 潼关 (Tong Pass).

Note:

- Tong Pass: 潼关 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongguan_County
- Hangu Pass: 函谷关 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangu_Pass

==========================================
From: http://zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE6ZdicA5ZdicAF.htm
楯

When pronounced as shun3:



Originally: Rail, balustrade, banister.

When pronounced as shun3:


1. Rail, balustrade,banister.
2. Select and promote the best. (From http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Lindict/)
3. The cart that carries the Coffins in the ancient time.

When pronounced as dun4:
1. Same as "盾" (shield).



From: http://zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE7Zdic9BZdicBE.htm

盾 dun4


(1) In the ancient Chinese scripts of 象形 or 小篆字形, there is a shield on top of an eye. It shows that using the shield to cover the eye (body). Originally, it means shield.
(2) Same as (1).
(3) Power of shield. Used with the parts of shield or sheild related items.
(4) Items that are shaped like shields.

Please note that the later rattan tengpai (籐牌) was derived from the ancient (盾 Dun4) shield (from 辭海 published by 中華書局 in Taiwan).

Dear All,

Thank you very much for all of this feedback. It is very useful. It would seem that I probably should just take them as variant characters. In fact, both the 辞源 and the 辞海 say that both characters in the meaning of shield are pronounced dun4, but that their old pronunciation in this meaning is shun3.

Best regards - Graham