Some Qidan samples excavated in Dongbei are solid too. But the sphere is small in this case. Fadu had bigger hollow sphere.

I think both types existed concurrently.

Best regards,

Alexey.

Three kinds are known..

Solid metal 'ball', solid wood with metal bands and hollow metal.
There are European and Central Asian maces of all three types as well.
The Europeans also had a later style that was pointed blades radiating from a metal core.

Please also pay attention to Chinese "langyaban" which is the kind of spiked mace.

Best regards,

Alexey.

Yes, the Chinese version of the spiked mace was the langya bang (wolf's tooth stick), while the steppe version was called the guduo.

How common was the mace, whether the langya bang or fadu? From what I have seen in pictures it seems to be a weapon carried primarily by officers or commanders.

Also, wasn't the langya bang on a long shaft? Does the jian (mace) have spiked metal coming out of the edge?

I've also seen maces, primarily steppe troops, that looks similar to gears. What was that called?

Cheers

The jian 锏 is strictly speaking not a mace, but rather a sword-shaped weapon that has a 'blade' that is blunt and thick rather than sharp-edged and thin. It was used for the same purpose as the mace - to injure armoured cavalry or knock them off the horse. The true Chinese mace is the chui 锤, which is a solid sphere on a long stick. The langya bang 狼牙梆 is different in having a more elongated head, like an oval rather than a sphere, with spikes on it. There is a double-headed version of the langya bang (with a handle between the two heads) called the chu 杵 (pestle).


Langya bang on the left, chu on the right

A Warring States version of the mace head:





That's the guduo 骨朵, or more specifically the jili guguo 蒺藜骨朵, as not all guduo have spikes.



A pair of chui on the left, and a guduo on the right

A good Chinese site I found with many pictures of authentic Ming and Qing weapons, including jian 锏, chui 锤, and guduo 骨朵:

http://www.tiefengju.com/DXHWXS.htm

(beware of slow loading time)

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This was pulled from the Russian website Alexey provided. Is this barding Jin?

Cheers



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Another picture pulled of the Russian website. Is this another Jin horse barding?

Cheers


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Another picture?

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I found this off the Song siege website and found the insignia interesting. Any comments on this?



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I like this display. Is it brigandine armour?

Cheers

I'd like to know the significance of the Wheel of Reincarnation on a Song... what is that, a shield?

that looks like brigandine, but possibley 'court armor' (just clothing, no metal plates).

This armour is Mongol/Yuen. The diagonal cross strap is generally unused except for the Yuen dynasty.
The horse armours could have been either Song or Jin. However, I actualy won't be surprised if it is actually Yuen either.

The reason why I thought maybe they were Jin is because of the plume/feathers on the horse's head. I've never seen or read any references to Mongols using such decoration.

No, it is Song period reconstruction of regional armor used by all neighbouring countries including Mongols.



No, it is Liao horse armor according to the Song painting.



Armored warriors are Liao warriors of Qidan origin. The images are taken from Song painting.



Yes, shurely. It is Qing hip protector. The sides of the protector is organic and the center is padded with leather of steel plates. The organic sides allow to wrap the hip accurately when the steel plates protect the knee and hip.

Thanks Altaica Militarica.

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I pulled these shields from the Russian website. What dynasty are they from?

Cheers

Chris

Ming or QIng (as they had only slight difference in design).

Best regards,

Alexey.

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A friend e-mail these to me so I don't know where they came from. Can anyone confirm whether this is actually Xiangyang?

Cheers

http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_post...ty+statue&TPN=2

Above is a link to all empires forum with a picture of a Song dynasty statue and a Ming dynasty statue. The armour on both statues are similar, the mountain pattern armour, even the armour on the lower arm is similar. There are differences between the two, especially the shoulder piece. I realize armour didn't change drastically between the 2 dynasty's, but how is it known which is Ming and which is Song?

I would have posted the pictures onto this forum, but the attachment was to large.

Cheers