Chapter 7 Section 5 Protective Equipment

The aforementioned are all offensive weapons, now let's look at the defensive weapons in ancient China, that is, protective equipment. Armor is the protective equipment worn by ancient soldiers, and it is also the most basic type of protective equipment.Also known as Jia, Jie, and Letter.Primitive armor was made of rattan and animal hides.During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the whole piece of leather has begun to be made into partially movable leather armor.The method of making it is to cut the leather into leather pieces of various sizes and shapes according to the different protective parts, and combine two or more layers of leather pieces together, and then use ropes to weave the leather pieces into armor.The leather armor of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods generally consisted of three parts: the armor body, the armor skirt and the armor sleeves, and there was also a leather armor with only the armor body and the armor skirt but no sleeves.Some armor garments are also embedded with some bronze nail bubbles.In the late Warring States period, the use of iron armor has gradually increased.In the Western Han Dynasty, iron armor had already replaced leather armor and bronze armor.There were two kinds of armor at that time: one was Zhajia made of long strips shaped like bamboo slips, and the other was fish scale armor made of many small pieces of armor layered on top of each other.The tomb of Liu Sheng in the Western Han Dynasty, located in Mancheng County, Hebei Province, once unearthed a fish-scale armor with a collar and a vertical edge. It was woven from 2,859 pieces of armor and weighed 33 catties and 11 taels. The craftsmanship is extremely exquisite.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liangdang armor consisting of a breastplate and a carapace began to be used. It was connected with buckles on the shoulders and tied around the waist. It was named because it resembled the Liangdang in clothing.Liangdang armor was formed in the Three Kingdoms and prevailed in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. After the Taihe Year of the Northern Wei Dynasty (477-499 AD), it was gradually replaced by Mingguang armor.

Mingguang armor is named after the shining metal round guards decorated on the chest and back, and it was popular in the Northern Dynasties.According to the records of "Tang Liudian", there are 13 kinds of armor in Tang Dynasty, also known as "Tang Thirteen Armors".Among them, Mingguang, Guangyao, Xilin, Shanwen, Wuhammer and chain mail are all stitched with iron armor pieces.The chain mail is connected by iron chains, which are closely interlocked to form a armor garment. It is easy to wear and soft, and it is lighter and more practical than large-scale armor.The armor of the Northern Song Dynasty was more developed, and the "Wu Jing Zong Yao" painted five sets of armor graphics with text descriptions.Each set of armor is composed of the "armor body" for body protection, the "cape" for shoulder protection, the "hanging leg" for leg protection, and the "dumping item" for protecting the head and neck.The armor of ancient China has developed to a fairly perfect stage so far.During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, although armor was still in use, its protective effect has been declining due to the development of matchlock guns.The armor of the Qing Dynasty has become an ornament to show one's status.

The helmet is a device used by ancient soldiers to protect the head.Its shape is like a hat, also known as helmet, pocket, head and so on.Since helmets need to be used together with armor, the word "armor" has become a general term for ancient protective equipment.The original helmet was made of rattan and animal skin.The bronze helmets unearthed from the Yin Ruins in Anyang indicate that bronze helmets have been used in my country around the 14th century BC.Iron helmets unearthed from the site of Yanxiadu in Yi County, Hebei Province show that my country began to use iron helmets around the late Warring States period, and called them "dou 鍪".The army of the Qin and Han Dynasties mostly wore iron pockets.Iron helmets were mostly used in Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties.The helmets of the Qing Dynasty were lined with silk cloth and cotton, covered with iron leaves, and pierced with copper nails, which no longer had much protective effect.

Vests have been used in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but this kind of vest is mainly used to protect the head and torso of the driving horse.In the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, the cavalry, which was good at galloping, had become a main arm of the army. In order to protect the body of the horse, people began to make vests.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, vests with protective functions were further promoted.During the Three Kingdoms period, it developed into a matching horse armor.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, armor made of iron sheets or leather was used, which made the horse armor develop to a relatively perfect stage.This kind of armor is composed of six parts: face curtain, chicken neck, dang chest, horse armor, back, and parasite.Protect the horse's head, neck, chest, body, buttocks and tail respectively.The parasites were removed from the armored armor of the Song Dynasty.The war horses of ethnic minorities also wear vests.The horses of the Liao and Xixia armies wore iron vests.The cavalry of the Jin army, the men wore iron armor, and the horses were covered with iron armor. The 4,000 tooth soldiers led by the chief general Jin Wushu himself were called "Iron Futu".They galloped freely on the battlefield, causing the Song army to suffer.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the extensive use of matchlock guns and the penetrating power of bullets and shells, the protective equipment of war horses became dispensable.

Shields are protective equipment held by ancient soldiers to resist arrows and stones shot by the enemy.Also known as Gan, Pai, Shield Pai, Peng Pai, Side Pai, etc.The original shields were quite crude, mostly made of naturally occurring rattan, wooden sticks and tough animal skins, which were simply weaved together and had a certain defensive effect.The remnants of the shield of the Shang Dynasty were found in the Yin Ruins of Anyang. It is trapezoidal in shape, with a slightly convex surface, no more than 1 meter in height and 60-80 centimeters in width. Leather, and painted pattern on it.Western Zhou infantry used narrow and long shields covered with shields, which could be linked with vertical shields to form a defensive barrier; chariot soldiers used narrow and short shields covered with shields, also known as chariot shields.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, round side cards were used, with a convex center and a handle on the back.Iron shields began to be used in the Qin and Han Dynasties.The cavalry of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties all wore armor and generally did not use shields.The army of the Tang Dynasty called the shield Peng Pai.According to "Tang Liudian", the shields used by the Tang army include knee row, regiment row, lacquer row, wooden row, combined wooden row, and leather row, collectively known as "Tang Liupai".In the Song Dynasty, shields were called side cards. They were all made of strong wood and covered with leather.The side plates of the infantry are relatively large, with a pointed top and a flat bottom, with several crosspieces in the middle, and a wedge on the back, which can be used to stand on the ground.The side card of the cavalry is round and small in size, with a collar on the back, which is worn on the left arm during combat to resist arrows and stones.

The Xixia Army and the Mongolian Army also created several famous shields.The felt shields used by the Xixia army are covered with felt and have good defensive performance. They can be used in field battles and city battles.Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, once organized personnel to make a folding shield, which was opened when used, and folded and easy to carry when marching.The Ming Dynasty also created a shield used in conjunction with firearms. It can hide incendiary firearms, magical arrows and muskets on the back of the shield. The combination of soldiers and shields has both offensive and defensive capabilities.The infantry shields of the Ming Dynasty were still used in the Qing Dynasty, and they were not finally discarded until the end of the Qing Dynasty.