Surviving Chinese armour

Is there any surviving Chinese armour from late Song to early Ming or did you guys exterminate them all like the sparrows?

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greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/search/label/body armour
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greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2017/10/traditional-chinese-and-byzantine.html
dragonsarmory.blogspot.my/2015/08/late-ming-cavalry-armor.html
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melted down to create beg skayscrapper!!

Most surviving armor nowadays is from the Ming-Qing period.

Song's a bit harder. Lamellar preserves like shit, in addition to Chinese smelting older models for newer armor considering they didn't have sentimental value attached to them since the military didn't see themselves as some speshul warrior class.

But the helmets tend to be hardier than most of the armor and so we do have examples where those survived.

case in point: the one in your picture: Chinese kettle hats. Popular during the Song to Ming dynasties.

>Chinese smelting older models for newer armor considering they didn't have sentimental value attached to them since the military didn't see themselves as some speshul warrior class.

Not even for famous generals? Why are lamellar harder to preserve? If there isn’t anyway for us to see authentic Chinese armour, could you locate me to links with illustrative scrolls?

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Webm never loads for me.

>Not even for famous generals?
Been wondering this myself.

Generals wore very elaborate armor pieces. One just wonders what happened to them. I mean in the Ming/Qing periods, they were preserved, but the aristocracy didn't seem to mind doing so in earlier dynasties.

>could you locate me to links with illustrative scrolls?
Song to Ming period Armor are generally found in full detail within two military encyclopedias of the time: the Wujing Zongyao. And the Wubei Zhi.

But this is a great place to start
>greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/search/label/body armour

There's also a budding group of Historical Societies in the Chink-speaking world that have been reviving older armor types for heritage shows or just plain LARPing.

Thanks dude. I’ve already looked at most of the dragon’s armoury and greatmingmilitary blogs so I was curious for more. I’ll have a look at the scrolls.

There's a copy of the Wubei Zhi in the archives library.

You can access all of the volumes of that military encylopedia here
>archive.org/search.php?query=武備志&page=3
You do however have to know how to read traditional Chinese script.

> Not even for famous generals?
Imperial China being what it was, keeping (personal) armor at home is grounds for treason charge.


>Why are lamellar harder to preserve
The lacing rots before the (metal) lamellar plates do. So the plates are usually unearthed in a state of unintelligible lump of metal and rust.

Hardly anything even survived the Ming period (there are a few, but there are REALLY rare), and most Qing period armors that survived are ceremonial "pretend brigandine" anyway.


> Wujing Zongyao and Wubei Zhi
Unfortunately, the armor illustrations on the books suck. It's hard to even tell which ways the armors are facing.

Several early and mid-Ming armors (reconstruction)

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There are a few remnants of lamellar suits though mostly helmets survive.

>Wujing Zongyao. And the Wubei Zhi.
Not really useful I'm afraid. Though detailed in military manuals "Cataphract" armor was rarely used.

These armors are largely ceremonial in nature.

Speaking of military manuals,Bing Lu does provide some common armors though the quality isn't that great.

Unlike Song armors which consisted of hanging lamellar plackarts,Ming armors were tailored on an outer surcoat known as the Zhao Jia.

From left to right:
1. Sleeved brigandine
2. Sleeveless brigandine
3. Sleeveless brigandine/lamellar
4. Sleeveless lamellar/brigandine
5. Sleeveless lamellar

Armor #2. The most common form of brigandine during the Late Ming.

user, we're talking about the Song here, the dynasty that grew an autistic fear of generals because of the Tang. The dynasty that literally executed their generals if they were doing too well.

Since y'all talking about Chinese armor in this thread: what was the meme belt/waist-sash in Chinese armor all about?

It's this cloth-like thing that hugs an armored guy's waist from the back to front. Was there any significance to it?

They are actually two seperate pieces of equipment. They both help with weight distribution and chafing,while some armies such as the Jurchen Jin used them to as unit identifiers.
greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2017/10/traditional-chinese-and-byzantine.html

Is a good thread on Veeky Forums

Holy fuck

Ok so why do soldiers who just wear cloth uniforms have sash-thingies?

Pic related, a Ming painting of Qin's atrocities to scholars, but with contemporary Chinese gear.

You're missing out, a litterbug got btfo by a heroic warrior. Unfortunately I can't get the sound to load, but it has english subtitles.

>Ok so why do soldiers who just wear cloth uniforms have sash-thingies?
I doubt they are unarmored,there was a style where clothing was worn over armor. If they are truly unarmored it ultimately boils down to what's fashionable.

>Pic related, a Ming painting of Qin's atrocities to scholars, but with contemporary Chinese gear.
The painting might be more stylistic than what is commonly depicted. Vambraces and greaves are relatively rare while scarves,waist cushions and corsets became obsolete.

Here's a typical mid-late Ming cavalryman from the northwestern border garrisons.

Compared to their Song antecedents the cummerbund like sash replaced the corset while scarves and waist cushions were no longer necessary.

Cavalry brigandines were slightly longer than infantry variants with an unstudded portion covering the shin.

>Ok so why do soldiers who just wear cloth uniforms have sash-thingies?
The sash-thing became fashionable at some point, so even unarmored troops and non-military started wearing them.

>The sash-thing became fashionable at some point, so even unarmored troops and non-military started wearing them.
Spot on. An apt analogy is the dissemination of the Mongol derived clothing such as the Zhao Jia,Yesa and the Da Mao during the Ming dynasty.

Interesting thing I found the other day.

A Japanese helmet derived from a Korean or Ming Chinese helmet. Probably looted during the Imjin War off war dead.

dragonsarmory.blogspot.my/2015/08/late-ming-cavalry-armor.html
dragonsarmory.blogspot.my/search/label/armor
Take with a pinch of salt.

Hitting someone with a hammer seems a bit overkill