Let's discuss the types of ancient armor in China.

The armor of Shang dynasty was mostly leather armor and cloth armor, which covered important parts of the body and had poor defense. Clothes, clothes and clothes were restored according to the bronze statues and carved figures on the stone surface unearthed in the sacrificial ceremony of the Shang Dynasty in Guanghan, and the clothes were unearthed from the Shang tomb in Xingan County, Jiangxi Province.

Western Zhou armor

The "armor training" worn by warriors in the Western Zhou Dynasty is mostly made of silk and thick cotton, which belongs to the category of cloth armor.

Warring States armor

Warring States armor is made of metal. In the early and late Warring States period, the Warring States soldiers generally used leather hard rattan armor, which was mainly used to resist bows and arrows. From the middle of the Warring States Period, in 32 1 year BC, armored armor and metal armor appeared in the Warring States Period. Soldiers' armor is made of copper, and the armor of officers above the rank of lieutenant is made of iron. At that time, China's iron smelting technology was not developed, so most of the armor was made of hard rattan copper.

Qin dynasty armor

There are no nail patches on the chest and back, and they are all painted with geometric patterns. It seems to be made of a hard brocade, or it may be made of leather and painted with patterns. The shape of armor is pointed at the front chest and hem, straight at the back and hem, and wide around. It is also made of brocade or leather with geometric patterns on it. The whole armor is 97 cm in front and 55 cm in back. Below the chest, the center of the back and the lower back are decorated with small nail plates. There are 160 nail plates all over the body. The nail plate is square in shape, each side is wide and the handle is cm. The fixing method of the nail plate is to use a thong or beef tendon to penetrate the group in a V shape and nail it firmly with rivets. In addition, the shoulders are also equipped with shawls made of similar leather, and ribbons are also exposed on the chest, back and shoulders.

Qin Bingjia: This is the most common armor style among Qin soldiers, and it is the costume of ordinary soldiers. This kind of armor has the following characteristics: the armor on the chest is pressed down by the upper piece, and the armor on the abdomen is pressed down by the lower piece, which is convenient for activities. Starting from the middle line of the chest and abdomen, all the nail plates are stacked from the middle to both sides, and the combination of the shoulder nail plates is the same as that of the abdomen. The nail plates around the shoulders, abdomen and neck are connected by nail belts. There are nails on all nail plates, ranging from two to three or four, with no more than six at most. The front and rear armor are equal in length. They are all 64 cm, and the trouser legs are generally round with no extra edges around them.

Han dynasty armor

During the Western Han Dynasty, armored armor became popular and gradually became the main equipment in the army. This kind of armor was called "Xuanjia" at that time. On the whole, the military uniforms of the western regions are very similar to those of the Qin Dynasty in many aspects. In the army, regardless of rank, they all wear Zen clothes and pants. The colors of military uniforms in Han Dynasty are red, crimson and so on. In the Han dynasty, the army was generally equipped with "ring-headed iron knives".

Armor of three kingdoms and two Jin dynasties

Restoration map of military uniforms in Wei and Jin Dynasties. On the left is the iron sleeve armor, which is a kind of short-sleeved shirt with the chest and back connected and made of fish scale nails. The shape of the sleeve armor is very similar to that of the western Han dynasty, and it is worn from the head. This sleeve armor is very hard. Zhou basically followed the shape of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the top of Zhou was decorated with tassels. On the right is the military clothes of Wei and Jin Dynasties, mainly robes and trousers pleated clothes. The robe is knee-high and the sleeves are wide. Pleats as short as two hips, tight small sleeve, robes, pleats are generally straight collar, right slit, but there are also round necks.

Armor of southern and northern dynasties

The armor in the Southern and Northern Dynasties mainly includes sleeve armor, crotch armor and bright armor. The origin of the word "bright armor" is said to be related to the circular protection on the chest and back. Because most of these circular shields are made of metals such as copper and iron, the polished aurora looks like a mirror. Wearing bright armor on the battlefield will give off dazzling "light" because of the sun's irradiation, hence the name. There are many styles of this kind of armor, and the complexity is also different: some just add two round guards at the front and back of the crotch, some are equipped with shoulder pads and knee pads, and some are so complicated that there are several shoulder pads. Most of the bulletproof vests grow to the hips, and the waist is tied with a belt. On the left, the terracotta figures are military commanders wearing gloves and bright armor. On the right is bright armor wearing a monitor.

Sui armor

The most commonly used armor in the Sui Dynasty was crotch and strong light. Compared with the previous generation, the crotch structure has been improved and the shape has changed a little. Generally, small nail pieces with scales and other shapes are woven, and the length extends to the abdomen, replacing the original leather nail skirt. The hem of the bulletproof vest is crescent-shaped and lotus-leaf-shaped nail pieces to protect the lower abdomen. These improvements have greatly enhanced the defense from the waist down. The shape of Ming Guanglong is basically the same as that of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but the leg skirt is longer and more gorgeous.

Tang dynasty armor

Armor in the Tang Dynasty was used in actual combat, mainly armor and leather armor. In addition to real armor and leather armor, silk armor was widely used in the armor of the Tang Dynasty. Silk armor is armor made of silk and other textiles. It is light in structure and beautiful in appearance, but it has no defensive ability and cannot be used in actual combat. It can only be used as a general's uniform or ceremonial uniform. According to the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty, there are thirteen kinds, such as Ming Guang, Eta Ursae Majoris, Fine Scale, Mountain Pattern, Bird Hammer, White Cloth, Soap Roll, Cloth Back, Infantry, Leather Armor, Mujia, Lock Armor and vest. Among them, Mingguang, Eta Ursae Majoris, Suozi, Shanwen, Bird Hammer and Thin Scale are armor, and the latter three are named after the style of armor pieces. Leather armor, wooden armor, white cloth, soap roll and cloth back are all named after the manufacturing materials. It can be seen that Suozi and Shanwen are two kinds of armor in parallel. Scales, ring armour and mountain armour all belong to the same category. They're not full body armor. However, some of their protective abilities are different. In Xiangshan No.1 Middle School, the "inverted elegant" deck is convex in the middle and concave on both sides, and several decks are buckled together to form a whole deck, which makes the deck surface form numerous concave and convex surfaces, which is very beneficial to arrow prevention. Both Song and Ming dynasties were equipped with this kind of armor, which even affected the art of folk painting, and the warriors in folk painting all wore this kind of armor.

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Armor

The clothing system of the Five Dynasties basically followed the system of the late Tang Dynasty, and the armor of Guang Jia in the Ming Dynasty basically withdrew from the historical stage. The armor was all made of armor pieces and became a two-piece suit in shape. Hand stroke and shoulder pad are combined into one; The breastplate and leggings are connected into a whole, tied back and forth with two shoulder straps and placed on the shoulder pads. The other five generations continued to use leather armor, made of large pieces of leather, and wore gloves and protective equipment.

Armor of song dynasty

In terms of weight, the armor of China in the Song Dynasty was the heaviest armor in the history of China. According to "General Theory of Jason Wu", the carapace in the Northern Song Dynasty is a typical mixed carapace, which is composed of armored leaves with thongs or nails. /kloc-chain mail in Europe in the 20th century weighed only15kg, while Gothic armor in the 5th century weighed only 20kg. Although the heaviest armor in the17th century reached 42kg, the ordinary armor with a weight of three quarters was only in the range of 20-30kg. Its protection scope includes the whole body. In terms of protection scope, it is the closest China armor to European heavy armor, but it has not reached the impenetrable protection level of European heavy armor.

According to the regulations of Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty (1 134), Walker's armor consists of 1825 nail leaves with a total weight of 29 kg. At the same time, increasing the number of nail leaves can improve the protection force, but the weight will further increase. To this end, the emperor personally ordered that the infantry armor should not exceed 29.8 kilograms. Since then, the armor weight of long gunners has been set at 32-35 kilograms; Because archers often participate in melee combat, their armor is set at 28-33 kg; The crossbow shooter's armor is set at 22-27 kg. At the same time, the armor type of European cavalry is mainly chain mail, which has not reached such a weight.

1 140 or so is the most powerful period in Song Jun. Famous soldiers Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. , led by real armor, pike, strong crossbow as the main equipment of heavy infantry, with a dense lineup to defeat the Jurchen cavalry many times. At that time, Song Jun's heavy infantry, including weapons, carried as much as 40-50 kilograms, and their mobility was affected by heavy equipment. For example, in the 11th year of Shaoxing (11), Song Jun, which was dominated by infantry, was overloaded because its armor was heavy and its weapons were too long, because it could not be completely destroyed.

Liao dynasty armor

According to the records of Liao history, when Liao was in Qidan, the armor used by the army was mainly in the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, mainly in the Song Dynasty. The upper structure of the armor is exactly the same as that of the Song Dynasty, but the leg skirt is obviously shorter than that of the Song Dynasty, and the two-sided stork tail armor covers the leg skirt, maintaining the characteristics of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Armor belly protector seems to be hung in front of the abdomen with a belt, and then fixed with a belt. Like leather armor in the Song Dynasty, the big circle protector in the middle of the chest is unique to the Liao Dynasty. In the Liao Dynasty, leather armor was used in addition to real armor. The clothing of Qidan military attache can be divided into official clothing and official clothing. There is no obvious difference in style. They are all narrow-sleeved robes with stand-up collars. Like ordinary men's clothes, official clothes may be slightly tighter than official clothes. Both can be worn as military uniforms.

Xixia armor

The armor worn by the samurai is full-body, and the helmet and epaulettes are exactly the same as those of the Song Dynasty. Body armor is like two hip armor, knee-high. Mainly short armor, indicating that the manufacture of armor lags behind the Central Plains after all. The official clothes of Xixia can also be used as military uniforms, such as the Qidan clothes of Liao Dynasty, which are obviously different. Because the feudal degree of Xixia society is not very deep, the relationship between people is still relatively equal, so the hierarchical concept of clothing is not so strong.

Jin dynasty armor

Early armor only had a bust, and below it was a kneepad; Around the middle period, the armor was quickly completed, with long and wide leg skirts. The protection area was almost the same as that of the Song Dynasty, and its shape was also influenced by the Northern Song Dynasty. The robes of the Jin Dynasty are narrow sleeves with standing collars, and the length of the robes reaches the foot. Jungle robes can also be worn outside the armor.

Yuan dynasty armor

In the Yuan Dynasty, there were liujia and tiehoop armor. The inner layer of iron hoop armor is cowhide and the outer layer is iron net armor. The nail pieces are connected together like fish scales, and the arrow can't penetrate, so the production is extremely exquisite. There are leather armor, cloth armor and so on. There is only one kind of national service in military service, that is, high-quality sun suit, which is a kind of robe with tight sleeves, with a cross collar and a square collar, which is long and short, reaching to the knee and short to the knee. There is also a kind of knitted coat, which is exactly the same as the sun suit except that the hem is wider and denser. The waist is sewn with a wide waist made of braided thread and some buttons are nailed, commonly known as "knitted coat" or "waistline coat". This kind of clothing is also a Mongolian military uniform in Yuan Dynasty, which can be worn by military commanders, court guards and warriors.

Ming dynasty armor

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a kind of fat coat for sergeant's clothing, which was made of "knee-length, narrow sleeves and inner cotton" and was red in color, so it was also called "red fat coat". Knights ride horses in double-breasted clothes. Battlefield is mostly made of copper and iron, and leather is rarely used. The armor worn by the general is also made of copper and iron, and the shape of the armor plate is mostly "mountain", which is accurate and light to wear. Soldiers wear chain mail, iron mesh skirt pants and iron mesh boots below the waist.

Qing dynasty armor

In the Qing dynasty, the general helmets, whether iron products or leather products, were painted on the surface. There are two beams at the front, back, left and right of the helmet, and a cover eyebrow protrudes from the middle of the forehead, on which there is a dancing engine and a bowl. There is a helmet plate shaped like a small handleless wine cup on the bowl, and there is an iron pipe or copper pipe for cutting the tassel gun, carving feathers or otter tail in the middle of the helmet plate. There are lapis lazuli and other colors of silk collar, neck and ear protectors, embroidered with patterns and decorated with copper or iron foam nails. Armor is divided into armor and apron. Shoulder pad is installed on the shoulder of armor, and shoulder pad has underarm protection; In addition, wear a metal heart protector on the chest and back, and a trapezoidal abdomen protector on the front seam under the mirror, which is called "front guard". Wearing a "left block" on the left side of the waist and not wearing a block on the right side is reserved for wearing a bow and arrow bag. The apron is divided into left and right pieces and tied around the waist with a belt when worn. In the middle of the two skirts, a tiger head made of the same material covered her knees. This picture shows the yellow satin copper nail copper leaf beetle in Qing dynasty, but there is no protective mirror. A large number of armor in Qing Dynasty was cotton armor, which was a kind of bell armor with iron pieces embedded in thick cotton cloth or silk and fixed with copper nails. It looks like a cotton coat. Cotton armour has certain cold resistance, which is suitable for cavalry in northern China. The thick cloth is densely embedded with iron armor leaves, which has certain protective ability against cold weapons and firearms.

The original body of armor is armor, which began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Each generation of armored armor is often made of different materials and shapes. In the Han dynasty, armour was called xuanjia, which was different from golden armour and bronze armour. In the Han dynasty, the army was generally equipped with armored armor. According to the determination, the iron plate was forged into a plate by ironmaking, and then annealed and decarburized, which had toughness. The wearer's torso and debris are surrounded by armor, which is bell-shaped like a half-sleeved shirt. There were various types of armor in the Tang Dynasty. According to the Six Classics of Tang Dynasty, there are thirteen kinds of armor: bright armor, scale armor, mountain armor, black hammer armor, white cloth armor, soap silk armor, cloth back armor, infantry armor, leather armor, wooden armor, chain armor and vest, which are mainly used by foot cavalry. After the Song Dynasty, although firearms appeared, armor was still an important protective equipment. In the Song Dynasty, several kinds of mirror armor appeared, such as steel chain mail, black lacquer Linshui Mountain Spring Armor, Bright Fine Mesh Armor, Mingju Armor and Buren Armor. In the Ming Dynasty, the compliance of mirror armor was reduced to 40 kg to 25 kg, mostly iron valve armor and chain mail. The armor equipped in the early Qing Dynasty inherited the craft tradition of the Ming Dynasty. It also absorbed the advantages of nail making technology of various nationalities, and the armor protection ability and external decoration were improved. Therefore, the Fu Museum preserved the royal armor of the Qing emperor, including bronze helmets and protective equipment. It consists of eight parts: bra, shirt, breast protector, bronze mirror, skirt and boots. The armor is lined with steel sheets, and the Ming-ha sheet, the border and the robe edge are closely decorated with copper stars. It is an ordinary warrior armor and is made into waistcoats and horseshoe sleeves. This shirt is embroidered with steel stars. At the end of Qing Dynasty, we trained new troops, changed western military uniforms and abolished real armor.