Rattan armours of the Ming Dynasty

Teng Dou Mou （藤兜牟, rattan hat helmet）

Rattan helmet allegedly belongs to the Koxinga's army, currently exhibited in Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall, Xiamen, China.

By far the most common type of rattan body defence (apart from rattan shield), rattan helmet was widely used by Chinese troops in the South China (as well as neighbouring countries such as Vietnam).

Drawing of a rattan hat helmet, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Rattan hat helmets came in all variety of shapes, but the most common ones seem to be conical shaped, similar to a small coolie hat. Rattan hat helmet was usually worn on top of a padded silk cap, constructed in similar way to Qi Jia. Rattan hat helmet and Qi Jia were usually worn together.

Chi Teng Jia (赤藤甲, red rattan armour)

Chi Teng Jia, from 'Bing Lu (《兵錄》)'.

Chi Teng Jia was a typical "wickerwork" rattan armour made of sturdy Calamus rattan. It was extremely lightweight and suitable for naval operations.

To make this armour, fifty jin of rattans were submerged in the water for half a month, then sun-dried for three days. This process was repeated for one year before the rattans could be fully dried. The dried rattans were then woven into twenty set of armours, before being oiled with tung oil. Rattan helmet and buckler could also be prepared in a similar way to Chi Teng Jia.

Shui Bing Jia (水兵甲, marine armour)

Shui Bing Jia, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'.

A variant to the more common "wickerwork" rattan armour, Shui Bing Jia was of rattan scale construction. As its name suggests, this armour was also designed with naval operation in mind. Soldiers were advised to strip naked before donning this armour in order to facilitate swimming movements.

Armour scales used in this armour came from old rattan tree (which can grow into enormous size), sawn into smaller plates, painted with tung oil, and then sun-dried or baked dry. These rattan scales were sewn to a backing made of ramie fabric or cotton cloth, which was padded with human hair and treated with tung oil mixed with bean oil of some kind, as well as wax and ash.

The helmet was made of sliced gourd shell. The tin breathing apparatus was non-functional.