Ming, Qing and Japanese armour components: A brief introduction and analysis

UPDATED NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Left: An unnamed Ming Jin Yi Wei (錦衣衛, lit. 'Brocade-clad guard') in parade gear. Middle: Fu De (富德), a Manchu general of Plain Yellow Banner. Right: Yamanaka Yukimori (山中幸盛) with his characteristic crescent moon crested helmet.

This blog post is intended to be an introductory article to Chinese armours of Ming and Qing period, their individual components, as well as a comparison between their similarities and differences. I also included a Japanese armour to the analysis in the hope that it can highlight the design considerations that went into each of these armours.

Ming Armour

Components of Ming armour (click to enlarge).

Armour in the above picture is taken from Ru Bi Tu (《入蹕圖》). This particular suit is a parade armour, although it is reasonably representative of field armours used by Ming troops in North China. 

This type of armour is known as Zhao Jia (罩甲, lit. 'Coat armour'), or more precisely Chang Shen Da Jia (長身大甲, lit. 'Long body great armour') for the long version. It is a single-breasted, button up coat reaching below the knees, usually but not always collarless and sleeveless, that comes in many forms ranging from unarmoured riding coat to lamellar, scale, brigandine and even mail armour. For the most part, lamellar and scale version of Chang Shen Da Jia were reserved for elite troops, bodyguards and officers, while ordinary troopers wore brigandines.

Analysis

Analysis of Ming armour (click to enlarge).

Chang Shen Da Jia allows for considerable freedom of movement for the arms and neck, and provides good protection to lower legs (especially when its wearer is mounted), both of which make the armour especially suitable for horse archers. Essentially a one-piece long coat, Chang Shen Da Jia also has relatively simple tailoring compared to the complex multi-piece "Cataphract" armour, making it easy to produce and fast to suit up, the latter was especially important for Ming border troops, who often had to respond to unpredictable and sudden nomadic incursions at a moment's notice.

While a basic set of Chang Shen Da Jia (plus helmet) already provides adequate protection to its wearer, it still has many vulnerabilities such as unprotected throat and exposed upper limbs to name but a few. As such, Chang Shen Da Jia was often worn together with auxiliary armours such as throat protector and metal plated armguards known as Bi Fu (臂縛) to protect these vulnerable areas. Less commonly, armoured mask, mirror armour, and greaves were also worn with Chang Shen Da Jia.

Left: A Ming cavalryman wearing what appears to be a large, two-piece plate bevor, as well as full-length armguards. Middle: A Ming cavalryman wearing a helmet with brigandine throat protector similar to Qing-era design (see below), a mirror armour on the chest, as well as half-length armguards. Right: Three Ming guards wearing brigandines with armoured collars.

Due to the loose-fitting nature of Chinese brigandine, Chang Shen Da Jia has relatively poor weight distribution compared to more rigid lamellar or plate armour, and its great length slightly inconveniences combat on foot (although many Ming infantry fought in relatively immobile square formation or behind the cover of war carts/field fortifications). In addition, Ming armguards do not adequately protect the hands and fingers of the wearer. While this is a necessary trade-off due to the need of greater hand dexterity for archery, it still constitutes a significant weakness.

Qing Armour

Components of Qing armour (click to enlarge).

Armour in the above picture is taken from Zi Guang Ge Gong Chen Xiang (《紫光閣功臣像》) depicting Fu De (富德), a Manchu general of Gūwalgiya clan that participated in the First Jinchuan War and Dzungar-Qing Wars. This armour is typical of the type worn by high-ranking Manchu generals.

Two-piece brigandine was already in use since mid-Ming period at the latest and gained significant popularity during the twilight years of the Ming Dynasty, partially supplanting the long coat style. After the demise of Ming, its successor Qing Dynasty inherited the design and pushed for standardisation across the entire empire, eventually leading to two-piece brigandine becoming the dominant form of Chinese armour. Although many alterations, improvements and stylistic changes were applied to the design over the years, the basic form of Qing armour remains largely unchanged from its late Ming predecessor. 

Unfortunately, as adoption of more advanced firearms, both by Qing military and its many enemies, quickly became widespread, Qing armour only underwent a relatively short period of development before being rendered obsolete and relegated to ceremonial roles.

Analysis

Analysis of Qing armour (click to enlarge).

It is curious to see the resurgence of multi-piece armour (albeit in brigandine form) during late Ming period. The reason of this shift is unclear, but possibly related to the changing nature of warfare in North China, from dealing with nomadic raids to high intensity struggle of survival between the declining Ming and ascendant Qing. After Qing Dynasty took power, it was able to dominate Mongolia in a way that no previous Chinese dynasties could, so the easy-to-wear long coat armour was no longer needed.

Other differences between Ming-era Chang Shen Da Jia and Qing brigandine include the addition of throat protector to the armour set (rather than being an auxiliary item), replacement of metal plated armguards with brigandine pauldrons and armoured sleeves/vambraces, as well as the addition of various armour attachments. A notable improvement of Qing armour over its Ming predecessors is the addition of a type of flared cuff known as Ma Ti Xiu (馬蹄袖, lit. 'Horse hoof cuff') to armoured sleeves and vambraces to better protect the hands. Overall, Qing armour offers superior mobility, modularity, and ease of manufacture (as every components of Qing armour, save for the helmet, are of the same brigandine construction) at the expense of reduced protection to buttocks and back thighs as well as longer suit-up time.

Japanese Armour

Components of Japanese armour (click to enlarge).

Armour in the picture above is taken from tsuki hyakushi (《月百姿》), a nineteenth century ukiyo-e (浮世絵) painting depicting Yamanaka Yukimori (山中幸盛), a prominent samurai that served Amago clan during Sengoku period (戦国時代). This painting is the work of master painter Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月冈芳年).

By sixteenth century, samurai armour had evolved into its final iteration: tōsei gusoku (当世具足, lit. 'Present age complete armour'), developed as a response to the introduction of Portuguese firearms, shift of battlefield tactics, as well as increasingly intense warfare of Sengoku period. Riveted or stapled laminar armour known as okegawa-dō (桶側胴) also supplanted earlier lamellar armour to reduce cost and improve protection.

Analysis

Analysis of Japanese armour (click to enlarge).

Even a rudimentary inspection on Japanese armour of this period will reveal that it is designed for foot combat. This is especially evident on the presence of groin armour, heavy emphasis on thigh protection, and the choice of footwear (see below). Thigh armour is extremely crucial for foot combat, especially for samurai (since they did not use handheld shield and wielded shorter spears or polearms), as injury on femoral artery can result in death within minutes, not to mention very difficult to treat even with modern medical technology.

Samurai of this period were no longer the horse archer-duellists they once were. They became much more close combat-oriented, and this shift of tactic was also reflected on their armour design. Tōsei gusoku protects virtually every part of its wearer's body, and its gaps and weak spots can be further reinforced with auxiliary armour items worn beneath or on top the main harness, befitting a warrior that was expected to engage in high intensity close combat frequently. Some auxiliary under-armours also provide padding and better weight distribution for the main harness.

Another notable feature of later period samurai armour is the shrinking of its spaudlers. Early Japanese ō-sode (大袖) were actually shoulder mounted shields designed to protect the flanks and upper arms from incoming arrows. As samurai became less reliant on archery and more on close combat, sode also shrank in size and evolved into proper spaudlers for better protection and mobility for the arms.

Nevertheless, despite its near-complete coverage tōsei gusoku is not without drawbacks. For an armour with such complete protection, it actually has surprising amount of gaps and flaws that can be exploited with fatal consequences. Many Japanese armours also do not have backing material and are quite noisy to wear due to rubbing between individual armour plates, not to mention this also causes premature wear to lacing, lacquer coating, and the plates themselves.

Choice of footwear

The difference between Chinese and Japanese approach to warfare can also be seen on their respective footwear of choice. Ming Northern troops and Manchu warriors alike were predominantly cavalrymen, so their footwear of choice was obviously riding boots (infantry-based Ming Southern troops continued to wear shoes with stockings or puttees, or sometimes straw sandals as well). On the other hand, Japanese warriors were predominantly footmen, with almost no cavalry to speak of, so their footwear of choice was sandals.

A pair of Ming-style boots, made by Hanfu clothing store Chong Hui Han Tang (重回漢唐).

A boot is known as Xue (靴) or more rarely Yao Xie (靿鞋, lit. 'Shafted shoes') in Chinese language. Traditional Chinese riding boots share many similarities with neighbouring horse cultures such as the Mongols. They can be made of either cloth or leather, although military riding boots are exclusively made of thick, stiff leather to better protect ankle joints. Due to the cold and dry climate of North China, traditional Chinese riding boots are lined with layers thick fabric. Stockings known as Wa (襪) are usually worn underneath the boots.

Unlike Western-style riding boots, traditional Chinese riding boots are flat-heeled. They have unusually wide shafts and comparatively short vamps, which serve the same purpose as heel, (i.e. to prevent the foot from slipping through the stirrup and get stuck). Both Western and traditional Chinese riding boots also have flat and smooth soles for the same aforementioned reason. Still, boots with flat soles are more slippery, which renders them less suitable for foot combat, especially in rough terrain.

Traditional Chinese boots are almost always pitch black in colour contrasted with pale white soles. They generally have less prominent and rounder upturned toes than Mongolian boots (even though upturned toes design seems to originated from China), and many boots do not have upturned toes at all.

A waraji. Note the toes jutting out from the front edge of the sandal. Straw sandals are still used in traditional Japanese stream hiking known as Sawanobori (沢登り). 

Japanese warriors made use of flip-flops and sandals made of rice straw, called zōri (草履) and waraji (草鞋) respectively, although waraji were by far the more common of the two. Japanese sandals provide excellent ventilation (effective in preventing athlete's foot) and ankle mobility, as well as a firm grip on rocky or mossy surface, making them the prefect footwear to use in the mountainous and humid Japan. While straw sandals are less durable than shoes or boots, they can be cheaply replaced and even manufactured on the fly as long as there is raw material available.

During cold seasons, divided toe socks known as tabi (足袋) can be worn together with sandals. Samurai that wanted better protection for their feet may wear armoured kōgake (甲懸) on top of the socks.

On the flip side, horse riding in sandals is generally a very bad idea, as getting accidentally stepped on by a horse is extremely unpleasant and potentially crippling. This is especially true for Japanese straw sandals, which are traditionally made shorter and narrower than the wearer's feet, providing even less protection than other sandals. Besides, a sandal does not protect the ankle like a boot does, putting the rider at higher risk of ankle sprain and fracture.

Further reading

(Patreon early access) Flaws and gaps of samurai armour
(Patreon early access) Auxiliary armours of Qing brigandine

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