Maces of the Ming Dynasty

The proper Chinese name for mace is Gu Duo (骨朵), which was a corruption of Gua Zhun (胍肫), meaning big belly or flower bud. It was also known as Chui (錘, can be written as 鎚, meaning hammer), the later term is more common in modern usage.

Suan To Gu Duo (蒜頭骨朵, lit. 'Garlic mace')

Drawing of a Suan Tou Gu Duo, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Suan Tou Gu Duo was a mace with a garlic- or pumpkin-shaped mace head.

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Bows of the Ming Dynasty

Despite the importance of archery in Chinese culture and warfare, very little is known about Ming bows because of their eventual complete replacement by Manchu bow and its derivatives. In fact, much of the knowledge about Ming bows come from studies of written records, period artworks as well as experimental reconstructions. While these studies produced fruitful results, they remain (and will continue to remain) speculative.

Generally speaking, Ming bows exhibited strong influence from other Asiatic composite recurve horsebows such as Mongol, Tartar and Turkish bows. They could be categorised into two general groups: Xiao Shao Gong (小稍弓) and Da Shao Gong/Kai Yuan Gong (大稍弓/開元弓).

Xiao Shao Gong (小稍弓, small siyah bow)

Drawing of a Xiao Shao Gong, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Gou Qiang (鈎鎗)

Drawing of a Gou Qiang, from 'Lian Bing Za Ji (《練兵雜紀》)'.

Gou Qiang (鈎鎗, barbed spear) was a cavalry spear with two to four three small hooks below the spearhead. It measured eight chi five cun in length and weighted three jin.

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Cotton and brigandine armours of the Ming Dynasty

Mian Jia (棉甲, cotton armour)

Section of one of the pages of 'Rui Xi Xian Sheng Nian Pu (《瑞溪先生年譜》)', depicting a horseman wearing a long coat with cross hatch quilting pattern, possibly a cotton armour.

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