Great Ming Military

Artistic impression of the epic spectacle of Battle of Red Cliff, erroneous...

This blog post contains some extra information about Chinese polearms, which is exclusive to my Patrons and can be accessed here . If you ...

UPDATED JUNE 10, 2024, minor update MAY 11, 2026 2. The gate The second part of this series will provide an overview on various comp...

UPDATED JUNE 10, 2024, minor update MAY 9, 2026 A recent discussion in the comment section of my previous blog post has sparked m...

MINOR UPDATE OCTOBER 2, 2024 Credited with the invention of crossbow, the Chinese were keen on tinkering with their crossbow and coming o...

Tie Lian Jia Bang (鐵鏈夾棒, lit. 'Iron chain with clubs') Drawing of a Tie Lian Jia Bang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. Tie Li...

Section of the Ming period scroll painting 'Sou Shan Tu (《搜山圖》)', depicting Chinese war deity Er Lang Shen (二郎神) in a full suit of...

Drawing of a Jing Lan, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. Jing Lan (井闌, lit. 'Water well lining') wa sthe last of the '...

Bamboo armour A Qing period bamboo hat helmet, probably used by the militia. (Source: Trocadero ) Ming army never made use of bamboo bo...