Chinese arming garments: A preliminary look

UPDATED MAY 8, 2022

A recent comment from my other blog post reminds me that I have yet to write anything about Chinese arming garments, so this is the blog post that aims to provide some insight into various garments worn under and over Chinese armour. Unfortunately, there are very few written records and archaeological finds of Chinese armour padding, so I have to turn to period novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin (both of which reflect the fashion of author's time) and other pictorial sources for reference. As such, be warned that this blog post is only a preliminary look and very much incomplete, although it is the best I can come out with until more information surfaces.

A divine messenger wearing the full suite of kerchief (light yellow) over Fu Tou (black), neckerchief (light yellow), Zhan Pao (green), Xiu Shan (red with blue border), Guo Du (light blue) and Han Yao (embroidered), but without visible armour. From 'San Jie Chi Fu Si Zhi Shi Zhe (《三界持符四直使者》)'.

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101st Post: Commonly available visual references for Ming army (and why you shouldn't trust them)

This blog post was originally meant to be part of my 100th post rant, but that one kind of drag on for too long, so I decided to write a separate one. 

I think I have to apologise beforehand if my tone in this blog post sounds too condescending. I know most illustrators are not historians, and it's very hard to reconstruct a historically accurate illustration with the information (which erred plenty) given to them. With that in mind, I have to say they had done a commendable job bringing the past to life.

Men-At-Arms 251 Medieval Chinese Armies 1260 - 1520
Even though I know Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》) is usually the go-to resource for researching Ming Dynasty military, I still find it odd to use a seventeenth century military manual as the reference to research and reconstruct Ming army of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Then again, we have very few pre-sixteenth century sources to work with.


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The myths of Shan Wen Kia

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 Shan Wen armour.

The so-called "mountain pattern armour/star scale armour" or Shan Wen Kia (which is a misspelling, correct Pinyin should be Shan Wen Kai or Shan Wen Jia) was a type of scale armour that was (almost) unique to China. However, like many ancient Chinese military equipment, it is shrouded in mysteries and misconceptions. 

In this blog post, I will attempt to clear up some misconceptions regarding mountain pattern armour.

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