The armor of the Far East was unique. Disregarding completely the
plate armor of Europe and the lighter armor of Indo-Persia, Far Eastern
armor developed along three distinct, yet individualistic lines. China and
Korea favored a brigandine armor, Tibet chainmail and lamellar, while
Japan relied almost exclusively upon lamellar armor.

China
In China, armor changed little over the epochs. Various forms of
ring, scale, padded and brigandine armor were in use with little change
from earliest times. Mail and plate armor, however, were rarely utilized,
those few found being of Persian manufacture.

The best and most widely worn armor was of the brigandine type
(Ting Ka) made from two thicknesses of cloth reinforced by plates
composed of iron, copper or leather. Iron plates were common for foot
soldiers, while officers and government officials wore thin, tough, elastic
steel plates. The plates were often round and protected the areas
surrounding the breast, back and knees.

The brigandine covered the body, shoulders and upper arms, leaving
the lower arms to the protection of padded cloth with gilt rivets made
to resemble the brigandine. Some suits possessed full sleeves made up
of strips of steel about one-tenth inch wide and five one-hundredths
thick. These were riveted to strips of brocade.

There were two basic styles of leg armor. Cavalry had leg pieces with
extra padding to protect the exposed and vulnerable appendages of the
mounted warrior. Infantry was equipped with large divided skirts
having rows of exposed narrow lamellae secured by rivets. High boots
completed the leg protection.

By the Kien-Lung Period (1736-95), much armor was completely
made of padded cloth with gilt rivets. The only remaining plates were of
various sizes, usually round, protecting the back and breast with larger
plates producing huge and elaborate shoulder guards. In reality, these
suits were more uniforms than armor.

This “uniform” was magnificent to the eye. The outer material was
frequently of a brightly colored silk embroidered with dragons, clouds
and other elaborate designs.

An unusual type of armor was introduced during the Tang Period
(618-907). Shang Sui-Ting is credited with the invention of paper
armor. Inexpensive and easily made, it was extensively worn by the
ordinary soldier, especially in southern China. During the Ming Period,
paper armor was heavily relied upon by garrisons defending the coast
against Japanese raiders.

The best papers, prized for their toughness and durability, came
from Korea. Ten to fifteen thicknesses sewn together were considered
adequate against arrow and musket ball.

The early Chinese helmet was of a round, conical form, built up with
various vertical plates with a center rib and cusped edges, laced together
with thongs. A plume tube and leopard fur or other covering decorated
the helmet. The Persian fashion of wearing little pennants attached to
the slender, rodlike apex of the helmet dates from the 13th-century
Mongol conquest.

With the Mongolian takeover, helmets became more elaborate.
Although the rounded helmets persisted throughout the period, the
Mongolian conical bowl with its inverted cup at the apex and cusped
brow-plate became the dominant helmet form in both China and
Korea. This helmet possessed concave sides, cheek flaps with or without
a lining of plates, and fastened buttons across the throat. A third flap
protected the nape of the neck. Beneath the helmet a quilted conical cap
was worn.

Horse armor made of leather scales appeared during the Archaric
Period. By A.D. 519 metal horse armor is found and was extensively
used by cavalry during the T’ang Period. An illustration from A.D. 1621
depicts a horse with scale chamfron and neck armor, the remainder of its
body protected by lamellar armor. By the mid-18th century brigandine
horse armor made from colored silk and studded with gilt nails was
widely used. Rich warriors’ horse armor frequently matched or complemented
their personal armor.

For the average Chinese foot soldier, the shield was of great importance.
It was the prime (in many cases, the only) means of defense. Early
shields were of wood, rectangular in shape with a marked medial ridge.
The longer shield (pu Tun) was used by infantry, while a shorter and
narrower version was favored by charioteers.

Rhinoceros hide was prized in the making of shields. Shields made
of grass or bamboo were light enough to float on water (or blood).
Wicker and rattan were also extensively used. One form (Lip’ai) was five
feet high and three feet wide and designed for siege work. Attackers
used it like the European Pavise and Japanese Tate, to ward off missiles
shot from the walls of forts and castles.

Another interesting siege warfare variant was the Lang Ya Pai. Made
from elm with nails fixed in the top and blades on all four edges, it was
suspended from city walls by ropes attached on front and back. As
besiegers attempted to scale the walls, the shield could be swung back
and forth or dropped on the hapless attackers.

Large circular, convex shields (po) continued in use through the
19th century. Composed of wicker with a cane loop for the forearm and
a straight wooden grip, many were paintd with the traditional tiger faces
and possessed a brass boss in the center. They were a favorite of the
dreaded Tiger Soldiers.

Tai Tsung (A.D. 976-998) equipped his infantry with cowhide
shields eight feet long and his cavalry with small, circular red-lacquered
shields.

Most Chinese shields were lacquered. The lacquer preserved the
leather or wood and prevented warping and distortion in the many
varied climatic conditions of China. Red, the Chinese color for war, was
the most favored color. Red shields were believed to terrify one’s
enemy. Black was also a popular color.

Korea
The close proximity of Korea to China, the frequent wars between
them and a similarity of culture produced a Korean armor more in the
fashion of China than Japan. Korean armor differed from the Chinese
only in detail. The quality of materials used in the Korean brigandine
armor was seldom of the quality of the Chinese. Cotton and hemp
fabrics were more common, as opposed to the silk of China. Red and
dark blue were the most favored colors. Colored or printed symbols
completed the armor.

Helmets of high officials were frequently black lacquered and richly
decorated with embossed, pierced or engraved gilded copper fittings.
The quality of their workmanship was frequently superior to that of
Chinese helmets.

Head armor of the fighting man was of lesser quality. A common
cavalry helmet consisted of a black lacquered leather helmet reinforced
with russet iron and decorated with silver. The cheek and neckguards
were lined with leather plates, as was a simple hemp cloth coat at the
front and back and on the shoulders. The footman’s helmet was of the
Mongolian shape, strengthened by strips of iron. Both helmets were
generally crested with the traditional tassel of hair, usually red horsehair.

While paper armor was undoubtedly utilized in Korea, the extent is
unknown. A typical infantryman’s paper armor consisted of a sleeveless,
padded cuirass with a wide overbelt. Cloth coats with large scales
of harder leather riveted to them were also used by foot soldiers.

Tibet
The Tibetans were a strong and warlike people, playing an active
role in Central Asian affairs. Armor of the third and fourth century was
composed of lacquered hides in red and black, decorated with engraved
designs. Medieval armor took the form of a long coat, entirely
constructed of iron lamellae laced together with doeskin. By custom, all
iron was brightly polished and the hide was a natural cream color. The
coat opened in front The coat joined over the shoulder by straps
constructed of small lamellae. Flap-like shoulder defenses were tied to
the straps.

A long skirt had two openings toward the rear of each hip. The rear
portion of the skirt was spread over the back of the saddle to protect the
cavalryman’s vulnerable posterior. Irregular pieces of buckskin or leather
fringe were laced to the bottom of the skirt.

Mail shirts were also worn by the Tibetan warrior. Most of these were
manufactured in Persia and India. Arm guards of leather strapped with
iron were also occasionally used.

The Tibetan helmet is rounded, built up of eight well-forged plates
laced together with leather thongs. The plates overlapped each other by
half. Laced to the helmet’s top by a baseplate is a plumeholder. From
the lower edge of the helmet hangs a band of lamellae to which neck
and cheek defenses, each constructed of three rows of lamellae, are
laced.

Shields were not widely used in Tibet. Those found are small,
round, slightly convex and made from lacquered buffalo hide. Many
have four brass bosses covering the hand-loop rivets and a fifth in the
center for ornamental purposes.

Tibetan horse armor consisted of a leather chamfron decorated with
small plates and a central boss. A wide strip of metal covers the center of
the face with pierced brass finials hinged at the top and bottom—one to
protect the nose of the horse, the other to lie between the ears.

Two panels of stiffened, tooled lacquered leather set with rows of
iron studs protect each side of the neck, reaching from throat to shoulders.
The breast defense (peytral) consisted of long iron lamellae mounted
on panels of leather or fabric, usually with a lower border of stiff,
lacquered leather, edged with studs and a fringe of red-dyed yak hair
and strips of brocade.

Similar pieces protected either side of the crupper (armor protecting
the horse’s hindquarters) with an additional section filling the space
between the tail. Flanchards (armor protecting the horse’s sides) were
lacquered and oval-shaped, supported on either side of the horse’s
body by leather ties from the saddle. Any open gaps between the peytral
and crupper sections were protected with lacquered leather panels.

Japan
Lamellar armor was introduced into Japan from the Asiatic continent
in the fifth century A.D. Composed of lames (individual strips of
metal and leather of varying sizes), the armor proved not only very
flexible but extremely strong. Each of the lames has a series of small
drilled holes through which leather strips or silk cords are passed to bind
the lames together, overlapping each other. Each lame is painted with
up to eight coats of lacquer to waterproof the piece and make it more
rigid.

The effectiveness of Japanese armor can best be illustrated by a
military action in A.D. 1180. A Taira samurai survived unscathed with
sixty-three arrows sticking from his suit of armor!

During the Heian Period (794-1191), Japanese armor evolved into
the basic pattern that was utilized until armor ceased to be worn. The Do
(Cuirass) was composed of both iron and leather lamellae, the iron
plates forming the breastplate and left side. The right side was a separate
piece composed primarily of leather. Later variations were one piece
and opened at the back. As the opening did not overlap, a narrow plate
called a “coward’s plate” (a samurai was never to turn his back on an
enemy) protected this area.

A skirt (Kusazui) of four sections hung from the Do. Shoulder straps
(Watagami) made of stiff, padded rawhide possessed loops for attachment
of large, flat rectangular shoulder guards (Sode). A leather apron
(Tsurabashiri) often covered the breastplate to prevent the bowstring
from catching on the heads of the lamellae. Leather archery gloves were
worn over both hands.

The lower legs of mounted troops were protected by shin guards
(Sunate) while infantry more frequently had cloth leggings. Straw sandals
with socks were worn in summer and midcalf-length furlined boots
in winter.

The helmet (Kabuto) was a masterpiece of design and construction.
Composed of a simple bowl with a hole in the top allowing the warrior’s
long hair to pass through, the bowl was built up from eight to twelve
vertical plates. Its exterior was lacquered, usually black. In front was
attached a leather-wrapped peak secured by a gilt-head rivet A neck
guard consisted of five plates turned outward and slightly back A
colorful, heavy silk cord held the helmet under the samurai’s chin.
Generals wore distinctive horns (Kuwataga) attached to their helmets.

The 14th Century saw the introduction of faceguards (Mempo).
Hideous in appearance, moustaches were added to some to produce an
even more bizarre visage.

Beneath the armor, the samurai wore a colorful, full-sleeved robe
drawn in by running cords at the waist. Matching full breeches were tied
below the knees.

Light infantry, representing the samurai’s retainers, was less elaborately
armored. The helmet (Jingasa) was flat and circular or conical in
shape. It was usually made from leather, but iron and copper were also
used. Many times any other pieces of armor worn were battlefield
pickups, acquired by stripping the dead.

Despite most pieces of lacquered armor being black (occasionally
red), Japanese armor is most colorful. Fine silk designs decorate the
garment worn beneath armor. Brightly colored silk cords hold the armor
plates together. Copper-plate decorations are frequently found on arm,
hand and leg armor while the helmet is frequently richly decorated.

Japanese horse armor (Uma-Yori) dates back to ancient times.
During the medieval period, the chamfrons were of leather or papier
mache, brightly lacquered, and grotesquely molded to represent dragons
or caricatures of horse heads. Crinets (neck armor), composed of
small plates linked together with mail, had larger sections protecting the
breast. The crupper was protected by heavy fabric covered with embossed,
square pieces of rawhide. Peytrals (brastplates) were also occasionally
made from iron plates or iron or leather connected with mail.

The hand shield (Te-date) was infrequently used in Japan. Those
used were most often round, small and made of metal. A larger shield
(Tate), rectangular in shape and supported by a hinged prop at the
back, was used to form defensive walls on land, on the sides of boats or
along castle walls. Some shields used exclusively on land had wheels for
ease of movement. Many were painted with black bars at the top and
sometimes a mon. A few were designed to fold at the center. When
transported, the Tate was carried on its owner’s back.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, L. J., Japanese Armor, 1968.

Robinson, B. W., Arms and Armour of Old Japan, 1963.

Robinson, H. Russell, A Short History of Japanese Armour, 1965.

Robinson, H. Russell, Japanese Arms and Armour, 1969.

Stone, George C., A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use
of Arms and Armor, 1935.

Turnbull, S.R. The Samurai, A Military History, 1977.

Varney, H. Paul, Samurai, 1970.

Wilkinson, Frederick, Edged Weapons, 1970.

Wilkinson, Frederick, Arms & Armor, 1978.