China people pay attention to array, and the coordination of shield and spear has produced countless famous array, such as Go, cavalry and chariots interspersed in array, which requires obvious mechanical strength, and heavy armor is not suitable for the ancient fighting mode in China.
In Europe, however, there is less emphasis on battle formation and individual combat capability, so infantry emphasizes armor more, which can effectively avoid the loss of troops.
This feature has existed until modern times. Because China has a large population, a vast territory and many terrains, fighting depends on strategy and array; Europe has a small population, underground, single landform, and many plain operations, mostly relying on brute force.
Secondly, in ancient China, everyone had armor, but some soldiers mainly wore armor, and most of them still wore leather armor and cloth armor, which was light and easy to manufacture. In order to improve the visual effect, robes are often used instead of armor in film and television dramas, which looks more beautiful.
Extended data
Armor development in China;
I. Armor of Western Zhou Dynasty
The "armor training" worn by warriors in the Western Zhou Dynasty is mostly made of silk and thick cotton, which belongs to the category of cloth armor.
Second, the Warring States armor
During the Warring States period, armor was mostly made of cowhide, general's armor was made of cowhide or bronze, and soldiers' helmets were all made of cowhide. Iron armor and metal armor appeared in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, and metal armor was widely used in the Warring States Period. The armor of Qin soldiers is made of iron, Zhao is made of copper or iron and metal, Wei, Chu and Qi are all made of metal, while South Korea and Yan are made of cowhide and rattan, and only a few are made of metal.
Third, the armor of the Qin Dynasty.
The general's armor has no nail patches on the chest and back, and it is painted with geometric patterns, which seems to be made of hard brocade or leather, and it is painted with patterns. The shape of armor is pointed at the front chest and hem, straight at the back hem and wide around. It is also made of brocade or leather with geometric patterns on it.
The most common armor in Qin soldiers' figurines, the breastplate is pressed down by the upper piece, and the abdominal plate is pressed down by the lower piece, which is convenient for activities. Starting from the middle line of the chest and abdomen, all the nail plates are stacked from the middle to both sides, and the combination of the shoulder nail plates is the same as that of the abdomen.
The nail plates around the shoulders, abdomen and neck are connected by nail belts. There are nails on all nail plates, ranging from two to three or four, with no more than six at most. The front and rear armor are equal in length. They are all 64 cm, and the trouser legs are generally round with no extra edges around them.
Fourth, the armor of the Western Han Dynasty.
During the Western Han Dynasty, armored armor became popular and gradually became the main equipment in the army. This kind of armor was called "Xuanjia" at that time. On the whole, the military uniforms of the western regions are very similar to those of the Qin Dynasty in many aspects. In the army, regardless of rank, they all wear Zen clothes and pants. The colors of military uniforms in Han Dynasty are red, crimson and so on. In the Han dynasty, the army was generally equipped with "ring-headed iron knives".
Five, Wei and Jin armor
Restoration map of military uniforms in Wei and Jin Dynasties. On the left is the iron sleeve armor, which is a kind of short-sleeved shirt with the chest and back connected and made of fish scale nails. The shape of the sleeve armor is very similar to that of the western Han dynasty, and it is worn from the head. This sleeve armor is very hard.
Zhou basically followed the shape of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the top of Zhou was decorated with tassels. On the right is the military clothes of Wei and Jin Dynasties, mainly robes and trousers pleated clothes. The robe is knee-high and the sleeves are wide. Pleats as short as two hips, tight small sleeve, robes, pleats are generally straight collar, right slit, but there are also round necks.
Six, the northern and southern dynasties armor
Restoration map of samurai in southern and northern dynasties. The front row in the picture consists of two hip nails, knee-high. Above the waist, it is the breastplate. Some are made up of small armor pieces, and some are made up of a whole large armor piece. The armor body is divided into two pieces, and the shoulders and sides are tied with belts. The armor worn by the two people in the back row in the picture is bright armor, which is related to the circular protection on the chest and back. Because this circular protector is mostly made of copper, iron and other metals, the polished aurora looks like a mirror (heart protector).
Seven, sui dynasty armor
The most commonly used armor in the Sui Dynasty was crotch and strong light. Compared with the previous generation, the crotch structure has been improved and the shape has changed a little. Generally, small nail pieces with scales and other shapes are woven, and the length extends to the abdomen, replacing the original leather nail skirt.
The hem of the bulletproof vest is crescent-shaped and lotus-leaf-shaped nail pieces to protect the lower abdomen. These improvements have greatly enhanced the defense from the waist down. The shape of Ming Guanglong is basically the same as that of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but the leg skirt is longer and more gorgeous. The military uniform of Sui Dynasty is a kind of round neck robe.
Eight, Tang armor
Armor in the Tang Dynasty was used in actual combat, mainly armor and leather armor. In addition to real armor and leather armor, silk armor was widely used in the armor of the Tang Dynasty. Silk armor is armor made of silk and other textiles. It is light in structure and beautiful in appearance, but it has no defensive ability and cannot be used in actual combat. It can only be used as a general's uniform or ceremonial uniform.
The armor and military uniforms in the early Tang Dynasty basically followed the style and shape of the Sui Dynasty.
After Zhenguan, a series of clothing system reforms were carried out, and military and military clothing with tang style was gradually formed.
Until the Tianwu Zhou Dynasty, the national strength was at its peak and the world was at peace. The luxury of the upper class is becoming more and more serious. Uniforms and armor are mostly divorced from the use function and have evolved into beautiful and luxurious etiquette clothes mainly decorated.
After the "An Shi Rebellion", it returned to a practical state conducive to combat, especially armor, which was basically finalized in the late Tang Dynasty. According to the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty, the armor of the Tang Dynasty includes strong light, light armor, fine scales, mountain prose, bird hammer, white cloth, soap Juan, cloth back, infantry, leather armor, wooden armor and wooden armor.
Among them, Mingguang, Eta Ursae Majoris, Suozi, Shanwen, Bird Hammer and Thin Scale are armor, and the latter three are named after the style of armor pieces. Leather armor, wooden armor, white cloth, soap roll and cloth back are all named after the manufacturing materials. In armor, bright armor is still the most commonly used.
The armor of the ninth and fifth dynasties
In the Five Dynasties, the system of the late Tang Dynasty was basically followed, and the armor of Guang Jia in the Ming Dynasty basically withdrew from the historical stage. The armor was all made of armor pieces and became a two-piece suit in shape. Hand stroke and shoulder pad are combined into one; The breastplate and leggings are connected into a whole, tied back and forth with two shoulder straps and placed on the shoulder pads. The other five generations continued to use leather armor, made of large pieces of leather, and wore gloves and protective equipment.
Armor of song dynasty
In terms of weight, the infantry armor of the Song Dynasty was the heaviest armor in the history of China. According to Jason Wu's General Introduction, the infantry armor in the Northern Song Dynasty is a typical armor, which is composed of armored leaves and pimps or nails.
/kloc-chain mail in Europe in the 20th century weighed only15kg, while Gothic armor in the 5th century weighed only 20kg. Although the heaviest armor reached 42kg in the17th century, the ordinary heavy armor was only in the range of 20-30kg, and its protection range included the whole body. In the scope of protection, it is the closest to the European heavy armor, but it does not reach the airtight protection level of the European heavy armor.
In Song Dynasty, according to the regulation of Shaoxing in Song Dynasty (1 134), Bulinjia was composed of 1825 nail leaves, with a total weight of 29 kg. At the same time, increasing the number of nail leaves can improve the protection force, but the weight will further increase. To this end, the emperor personally ordered that the infantry armor should not exceed 29.8 kilograms.
Since then, the armor weight of the long gunner has been set at 32-35 kg; Because archers often participate in melee combat, their armor is set at 28-33 kg; The crossbow shooter's armor is set at 22-27 kg. It is said that the gold-plated armor worn by Song Taizu weighs 60 kilograms. At the same time, the armor type of European cavalry is mainly chain mail, which has not reached such a weight.
Shaoxing was the most prosperous period of the Song Dynasty in about ten years. Famous soldiers Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. , led by real armor, pike, strong crossbow as the main equipment of heavy infantry, with a dense lineup to defeat the Jurchen cavalry many times.
At that time, Song Jun's heavy infantry, including weapons, carried as much as 40-50 kilograms, and their mobility was affected by heavy equipment. For example, in the 11th year of Shaoxing (11), Song Jun, which was dominated by infantry, collapsed because of its heavy armor and excessive weapons growth.
Xi。 Yuan dynasty armor
In the Yuan Dynasty, there were liujia and tiehoop armor. The inner layer of iron hoop armor is cowhide and the outer layer is iron net armor. The nail pieces are connected together like fish scales, and the arrow can't penetrate, so the production is extremely exquisite. There are leather armor, cloth armor and so on.
There is only one kind of national service in military service, that is, high-quality sun suit, which is a kind of robe with tight sleeves, with a cross collar and a square collar, which is long and short, reaching to the knee and short to the knee.
There is also a kind of knitted coat, which is exactly the same as the sun suit except that the hem is wider and denser. The waist is sewn with a wide waist made of braided thread and some buttons are nailed, commonly known as "knitted coat" or "waistline coat". This kind of clothing is also a Mongolian military uniform in Yuan Dynasty, which can be worn by military commanders, court guards and warriors.
Twelve, Ming dynasty armor
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a kind of fat coat for sergeant's clothing, which was made of "knee-length, narrow sleeves and inner cotton" and was red in color, so it was also called "red fat coat".
Knights ride horses in double-breasted clothes. Battlefield is mostly made of copper and iron, and leather is rarely used. The armor worn by the general is also made of copper and iron, and the shape of the armor plate is mostly "mountain", which is accurate and light to wear. Soldiers wear chain mail, iron mesh skirt pants and iron mesh boots below the waist.
Thirteen. Armor in Qing dynasty
In the Qing dynasty, the general helmets, whether iron products or leather products, were painted on the surface. There are two beams at the front, back, left and right of the helmet, and a cover eyebrow protrudes from the middle of the forehead, on which there is a dancing engine and a bowl. There is a helmet plate shaped like a small handleless wine cup on the bowl, and there is an iron pipe or copper pipe for cutting the tassel gun, carving feathers or otter tail in the middle of the helmet plate.
There are lapis lazuli and other colors of silk collar, neck and ear protectors, embroidered with patterns and decorated with copper or iron foam nails. Armor is divided into armor and apron. Shoulder pad is installed on the shoulder of armor, and shoulder pad provides underarm protection; In addition, wear a metal heart protector on the chest and back, and a trapezoidal abdomen protector on the front seam under the mirror, which is called "front guard". Wearing a "left block" on the left side of the waist and not wearing a block on the right side is reserved for wearing a bow and arrow bag.
The apron is divided into left and right pieces and tied around the waist with a belt when worn. In the middle of the two skirts, a tiger head made of the same material covered her knees.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-armor