@@metatronyt We have a shield in my house, a Parma Nepali made from Rhino skin and an iron boss, and leather Enarmes. We use it for ceremonies and I remember first holding it, it's not in the best condition right now but it's a part of our traditions.
A few points to add: 1) Chinese lacquered their armours too. 2) Rhino actually went (mostly) extinct relatively early in China , although the name "Rhino leather armour" stuck for much longer to refer to other types of leather armour. 3) Like elsewhere, scale armour was actually quite rare in China due to its obvious inferiority to lamellar. 4) Some Chinese lamellar armours have backing.
@@owo5869 It's less cost-effective, scale takes a long time to make comparisons to lamellar while the extra protection it offers does not justify mass production.
@@owo5869 Scale is easier and faster to made, but much less protective than lamellar. ruclips.net/video/Ah9KX2vPCdQ/видео.html&ab_channel=scholagladiatoria
@@leafpratt buffalo is an acceptable common name for the creature, used throughout history. Yes in terms of taxonomy, it's a Bison, but Buffalo is accepted as an informal term, and it also the reason it's in the video. It's like calling a tardigrade a water bear. Yes, it's Technically not a bear, but the term is acceptable for informal use.
In Ming and Qing dynasty China actually had a kind of armor called 布面甲 which basically looked like a giant coat with pieces of metal underneath it. The coat was meant to prevent the gunfire or something.
During the cultural revolution a lot of historical records were lost, this coinciding with schools at the time seizing to teach students about ancient Chinese history are part of the reason why sadly a lot of the history of your country is unknown to most people
@@googlehatesblackpeople8876 You only spoke half of the fact, culture destruction happens every time in China history when a new dynasty rises, it's a sign of cleansing the old past.
@@googlehatesblackpeople8876 this contradicts very much with reality and is just absolutely wrong. The party puts a huge focus on Chinese identity and therefore teaching Chinese history in an elaborate way.
You forgot to mention brigandine armor, which was commonly used in China from the Ming Dynasty onward (14th century onward). They largely replaced the lamellar armors of early eras. Mail had never been popular in China for some reason (though there’re some who speculate that the so-called mountain-pattern armor might actually be an artistic representation of mail armor).
@@linshitaolst4936I’ve never EVER heard anyone claim that mountain pattern armor was chainmail ever before. I’ve heard people claim it’s lamellar but never chainmail
@@hwasiaqhan8923 this is not entirely true. complete samurai armor protected every part of the body. and a very long skirt slightly restricts movement. (parts that cowers legs are called Suneate, Haidate and Kusazuri) Like this one i.pinimg.com/originals/6e/04/f0/6e04f07e601ec889357aec0df036ae67.jpg
Radoslav Kosil not at all almost all later Chinese dynasty has complete protection armor. Chinese high officials armor is just as good as Japanese samurai armor. They don’t give foot soldiers good armor that’s true. Hell katana and samurai armor were hugely influenced by chinese armor. Look at tang, song and Ming armor they look very well protected
Great video, man. Thanks! I'm currently building a Ming Dynasty mountain scale armour. By hand. It might take a couple of years. It's held together with educated guesses and artistic interpretations. So just like all archeological evidence, really.
I honestly love both Chinese and Japanese armors. My favorite Chinese style is the Ming style brigandine. I think my favorite Japanese armor is dosei gusoku
@@sylvanstrength7520 I've seen modern reproductions of Liuyedao that are beautiful. That saber's got sexier curves than a katana. Plus I prefer a one-handed saber so I could wield a rattan shield in the other.
Generally, Chinese armor design is more geared toward mass production with little tailoring. It is also usually had more simple and all around better design, while Japanese design is often more specialized with more small components with different specific functions. Later Japanese is more similar to European plate that it is to Chinese armor. Early Japanese armor is more similar to Chinese armor than armor from Heian Perion onward. Classic Japanese armor after the Heian could be further divided into 3 parts: O-yoroi (Heian-Kamakura), Transitional (Nanbokucho-early Muromachi) and Tosei Gusoku (Sengoku Period onward). Compared to this type of Japanese armors, the Chinese have generally better armor design compared to the O-yoroi, but the O-yoroi had been designed very meticulously for horse archery so it might be better in that area. For transitional armor, they are probably equal. Japanese armor of these periods had full body coverage unlike Heian-Kamakura ones, but they are still mostly lamellar, so they didn't had any advantage against Chinese armor of the same period. While 16th century Ming armor in comparison to the Tosei Gusoku, lack rigid torso armor. This does not mean that Ming brigandine is inferior because there are accounts of Ming armor capable to resist bullets. In complexity, there is just no comparison that the period Ming brigandine coat + manica suit or Chinese lamellar suit is just too simple compared to the Tosei Gusoku. Even Qing armors which are more complex are still simpler than the Tosei Gusoku.
@kizz Yes, that's why I wrote simpler and all around better design. The Japanese serve as mercenaries in as far as Siam and Indonesia. Their equipment work fine in there. They are still untested in desert and the steppes, though. The Chinese also wear lamellar most of the time just like the Japanese. I do understand that being complex or simple by itself doesn't make an armor good. Japanese armor construction is very possible to be made simpler. You might want to read the Gunbai Military History blogspot for detailed info on Japanese armor and weapons. I had a discussion with the writer and we conclude that all those exposed laces and gaps in Japanese armor are consciously left that way and it is possible to make Japanese armor without a lot of laces exposed. There are several armor where the laces are hidden behind the plates. Overall, here is my short opinion on Chinese vs Japanese armor: - For most of their history, Chinese armor cover more, made in larger number and proven against various types of terrains and climates. - Japanese armor design peaked in 4th-6th century and 14th-17th century. Outside of these period, Chinese armor is likely superior to Japanese ones. - In 4th-6th century and 14th-15th century, Japanese armor is comparable to Chinese. - In the 16th century, Japanese armor had solid cuirass and Japan is possibly the only polity beside European kingdoms to equip basic soldiers with plate cuirass. Chinese soldier at this period wear brigandine. - Complete Japanese armor set of the late 16th century should be far superior to contemporary Chinese armor, but may not be superior to Chinese armor from before 16th century. Those are my current conclusion, I say current because I keep finding new things on both Chinese and Japanese armor. There is a lot of surprisingly unknown things about Japanese armor especially in the period between the peaks of Japanese armor design.
@Di Di Even with the increased use of firearms in China we coul still see armor with good design. For example, Manchu armor in their conquest in Korea and China were said by Korean and Chinese source to be bullet proof, so that Korean and Chinese soldier had to aim for the hand and eyes. Late Ming armor is tested against bullet before they enter service.
@Di DiWe have videos of lamellar armor made of 2 mm stainless steel resisting bullets, if an armor is made with good steel and sufficient thickness, it can resist musket bullets. Late Ming Dynasty Chinese is still large enough that they should have win against the Manchu, the ptoblems are not only corruption, but also internal rebellion and incompetent emperors.
Great video Metatron! I am loving your historical videos, especially ones that highlight the oft-inaccessible lore of Imperial China, a vast swath of history and culture that gets less representation and coverage than Japanese. Please do keep these up!
I think the usage of mountain pattern chainmail was a more effective way to protect the warriors from spears or thrusting/stabbing compared to regular chainmail
I've tried on the Japanese tosei gusoku and saw immediately how difficult it would be to fight wearing one of these. I'd love to try out a Chinese set of the same time period to compare mobility.
For the song dynasty, there were some crazy weight armor(步人甲） for the heavy infantryman (which about 30kg) and the crazy weight halberd-like weapon called 掉刀(diao dao/Zhao dao) which was similar the weapon of a Taoism deity called deity erlang( 二郎神) who is a heavenly general with a hound
@@-Zevin- but they always have one of the highest casualty number as they were usually team up with pikeman to deal with the cavalrymen(if they're not in the ‘defensive mode’ inside the fortress or the castle as during the northern song dynasty time, they were severely lack of horse especially fighting against the cavalrymen
@@chanjiayang9595 Actually, it is complicated. Prior to most military failures, there were always some food shortages due to not having enough transportation animals, and it is more complicated than that. Let's just put it simply, the Northern Song often attacked too deep into enemy territory and often stretched their offensive too thin by forking their attacks into several prongs, but their overall win/loss ratio was pretty good.
@UCIXmkerDLgP6wghI-D1RAcA I don't know about that. I think it had less to do with armor than the actual tactics. Northern Song emperors liked to command the army from the capital, and they always divided the army up without giving a central command. In this way, the Song emperors can ensure the army doesn't turn against itself; however, it also means all the military operations were chaotic. Song dynasty soldiers were always on rotation across the country, and many of them fell ill and died on the march. The society, in general, looked at the soldiers with disdain, and the soldiers only treated this profession as a way to make a living. That was their military system at that time. As I had aforementioned, prior to all the major blunders, there were severe food shortages, and sometimes this was coupled with the cold winters, debilitating the armies to a point that they can no longer fight. The military training was lax as well, even though they were professional soldiers. Some contemporary texts talked about how the military was trained only in crossbows but not with wielding short weapons so when the enemy closed in for a close-quarter fight, the crossbowmen can't fight at all. The army composition at that time was 70% crossbow and 15% polearms and 15% swords and shields, meaning when facing a cataphract charge, they probably couldn't stop it. The armors at that time were heavy, and that is probably for deflecting arrows, and I think it is the right thing to do since they are more focused on infantry.
Wearing heavy armor and wielding heavy weaponry, along with long marches. It makes sense that heavy infantry is disadvantaged in faraway campaigns against cavalry. I believe the Southern Song benefited more once they settled on naval warfare along the Yangtse and defensive strong points like XiangYang and DiaoYu fortresses, when heavy infantry can focus on what they do best. I don’t know about you guys, wearing a 60+ lb armor, carrying another 30lbs of weaponry/equipment, marching 25-30 mile per day. I won’t be able to have much fight left in me.
Thank You for uploading! This was a genuinly interesting analysis. If You wish i would be more than happy if this would be continued, i am particulary especialy interested in armour and armour smithing, both Asian and European types. But there are very little to find on RUclips when it come to more in depth analysis and cronologic explanations.
great that you mentioned nanban gusoku, as not many know about western influence on late medieval Japan, not even the japanese themselves, besides, for anyone interested there's nanban art (european style art) made by the japanese from that period too, also, I know this is sudden, but here's some trivia for you, nanban translates to "southern barbarian", that's japanese pride alright, a bit like the romans and their "barbarian tribes"
Sadly it seems to be one of the constants of human history that people can dislike foreigners while simultaneously wanting to steal all their best ideas.
@@calamusgladiofortior2814/videos Yeah, because the foreigners simply wanted to bring Japan all their "best" ideas, like sugar, guns and Christianity...
This video inspired me to re-download the gekokujo mod for Mount and Blade Warband, because all of the Sengoku Jidai period armor you mentioned are in there!
I prefer Chinese armor. I also like the armor of the Norsemen. In particular, I like Lamellar because it allows good mobility, and is easier to manufacture when compared with other armor types, like plate as you noted yourself. And it's modifiable, allowing you to add what you need to it. I think the Cord and Plague is a efficient system, I'd have Lamellar mostly, then a chest plate cover, maybe some shin guards. Though I will say the Kikko armor is efficient, more so than Brigandine in my opinion (which is a preference of mine as well). I'm thinking of trying out my own design, using triangular pieces. Lastly, the Mountain armor design seems very interesting, as far as I know not much is known about it, and the only examples we have of it are from paintings or statues, unfortunately no functional examples seem to exist, and attempts to reproduce it have failed. But it's intruiging that an armor would be made with parts that have a similar appearance to a letter in their alphabet. I wonder if that'd work with other languages. It'd certainly be an exciting project.
When I play For Honor and we discuss armour realism and accuracy with my friends and someone disaggrees with me I always bring the ultimate reasoning card "I watch Metatron" (In case of sword fight, moves and stances, it is "I watch Skallagrim"😂)
I agree, google "iron pagoda armor" for some really great Chinese armor he didn't show in this video. China is such a large place with such a vast history there is a ton of interesting styles and armors.
@@camrendavis6650 Yeah i think they where used by the Jurchin, and were part of a elite cavalry force during the Jin dynasty. I honestly think that armor would have protected you as well or better than any European plate armor. It's always just taken as gospel that plate was the best and not really questioned, but i am really skeptical. Physics wise lamalar has a mechanical advantage with padding underneath of never denting or breaking but flexing with impact.
@@-Zevin- and that's why I love Chinese armor over most other types of armor. Since the Qin they knew that flexible armor was the way to go. All the way up to the Ming, when brigandine became more popular (though I feel brigandine is also underrated). Plus, the ancient Chinese could form massive armies, and depending on what dynasty were talking about, that means you're going to need a lot of metal. Luckily, lamellar and scale were easier to manufacture as well as mass-produce, easy to repair when damaged, and could be tailored to fit any body type.
Camren Davis The Jurchens used the same armours the Chinese used, both nation field these armours in large quantity, the iron pagodas were famous because they are a massive army of heavy cataphracts usually operated in numbers from 8000-10000, which was very devastating to their enemies.
Yeah, it pretty accurate, the show I think is one of most history accurate both in armor, clothes, culture and even the gesture of Tang peoples greeting each other are also pretty accurate
@@stevej1235 I thought the hand gesture was cool too. To be honest, I was the one thing in the entire series that's stuck out to me. I just thought that all dynasties after the Han did the same salute
A video discussing Chinese armour! An instant thumb-up! Very nice research and breakdown. However, you neglected the Chinese brigandines very popular during the Ming and Qing dynasty. Their constructions are shockingly similar to that of European coat-of-plates, brigandines and later jack-of-plates used from the 13th-16th century. They were at first issued or custom made for ranking officers in Ming Dynasty ruled by Han ethnics, and later became even more prevalent in Manchurian armies. They probably completely replaced the iconic Chinese lamellar armour.
We don't have much info but from what I can tell they used Mail armor especially the lower Islands of Mindanao though generaly its a status symbol only affordable to the chiefs and Sultans, they would also have probably used wooden armor though I think the most likely is that they just relied on Shields.(which is the most depicted armor that the Tribes used.) Most of them are likely on foot as from what I can tell horses were introduced after the Spanish conquered it.
Well they use Brigandine, with compressed cloth(use water to soak 8 kilograms of cotton and make them dry so they stick together) out side and metal inside
Metatron, I’m surprised that you didn’t include capes on Samurai armor. It’s been proven that capes defended well against arrows while riding on horseback. 🐴🐎
@@keithstone8693 Hello 👋🏻 Keith. On the History Channel, there was a video where the samurai wore capes to supposedly ward off arrows when being chased on horseback. The capes help deflect arrows when riding on a horse 🐎 🐴 . 🙆🏻♂️ Am I remembering this next part right? I think* 🤔💭 the Mythbusters* did some myth busting on this (?), and they found capes deflecting arrows on horseback to be “very plausible.” And if it wasn’t the Mythbusters, then SOMEONE tested this hypothesis and found the results to be very plausible.
@@matthewjay660 Indeed, the Samurai used a cloak-like device called a 'Horo'. It had a cage-like frame that could be inflated to provide some protection from stones and arrows from behind when mounted. From the Muromachi period onwards, its use shifted to decoration and as a marker rather than for practicality. It was probably a hindrance as the emphasis on fighting on foot rather than in mounted combat increased. They were rarely used anymore. During the Sengoku period, it was used as a status symbol by the elite, the liaison cavalry samurai. It was a sign of being a liaison officer, and only a few dozen cavalry out of tens of thousands of legions were allowed to equip themselves.
Could you also compare average life in medieval Europe with Japan? Timber frame houses and Japanese folk houses have quite some similarities, though it certainly depends on time, region and status.
according to the Chinese record, the Japanese were very clean people who lived very long lives since ancient times. I don't know if Europeans were like this in the Medieval period. If not, then, I won't say Europeans lived as well as the Japanese.
@@dongf2618 I think this is quite an exaggeration. Medieval people did bathe too, even though the church was strongly against bathing together. For a time those fools saw bathing as vanity. BTW: I left church for multiple reasons. One of them was that they wanted an F-load of money when I was broke and they were the very opposite of conpassipnate... Plus, they insulted my mother saying that once she dies, she can lie next to the Jews! (saying that word as an insult).
Nice video, but it is a lot of information in a very short amount of time. Maybe you could stretch it out a little next time or focus on less stuff at a time.
The change from "ooyoroi" to "doumaru" is due to the change in fighting methods from bow fights on horseback to sword fights on the ground after dismounting from the horse.
The image at 3:01 seems to be an error. It is not a Chinese mural, but a mural in a Goguryeo tomb called 'Anak Tomb No. 3' in Anak-gun, Hwanghaenam-do, North Korea. Naturally, it depicts a military parade of Goguryeo, and the armor is of Goguryeo. The mural is a very important material in the history of Korean ancient art and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2004. I will not ask you to correct that error in your video. Your video is great and it's just a small error. However, I leave this comment because I want other viewers to know the exact information. thank you.
The dragon scale vest project kinda proved that this is a bad idea, even worse than dragon scale actually because lamellar doesn't intersect the way the dragon scales did.
Personaly i think the japanese armor is more beautifully builded and is iconic, make a pretty pice to have in any living room. As well the swords from kamakura and heian jidai
Dude I was expecting some really shallow prejudiced history interpretation and you proved me wrong! This is well studied and well made. Although I think China didn't use too much plate armor because we couldn't mass produce plate armor in the 15th century at a rather low cost like the western/central European could at the same time.
I found it funny how you said that in its own period, 大鎧 (ō-yoroi) would have been called "yoroi." よろい, as you may realize, is only the modern Japanese form of the word. A quick glance at my koten-dictionary reveals that the classical Japanese reading for 鎧 is よろひ (from the verb 鎧ふ 'to put on armor') and at the start of the Heian period that ひ is thought to have been pronounced with a [ɸ], ie the F-like sound in modern Japanese ふ [ɸɯ] (all of the ハ行 was pronounced with that sound at that time), meaning 大鎧 may have been originally called "yorofi." However, as time went on, intervocalic /ɸ/ was merging with /w/, changing a words like よろひ from "yorofi" to "yorowi." It seems this transition was completed around the 11th century. Then, at the end of the Heian period and into the Kamakura period, came the transition from Early Middle Japanese to Late Middle Japanese, which is when よろひ began taking on its modern pronunciation of "yoroi" (Kana spelling reform to modern よろい, reflecting the actual pronunciation, came with the post-war orthography reforms, which I'm sure you're familiar with). 大鎧 was used from the 10th century onward, all throughout the Kamakura period, before eventually being supplanted in the Muromachi period. Thus "in the period in which ō-yoroi was used" it may have been "yorofi," "yorowi," or "yoroi" at different times, though certainly "yoroi" for much of that time. Of course, I think your general point was that it was just called "armor" in its own time, and that point still stands. This is is not a criticism by any means, but I do find that minor simplification/omission, glossing over the fact that Heian era Japanese was different from modern Japanese, an amusing thing to point out.
The Japanese take more than 90% of the Chinese war related strategy. This is why most of the Japanese stuffs are taken from the Chinese. It is Japan itself originated from China, even the Japanese Katana sword originated from the Chinese Tang Dao sword in the Tang Dynasty.
That is quite an interesting topic for me. Thank you for this video. Everybody talks about katanas and occasionally other weapons of the East, but nobody talks about protection. Generally speaking I thought all samurais wear light lamellar armor. I hope in the next video to see any eastern armor stuff - its such a terra incognita for me.
samurai armors are heavy as hell. Lamellar armor was usually heavier than chain maille or plate armor because they were small metal pieces that overlap each other.
Japanese armor is useless in front of Chinese armor! According to historical records, due to the Korean War during the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese army's Japanese knives were unable to cut through the heavy armor of the Ming army's equipment! The long spears used by the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty army can easily pierce the armor of Japanese samurai!
I’ve recently became aware through period art work that Song and early Ming dynasty swords typically had cross guards like European swords. This appears to be largely unknown due to Qing era civilian swords having diminutive guards. I feel this would be an interest topic
Yes, Song swords have a Y shape guard to block enemy attack instead of old U shape cross guard only used to prevent hand sliding to blade. Early Ming swords also have this Y guard, but here it diverse to functional Y guard on battle field and decorative disc guard for some one who still like having a sword around when doing paper works.
I like the early Chinese armor comapred to the Japanese ones. Much less boxy and rigid looking. But the final forms of Japanese armor just looks cooler IMO and seems to be better protection.
surprised that u didn't mention the Qing armor, they are quite unique relative to Chinese armor from other periods, with a much similar design to armor you would find in? the Eurasia stepps
I wouldn't call losing any major field battle, losing several sieges in which they had enormous advantages and getting stuck in a stalemate despite not having to deal with the burden of a seaborn invasion as well as having local allies a "pub stomped"
@@lucanic4328 t. guy who doesn't know anything about the imjin war Read about Li Rusong campaign in Korea, Turnbull also mentions in his books on the Imjin war. The "field" battles you mentions are the Japanese being on the defensive inside forts or towns, espesally during the second invasion. In fact the reason why the Samurai stopped engaging the Ming army on the field was precisely because of the Ming cavalry (which I think what apex ment by pub stomp) Other than that the Imjin War would just become a stalemate after recapture of Seoul where they just pewpew at each other with canons and arquebuses and both sides unable to push further because of inadequate supply. A very boring war in my opinion, the most interested part is reading the memorials from the Chinese and Japanese generals.
@@noescape2108 To be fair I know something about the Imjin war, at least quite enough to support my statement. Li Rusong shouldn't be considered the only source on the matter by the way. There were two main field engagements between the Ming army and the Japanese ones, the Battle of Byeokjegwan and the battle of Jiksan, both resulted in a Japanese victory, mainly due to superior numbers. Still in both cases, casualties and loss were quite even according to Korean and Japanese sources, and in the first of this two battle Li Rusong was almost killed. Also there is no mention in any sources that the Japanese feared somewhat the Ming cavalry. In fact I would argue that it won't have been much of a threat compared to their field artillery mainly due to the usage of pike and shot tactics by the Japanese which if anything are highly effective against frontal cavalry charges. Moreover the Ming weren't able to bring said cavalry to effective use most of the time given the weather and the terrain of Korea, which is highly mountainous. In fact at Byeokjegwan the Ming elite cavalry dismounted when the close quarter fight broke out. Still there is this idea that the Japanese forces feared the cavalry engagement and to avoid that used chains of castles and strongholds across Korea. This idea has a wrong premise, since in order to fear such cavalry the Japanese would have had the opportunity to face it and being soundly defeated, and this simply didn't happen as cavalry forces most of the time throughout the war were not relevant during field engagements, and moreover it ignores the fact that this style of warfare has been carried on by various warlords through the Sengoku period and was indeed the byproduct of that age, as castles and sieges were a main feature in Japanese warfare of the period. Another thing to consider to again support my statement are sieges. Three important sieges comes to mind in which the Japanese outperformed the allied Ming-Joseon forces: the Siege of Ulsan, the Siege of Sacheon and the Siege of Namwon. In the first two, despite the Japanese being severely outnumbered, they managed to win the siege in both cases and inflicts a lot of casualties against the allied forces despite the odds. Moreover, when the situation was reversed at the Siege of Namwon, the Ming-Joseon forces weren't able of such feats: granted, the Japanese got lucky at Sacheon but still as matter of fact the Ming weren't capable of pulling out a Ulsan or Sacheon land victory during the entire war. So even when they had favourable odds, they weren't able to have neat success as the Japanese did. All things considered, from a purely tactical point of view, the Japanese forces won most of the major engagements against the Ming-Joseon forces, and if anything this speaks for the fact that the Japanese armies of the period proved to be a fierce and challenging enemy. I don't want to sound biased, although my statement before sounded truly bold (and in fact it was, given the premise of this thread), I do respect the Ming military of the period and I believe it was one of the major world power at the time. However as a matter of fact they underperformed during the war, and I would argue that this was due to a very loose commitment to the Korean cause ( this can be supported by the fact that there was a strive for diplomacy whenever possible and no counter offensive against the Japanese islands, despite the willingness of both the Korean navy and other minor kingdom supporting the Ming). Still the debate on the Imjin war tends to get poisonous very fast for so many reasons. But if I join is usually to confute the idea that one of the main player was highly superior in terms of military strength than the others: the Samurai were no super duper warriors but at the same time the Ming didn't "stomped" the Japanese armies at all.
Good YT recommendation here. Metatron always brings it. As the Chinese knew what mail armour was, the choice to use lamellar armour is a curious one. It seems to me that lammellar armour would be heavier and less flexible and less effective than even butted mail. Your explanation of why Chinese never widely adopted plate armour is interesting.
On an individual basis japanese armour seem superior at least in the later stages, but it makes sense due to how the chinese typically had to field larger armies of mass levies so the performance of individual pieces of armour likely had more importance in japanese armies. Though we are missing a pretty important part in the comparison, what about the shields used?
most of samurai used a bow, so they didn't a hand-carry shield a lot. Also their large shoulder armor replaced a shield. In the later stages, they used a placed shield to prevent guns.
That's a LOT of Rhinos, surprised they still exist
*rhinos appreciate
They don't.........not anywhere near china anymore. This is why lol. Skins and horn..........hunted to extinction in the immediate area.
@Ninja Crackpot Well I sure don't care if mankiller bunnies or dragons went extinct, would be hard to deal with.
@@metatronyt We have a shield in my house, a Parma Nepali made from Rhino skin and an iron boss, and leather Enarmes. We use it for ceremonies and I remember first holding it, it's not in the best condition right now but it's a part of our traditions.
Chinese people are still hunting rhinos (and elephants) in Africa
Please Do a vid about Byzantine weapons and armor because I cant find a lot of info on the internet
One of yogur best vídeos, I completelly agree on a video about byzantine weaponry but I also suggest to include persian stuff
I´ve seen Byzantine armour and martial arts on YT. It´s a while ago, maybe you find it.
edi I didnt have any interest in them until I played tomb raider and did a tiny bit of research. Now I cant find enough on their military lol!
Check out Byzantine Armies 1168-1461 AD. It has great illustrations like all of McBride's books.
Yes, maybe persian and arab armors too, its really cool to see other cultures approachs on armor, we tend to look too much only in the european ones.
A few points to add:
1) Chinese lacquered their armours too.
2) Rhino actually went (mostly) extinct relatively early in China , although the name "Rhino leather armour" stuck for much longer to refer to other types of leather armour.
3) Like elsewhere, scale armour was actually quite rare in China due to its obvious inferiority to lamellar.
4) Some Chinese lamellar armours have backing.
How’s scale inferior?
@@owo5869 It's less cost-effective, scale takes a long time to make comparisons to lamellar while the extra protection it offers does not justify mass production.
@@owo5869
Scale is easier and faster to made, but much less protective than lamellar.
ruclips.net/video/Ah9KX2vPCdQ/видео.html&ab_channel=scholagladiatoria
Obvious inferiority sounds so harsh
5)코로나는 중국에서 유래했다
Not to nitpick, but that's an American buffalo. However, that doesn't take away from the overall video, which is absolutely wonderful. Great job!
Ahah so true, my mistake :)
To nitpick your nitpick America doesn't have Buffalo it has Bison
@@leafpratt buffalo is an acceptable common name for the creature, used throughout history. Yes in terms of taxonomy, it's a Bison, but Buffalo is accepted as an informal term, and it also the reason it's in the video. It's like calling a tardigrade a water bear. Yes, it's Technically not a bear, but the term is acceptable for informal use.
@@cajunguy6502 that's why I said nitpick
@@leafpratt fair point
In Ming and Qing dynasty China actually had a kind of armor called 布面甲 which basically looked like a giant coat with pieces of metal underneath it. The coat was meant to prevent the gunfire or something.
I think this is brigandine
It was widely used throughout Europe and Asia and it's called brigandine type in English.
@@dbuyandelger Yes you are right I search the word on Baidu and it gave me the false translation
@@dongf2618 yes
@WithAStick AngryWhiteMan yea they do
Don't forget about Brigandine, both Chinese and Japanese used them in large scale during 17th century.
What the heck are you doing here?!
I think even before that
True, most people think brigandine is a exclusively European amour
@@m4xs0ng66 yeah? Weird because cotton isn't even a european thing
Japanese was bamboo armor
as chinese ，your explanation about Chinese armor is very correct, most of Chinese don’t know these, you really surprised me
During the cultural revolution a lot of historical records were lost, this coinciding with schools at the time seizing to teach students about ancient Chinese history are part of the reason why sadly a lot of the history of your country is unknown to most people
@@googlehatesblackpeople8876 You only spoke half of the fact, culture destruction happens every time in China history when a new dynasty rises, it's a sign of cleansing the old past.
@@googlehatesblackpeople8876 well it's not like the majority of Europeans would know about the different kinds of knight armour either
@@googlehatesblackpeople8876 this contradicts very much with reality and is just absolutely wrong. The party puts a huge focus on Chinese identity and therefore teaching Chinese history in an elaborate way.
@@crushingjay only recently, read up on the cultural revolution, what he said was true especially during Mao's era
You forgot to mention brigandine armor, which was commonly used in China from the Ming Dynasty onward (14th century onward). They largely replaced the lamellar armors of early eras. Mail had never been popular in China for some reason (though there’re some who speculate that the so-called mountain-pattern armor might actually be an artistic representation of mail armor).
There are sculptures of military generals wearing mountain pattern armors in China.The mountain pattern armor is thick mail armor
@@linshitaolst4936I’ve never EVER heard anyone claim that mountain pattern armor was chainmail ever before. I’ve heard people claim it’s lamellar but never chainmail
@@linshitaolst4936 锁子纹甲
I was just thinking about Chinese Armor, Thanks Metatron!
lol
Japanese armour is better but more expensive. Because the Chinese had to arm the giant masses of soldiers.
Radoslav Kosil Not really, Chinese armour had long skirts that protected the entire leg, this feature is generally unseen in Japanese armours.
@@hwasiaqhan8923 this is not entirely true. complete samurai armor protected every part of the body. and a very long skirt slightly restricts movement. (parts that cowers legs are called Suneate, Haidate and Kusazuri) Like this one i.pinimg.com/originals/6e/04/f0/6e04f07e601ec889357aec0df036ae67.jpg
Radoslav Kosil not at all almost all later Chinese dynasty has complete protection armor. Chinese high officials armor is just as good as Japanese samurai armor. They don’t give foot soldiers good armor that’s true. Hell katana and samurai armor were hugely influenced by chinese armor. Look at tang, song and Ming armor they look very well protected
Metatron: Do you prefer Chinese or Japanese armour.
Me: Yes.
No. ROMAN
Mongolian armour
Just use a gun
@@shadowdeslaar early English, very stylish
Great video, man. Thanks! I'm currently building a Ming Dynasty mountain scale armour. By hand. It might take a couple of years. It's held together with educated guesses and artistic interpretations. So just like all archeological evidence, really.
Make a vid when you finish it
If you ever finished this I'd love to see your impression of it!
@@ericlayton8888 Good news, I'm still working on it.
I honestly love both Chinese and Japanese armors. My favorite Chinese style is the Ming style brigandine. I think my favorite Japanese armor is dosei gusoku
Me too. Mid to late Ming Armor looks so cool to me.
@@camrendavis6650 Absolutely! And I find that I actually prefer liuyedao and yanmadao over katana, which is surprising to me
@@sylvanstrength7520 I've seen modern reproductions of Liuyedao that are beautiful. That saber's got sexier curves than a katana. Plus I prefer a one-handed saber so I could wield a rattan shield in the other.
@@camrendavis6650 I love the S curve as well as the balance for one handed use. And the potential for back edge cuts.
@@sylvanstrength7520 I. Want. One.
Great video mate. Would you do a video on Chinese swords next? I love the channel and information given.
Generally, Chinese armor design is more geared toward mass production with little tailoring.
It is also usually had more simple and all around better design, while Japanese design is often more specialized with more small components with different specific functions. Later Japanese is more similar to European plate that it is to Chinese armor.
Early Japanese armor is more similar to Chinese armor than armor from Heian Perion onward.
Classic Japanese armor after the Heian could be further divided into 3 parts: O-yoroi (Heian-Kamakura), Transitional (Nanbokucho-early Muromachi) and Tosei Gusoku (Sengoku Period onward).
Compared to this type of Japanese armors, the Chinese have generally better armor design compared to the O-yoroi, but the O-yoroi had been designed very meticulously for horse archery so it might be better in that area.
For transitional armor, they are probably equal. Japanese armor of these periods had full body coverage unlike Heian-Kamakura ones, but they are still mostly lamellar, so they didn't had any advantage against Chinese armor of the same period.
While 16th century Ming armor in comparison to the Tosei Gusoku, lack rigid torso armor. This does not mean that Ming brigandine is inferior because there are accounts of Ming armor capable to resist bullets.
In complexity, there is just no comparison that the period Ming brigandine coat + manica suit or Chinese lamellar suit is just too simple compared to the Tosei Gusoku.
Even Qing armors which are more complex are still simpler than the Tosei Gusoku.
@kizz Yes, that's why I wrote simpler and all around better design.
The Japanese serve as mercenaries in as far as Siam and Indonesia. Their equipment work fine in there. They are still untested in desert and the steppes, though.
The Chinese also wear lamellar most of the time just like the Japanese.
I do understand that being complex or simple by itself doesn't make an armor good. Japanese armor construction is very possible to be made simpler.
You might want to read the Gunbai Military History blogspot for detailed info on Japanese armor and weapons.
I had a discussion with the writer and we conclude that all those exposed laces and gaps in Japanese armor are consciously left that way and it is possible to make Japanese armor without a lot of laces exposed. There are several armor where the laces are hidden behind the plates.
Overall, here is my short opinion on Chinese vs Japanese armor:
- For most of their history, Chinese armor cover more, made in larger number and proven against various types of terrains and climates.
- Japanese armor design peaked in 4th-6th century and 14th-17th century. Outside of these period, Chinese armor is likely superior to Japanese ones.
- In 4th-6th century and 14th-15th century, Japanese armor is comparable to Chinese.
- In the 16th century, Japanese armor had solid cuirass and Japan is possibly the only polity beside European kingdoms to equip basic soldiers with plate cuirass. Chinese soldier at this period wear brigandine.
- Complete Japanese armor set of the late 16th century should be far superior to contemporary Chinese armor, but may not be superior to Chinese armor from before 16th century.
Those are my current conclusion, I say current because I keep finding new things on both Chinese and Japanese armor.
There is a lot of surprisingly unknown things about Japanese armor especially in the period between the peaks of Japanese armor design.
Thanks for your info, Armor smith.
@Di Di Even with the increased use of firearms in China we coul still see armor with good design.
For example, Manchu armor in their conquest in Korea and China were said by Korean and Chinese source to be bullet proof, so that Korean and Chinese soldier had to aim for the hand and eyes.
Late Ming armor is tested against bullet before they enter service.
@Di DiWe have videos of lamellar armor made of 2 mm stainless steel resisting bullets, if an armor is made with good steel and sufficient thickness, it can resist musket bullets.
Late Ming Dynasty Chinese is still large enough that they should have win against the Manchu, the ptoblems are not only corruption, but also internal rebellion and incompetent emperors.
@Di Di The Manchu bullet proof armor is described by both Chinese and Korean record.
any Mount And Blade: Warband player remembered the "Strange Set"(Shogun looking armor and weapons)?
Nah, I just downloaded Feudal Japan mod, so yeah - I remember plenty of samurai armors
Great video Metatron! I am loving your historical videos, especially ones that highlight the oft-inaccessible lore of Imperial China, a vast swath of history and culture that gets less representation and coverage than Japanese. Please do keep these up!
I think the usage of mountain pattern chainmail was a more effective way to protect the warriors from spears or thrusting/stabbing compared to regular chainmail
Super in depth and informative, I would definitely love to see more videos of this format.
I've tried on the Japanese tosei gusoku and saw immediately how difficult it would be to fight wearing one of these. I'd love to try out a Chinese set of the same time period to compare mobility.
Really high quality video!
Great job.
Thank you Kind sir
This video is one of your top ten best videos, at least, in my opinion ;-)
Thanks!
This helped me so much with my research for an armor I am working on. Thank you for this video!
For the song dynasty, there were some crazy weight armor(步人甲） for the heavy infantryman (which about 30kg) and the crazy weight halberd-like weapon called 掉刀(diao dao/Zhao dao) which was similar the weapon of a Taoism deity called deity erlang( 二郎神) who is a heavenly general with a hound
Thanks for sharing i love learning about Chinese history, weapons and armor.
@@-Zevin- but they always have one of the highest casualty number as they were usually team up with pikeman to deal with the cavalrymen(if they're not in the ‘defensive mode’ inside the fortress or the castle as during the northern song dynasty time, they were severely lack of horse especially fighting against the cavalrymen
@@chanjiayang9595 Actually, it is complicated. Prior to most military failures, there were always some food shortages due to not having enough transportation animals, and it is more complicated than that. Let's just put it simply, the Northern Song often attacked too deep into enemy territory and often stretched their offensive too thin by forking their attacks into several prongs, but their overall win/loss ratio was pretty good.
@UCIXmkerDLgP6wghI-D1RAcA I don't know about that. I think it had less to do with armor than the actual tactics. Northern Song emperors liked to command the army from the capital, and they always divided the army up without giving a central command. In this way, the Song emperors can ensure the army doesn't turn against itself; however, it also means all the military operations were chaotic.
Song dynasty soldiers were always on rotation across the country, and many of them fell ill and died on the march. The society, in general, looked at the soldiers with disdain, and the soldiers only treated this profession as a way to make a living. That was their military system at that time.
As I had aforementioned, prior to all the major blunders, there were severe food shortages, and sometimes this was coupled with the cold winters, debilitating the armies to a point that they can no longer fight.
The military training was lax as well, even though they were professional soldiers. Some contemporary texts talked about how the military was trained only in crossbows but not with wielding short weapons so when the enemy closed in for a close-quarter fight, the crossbowmen can't fight at all. The army composition at that time was 70% crossbow and 15% polearms and 15% swords and shields, meaning when facing a cataphract charge, they probably couldn't stop it.
The armors at that time were heavy, and that is probably for deflecting arrows, and I think it is the right thing to do since they are more focused on infantry.
Wearing heavy armor and wielding heavy weaponry, along with long marches. It makes sense that heavy infantry is disadvantaged in faraway campaigns against cavalry. I believe the Southern Song benefited more once they settled on naval warfare along the Yangtse and defensive strong points like XiangYang and DiaoYu fortresses, when heavy infantry can focus on what they do best.
I don’t know about you guys, wearing a 60+ lb armor, carrying another 30lbs of weaponry/equipment, marching 25-30 mile per day. I won’t be able to have much fight left in me.
I was expecting to see the Iron Pagoda armor of the Jin dinasty...
Thank You for uploading! This was a genuinly interesting analysis. If You wish i would be more than happy if this would be continued, i am particulary especialy interested in armour and armour smithing, both Asian and European types. But there are very little to find on RUclips when it come to more in depth analysis and cronologic explanations.
great that you mentioned nanban gusoku, as not many know about western influence on late medieval Japan, not even the japanese themselves, besides, for anyone interested there's nanban art (european style art) made by the japanese from that period too, also, I know this is sudden, but here's some trivia for you, nanban translates to "southern barbarian", that's japanese pride alright, a bit like the romans and their "barbarian tribes"
So true about the translation ahah
Sadly it seems to be one of the constants of human history that people can dislike foreigners while simultaneously wanting to steal all their best ideas.
@@calamusgladiofortior2814/videos Yeah, because the foreigners simply wanted to bring Japan all their "best" ideas, like sugar, guns and Christianity...
And now korea and china stealing their culture and technology, its all come full circle
ErebosGR how did sugar hurt them and they crucified hundreds everyone back then were assholes
This video inspired me to re-download the gekokujo mod for Mount and Blade Warband, because all of the Sengoku Jidai period armor you mentioned are in there!
I prefer Chinese armor. I also like the armor of the Norsemen. In particular, I like Lamellar because it allows good mobility, and is easier to manufacture when compared with other armor types, like plate as you noted yourself. And it's modifiable, allowing you to add what you need to it. I think the Cord and Plague is a efficient system, I'd have Lamellar mostly, then a chest plate cover, maybe some shin guards. Though I will say the Kikko armor is efficient, more so than Brigandine in my opinion (which is a preference of mine as well). I'm thinking of trying out my own design, using triangular pieces. Lastly, the Mountain armor design seems very interesting, as far as I know not much is known about it, and the only examples we have of it are from paintings or statues, unfortunately no functional examples seem to exist, and attempts to reproduce it have failed. But it's intruiging that an armor would be made with parts that have a similar appearance to a letter in their alphabet. I wonder if that'd work with other languages. It'd certainly be an exciting project.
When I play For Honor and we discuss armour realism and accuracy with my friends and someone disaggrees with me I always bring the ultimate reasoning card "I watch Metatron"
(In case of sword fight, moves and stances, it is "I watch Skallagrim"😂)
In case of fantasy designs I watch Shad
@@Dachnik228 In case of penetration and context: "I watch Matt Easton"
Argument of authority using a non professional source as your basis is one of the worse arguments possible
@@theghosthero6173 nitpicking a non serious comment is one of the most chicken shit thing ever.
@@feketeputty So basically diarrhea?
congratulations on the new haircut, and great informative video as usual.
Chinese mountain pattern for me probably out of these, looks really cool and stylish :)
Great content, very helpful to me. Also as a Chinese, I have to say you chinese pronunciation is impressive!
I like the Chinese armor more. I think it's more stylish and unique and variation and functionality over time
I agree, google "iron pagoda armor" for some really great Chinese armor he didn't show in this video. China is such a large place with such a vast history there is a ton of interesting styles and armors.
@@-Zevin- the armor used by Jurchin? Those things are so cool. The definition of *"tank"*
@@camrendavis6650 Yeah i think they where used by the Jurchin, and were part of a elite cavalry force during the Jin dynasty. I honestly think that armor would have protected you as well or better than any European plate armor. It's always just taken as gospel that plate was the best and not really questioned, but i am really skeptical. Physics wise lamalar has a mechanical advantage with padding underneath of never denting or breaking but flexing with impact.
@@-Zevin- and that's why I love Chinese armor over most other types of armor. Since the Qin they knew that flexible armor was the way to go. All the way up to the Ming, when brigandine became more popular (though I feel brigandine is also underrated). Plus, the ancient Chinese could form massive armies, and depending on what dynasty were talking about, that means you're going to need a lot of metal. Luckily, lamellar and scale were easier to manufacture as well as mass-produce, easy to repair when damaged, and could be tailored to fit any body type.
Camren Davis The Jurchens used the same armours the Chinese used, both nation field these armours in large quantity, the iron pagodas were famous because they are a massive army of heavy cataphracts usually operated in numbers from 8000-10000, which was very devastating to their enemies.
You misspelled armour in the title!
It says "Amour"
Chinese love beats Japanese armour.
He used the spelling in Traditional English. You must be thinking of 'armor', which is simplified English.
@@MaxRavenclaw reread the comment.
@@MaxRavenclaw and reread the title of the video.
Oops. My joke falls short then.
best video I've seen in a while
Glad to hear
Damn, your armour + nodachi look so badass. Need to get me some of that!
Have you seen the chinese armor in the show longest day in changan? Ive been told that its very accurate tang dynasty armor.
It is.
Yeah, it pretty accurate, the show I think is one of most history accurate both in armor, clothes, culture and even the gesture of Tang peoples greeting each other are also pretty accurate
@@stevej1235 I thought the hand gesture was cool too. To be honest, I was the one thing in the entire series that's stuck out to me. I just thought that all dynasties after the Han did the same salute
Yes as an armor fans. I’m telling that entire show is extremely accurate to Tang Dynasty
Fantastic video, straight to the point, entertaining, and factual
I'm glad you liked It
@@metatronyt thank you for making it
Have you ever heard of the legend of the Gajin Samurai who eternally guards the Pasuta no Jinja. High up in the snowy mountains.
Thanks, I finally understand the difference 🙏🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Perfect pronunciation!!
Thanks!
Except it’s pronounced scArce, not scAHrce. Other than that, good job.
@@dirremoire he has a British accent
@@dirremoire no
A video discussing Chinese armour! An instant thumb-up! Very nice research and breakdown. However, you neglected the Chinese brigandines very popular during the Ming and Qing dynasty. Their constructions are shockingly similar to that of European coat-of-plates, brigandines and later jack-of-plates used from the 13th-16th century. They were at first issued or custom made for ranking officers in Ming Dynasty ruled by Han ethnics, and later became even more prevalent in Manchurian armies. They probably completely replaced the iconic Chinese lamellar armour.
Did the Mongolians invent brigandine? Or some early form of the coat of plates?
I liked it I'd like to see more and anything on Philippines
Same
We don't have much info but from what I can tell they used Mail armor especially the lower Islands of Mindanao though generaly its a status symbol only affordable to the chiefs and Sultans, they would also have probably used wooden armor though I think the most likely is that they just relied on Shields.(which is the most depicted armor that the Tribes used.)
Most of them are likely on foot as from what I can tell horses were introduced after the Spanish conquered it.
Thank you, nice video😊 from Japan☺️☺️
i'd like to hear more about armor of china in the Ming and Qing dynasty. It's a subject i think get's overlooked!
Well they use Brigandine, with compressed cloth(use water to soak 8 kilograms of cotton and make them dry so they stick together) out side and metal inside
Basically the difference between a society that relies on soldiers, and a society that relies on warriors.
Metatron, I’m surprised that you didn’t include capes on Samurai armor. It’s been proven that capes defended well against arrows while riding on horseback. 🐴🐎
Cause it blocks the vision of the archer and can always miss cause it doesnt know where the body is
I can’t tell if this is a joke or not lol
@@keithstone8693 Hello 👋🏻 Keith. On the History Channel, there was a video where the samurai wore capes to supposedly ward off arrows when being chased on horseback. The capes help deflect arrows when riding on a horse 🐎 🐴 . 🙆🏻♂️ Am I remembering this next part right? I think* 🤔💭 the Mythbusters* did some myth busting on this (?), and they found capes deflecting arrows on horseback to be “very plausible.” And if it wasn’t the Mythbusters, then SOMEONE tested this hypothesis and found the results to be very plausible.
@@matthewjay660 Indeed, the Samurai used a cloak-like device called a 'Horo'.
It had a cage-like frame that could be inflated to provide some protection from stones and arrows from behind when mounted.
From the Muromachi period onwards, its use shifted to decoration and as a marker rather than for practicality. It was probably a hindrance as the emphasis on fighting on foot rather than in mounted combat increased. They were rarely used anymore.
During the Sengoku period, it was used as a status symbol by the elite, the liaison cavalry samurai. It was a sign of being a liaison officer, and only a few dozen cavalry out of tens of thousands of legions were allowed to equip themselves.
Could you also compare average life in medieval Europe with Japan?
Timber frame houses and Japanese folk houses have quite some similarities, though it certainly depends on time, region and status.
according to the Chinese record, the Japanese were very clean people who lived very long lives since ancient times. I don't know if Europeans were like this in the Medieval period. If not, then, I won't say Europeans lived as well as the Japanese.
@@dongf2618 I think this is quite an exaggeration. Medieval people did bathe too, even though the church was strongly against bathing together. For a time those fools saw bathing as vanity.
BTW: I left church for multiple reasons. One of them was that they wanted an F-load of money when I was broke and they were the very opposite of conpassipnate... Plus, they insulted my mother saying that once she dies, she can lie next to the Jews! (saying that word as an insult).
@@dongf2618 which record excatly?
@@dongf2618 Western Europe was more advanced and richer than backwards Japan manly in the 12th century onwards
@@theentertainmentnation4694 Wrong
Truly a great video, but I do have one question left!
Where did they got Rhino skin on such big scale in China at that time?
That's why rhinos are now extinct in China.
👍😊👍
Thank you for this amazing video in these difficult times.
Greetings from Prague!
10:23 the armor is smiling 100 times :D
Nice video, but it is a lot of information in a very short amount of time. Maybe you could stretch it out a little next time or focus on less stuff at a time.
Nice video. Now i want to see more about Chinese helmets XD
Oh, there is a lot to mention
The change from "ooyoroi" to "doumaru" is due to the change in fighting methods from bow fights on horseback to sword fights on the ground after dismounting from the horse.
Hey metatron i have a question can you do video on the Chinese miaodao/dandao
Oh and when and if you do a video on the maiodao can you do the differences between it and the nodachi
Great research and videos
from Japan
Amour and Armor, Chinese vs Japanese it sounds like a good love story 😀
Great video, those shots of you outside in your armour look so epic!
Remember the mongol boi's heavy armor is from the 11C chinese armor.
Well this was informative. I'll be sure to apply it to my writing as one of my characters is a 12th century samurai who serves as a retainer to my MC.
Love your channel Metatron.
But I miss your long hair
Let it grow back!
I actually am lol
The image at 3:01 seems to be an error.
It is not a Chinese mural, but a mural in a Goguryeo tomb called 'Anak Tomb No. 3' in Anak-gun, Hwanghaenam-do, North Korea.
Naturally, it depicts a military parade of Goguryeo, and the armor is of Goguryeo.
The mural is a very important material in the history of Korean ancient art and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2004.
I will not ask you to correct that error in your video.
Your video is great and it's just a small error.
However, I leave this comment because I want other viewers to know the exact information.
thank you.
Here's an idea for you: Kevlar lamellar armor.
How viable do you guys think this would be?
The dragon scale vest project kinda proved that this is a bad idea, even worse than dragon scale actually because lamellar doesn't intersect the way the dragon scales did.
Thanks for taking the effort of getting the pronunciation right.
Personaly i think the japanese armor is more beautifully builded and is iconic, make a pretty pice to have in any living room. As well the swords from kamakura and heian jidai
因为日本绝大多数士兵都不穿铠甲，穿得起铠甲的都是贵族。 而中国铠甲是大规模生产的
Dude I was expecting some really shallow prejudiced history interpretation and you proved me wrong! This is well studied and well made. Although I think China didn't use too much plate armor because we couldn't mass produce plate armor in the 15th century at a rather low cost like the western/central European could at the same time.
Awesome :D!! How much research did it have to take for this video O_O
Even less known chinese and japanese armors nod nod
AND MORE !!! Korean too :D
About 3 weeks and a couple of books but I loved doing the research and I'm glad you liked It
I found it funny how you said that in its own period, 大鎧 (ō-yoroi) would have been called "yoroi." よろい, as you may realize, is only the modern Japanese form of the word. A quick glance at my koten-dictionary reveals that the classical Japanese reading for 鎧 is よろひ (from the verb 鎧ふ 'to put on armor') and at the start of the Heian period that ひ is thought to have been pronounced with a [ɸ], ie the F-like sound in modern Japanese ふ [ɸɯ] (all of the ハ行 was pronounced with that sound at that time), meaning 大鎧 may have been originally called "yorofi."
However, as time went on, intervocalic /ɸ/ was merging with /w/, changing a words like よろひ from "yorofi" to "yorowi." It seems this transition was completed around the 11th century. Then, at the end of the Heian period and into the Kamakura period, came the transition from Early Middle Japanese to Late Middle Japanese, which is when よろひ began taking on its modern pronunciation of "yoroi" (Kana spelling reform to modern よろい, reflecting the actual pronunciation, came with the post-war orthography reforms, which I'm sure you're familiar with).
大鎧 was used from the 10th century onward, all throughout the Kamakura period, before eventually being supplanted in the Muromachi period. Thus "in the period in which ō-yoroi was used" it may have been "yorofi," "yorowi," or "yoroi" at different times, though certainly "yoroi" for much of that time.
Of course, I think your general point was that it was just called "armor" in its own time, and that point still stands. This is is not a criticism by any means, but I do find that minor simplification/omission, glossing over the fact that Heian era Japanese was different from modern Japanese, an amusing thing to point out.
U didn’t mention the coat of plates in Ming and Qing Dynasty and the rim- arm armor that goes with it!!!!
Japanese Tousei gusoku with face plate is one of best combination in style wise
The Japanese take more than 90% of the Chinese war related strategy. This is why most of the Japanese stuffs are taken from the Chinese. It is Japan itself originated from China, even the Japanese Katana sword originated from the Chinese Tang Dao sword in the Tang Dynasty.
highly polished copper armor sounds beautiful
The Japanese armor is quite a bit more stylish, though I find the Chinese armor to have an overall cooler design.
Paper armor get their stopping power when wet.
@Jacky Phantom weenies as I expected
bam! insta sub after the vid! that was just amazing!! so much info coveid in such a nice way!
Really nice and super informing vid!
Honestly all I'm thinking here is Warriors orochi xD but cool comparison
Sorry but i am tiandi
That is quite an interesting topic for me. Thank you for this video. Everybody talks about katanas and occasionally other weapons of the East, but nobody talks about protection. Generally speaking I thought all samurais wear light lamellar armor. I hope in the next video to see any eastern armor stuff - its such a terra incognita for me.
samurai armors are heavy as hell. Lamellar armor was usually heavier than chain maille or plate armor because they were small metal pieces that overlap each other.
"There is a huge variation in both after all, we are talking about millennia of warfare >:( "
Love the drawing!
Japanese armor is useless in front of Chinese armor! According to historical records, due to the Korean War during the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese army's Japanese knives were unable to cut through the heavy armor of the Ming army's equipment! The long spears used by the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty army can easily pierce the armor of Japanese samurai!
I’ve recently became aware through period art work that Song and early Ming dynasty swords typically had cross guards like European swords. This appears to be largely unknown due to Qing era civilian swords having diminutive guards. I feel this would be an interest topic
I think it's all influenced by Persian and Indian swords during the Yuan dynasty.
@anshu lieyi I read a book saying so
Yes, Song swords have a Y shape guard to block enemy attack instead of old U shape cross guard only used to prevent hand sliding to blade.
Early Ming swords also have this Y guard, but here it diverse to functional Y guard on battle field and decorative disc guard for some one who still like having a sword around when doing paper works.
#teamchinesearmour
#teamhonkongarmour
#Teamplotarmor
#teamnoarmourbestarmour
Team naked, anyone?
We fight and die like real men.
This was a great video man. Thanks
Thank you :)
I like the early Chinese armor comapred to the Japanese ones. Much less boxy and rigid looking. But the final forms of Japanese armor just looks cooler IMO and seems to be better protection.
Love your historical content.
American buffalos in China .. ?! Well ...
Couldn't find a roylaty free picture of a Chinese buffalo so...a bit of imagination please :)
@@metatronyt it was some tribute from some Asian countries
Technically speaking, that wasn't even a buffalo but a bison. I'm not sure that there are actually any true buffalo native to North America.
@@Riceball01 not extant species anyway i vaguely remember there being a long extinct species though.
Another great video Metatron, thank you
But, what about *-DRAGONS-* indian armour, middle eastern armour and african armour, not to mention meso-american armour?
I know that aztec have a form of gambeson like armour called ichcahuipili, not sure if I spell it right
Really liked the editing.
Nono, we aaaall know that samurai use wood ;) and for honor has fantastic historical accuracy..
Ahah :)
love this video, great work
I'm glad
16:00 ROOOBEEEEERRRRRRRRT
I'm surprised Metatron didn't bring up Nanban armor when he talked about the Armored Warrior in his Sekiro video, the resemblance is great
reference to ?
@@stormbringer2840 Sekiro
@@katenaccios
Ok thanks
Your videos are well researched
Japanese armor shots ... with a bearded model, I don't think that the Shogun will approve of this
I love this video, i love chinese armour but its soo hard to find. Keep up the awsome videos!
I like how the European inspired japanese armour is exotic to me and the japanese alike 😁
surprised that u didn't mention the Qing armor, they are quite unique relative to Chinese armor from other periods, with a much similar design to armor you would find in? the Eurasia stepps
You should make more videos about Chinese, specifically how they pub stomped the Japanese during their invasion of Korea during Toyotomi's time.
I wouldn't call losing any major field battle, losing several sieges in which they had enormous advantages and getting stuck in a stalemate despite not having to deal with the burden of a seaborn invasion as well as having local allies a "pub stomped"
@@lucanic4328 t. guy who doesn't know anything about the imjin war
Read about Li Rusong campaign in Korea, Turnbull also mentions in his books on the Imjin war. The "field" battles you mentions are the Japanese being on the defensive inside forts or towns, espesally during the second invasion.
In fact the reason why the Samurai stopped engaging the Ming army on the field was precisely because of the Ming cavalry (which I think what apex ment by pub stomp)
Other than that the Imjin War would just become a stalemate after recapture of Seoul where they just pewpew at each other with canons and arquebuses and both sides unable to push further because of inadequate supply.
A very boring war in my opinion, the most interested part is reading the memorials from the Chinese and Japanese generals.
@@noescape2108
To be fair I know something about the Imjin war, at least quite enough to support my statement.
Li Rusong shouldn't be considered the only source on the matter by the way. There were two main field engagements between the Ming army and the Japanese ones, the Battle of Byeokjegwan and the battle of Jiksan, both resulted in a Japanese victory, mainly due to superior numbers.
Still in both cases, casualties and loss were quite even according to Korean and Japanese sources, and in the first of this two battle Li Rusong was almost killed.
Also there is no mention in any sources that the Japanese feared somewhat the Ming cavalry.
In fact I would argue that it won't have been much of a threat compared to their field artillery mainly due to the usage of pike and shot tactics by the Japanese which if anything are highly effective against frontal cavalry charges.
Moreover the Ming weren't able to bring said cavalry to effective use most of the time given the weather and the terrain of Korea, which is highly mountainous.
In fact at Byeokjegwan the Ming elite cavalry dismounted when the close quarter fight broke out.
Still there is this idea that the Japanese forces feared the cavalry engagement and to avoid that used chains of castles and strongholds across Korea. This idea has a wrong premise, since in order to fear such cavalry the Japanese would have had the opportunity to face it and being soundly defeated, and this simply didn't happen as cavalry forces most of the time throughout the war were not relevant during field engagements, and moreover it ignores the fact that this style of warfare has been carried on by various warlords through the Sengoku period and was indeed the byproduct of that age, as castles and sieges were a main feature in Japanese warfare of the period.
Another thing to consider to again support my statement are sieges. Three important sieges comes to mind in which the Japanese outperformed the allied Ming-Joseon forces: the Siege of Ulsan, the Siege of Sacheon and the Siege of Namwon.
In the first two, despite the Japanese being severely outnumbered, they managed to win the siege in both cases and inflicts a lot of casualties against the allied forces despite the odds.
Moreover, when the situation was reversed at the Siege of Namwon, the Ming-Joseon forces weren't able of such feats: granted, the Japanese got lucky at Sacheon but still as matter of fact the Ming weren't capable of pulling out a Ulsan or Sacheon land victory during the entire war.
So even when they had favourable odds, they weren't able to have neat success as the Japanese did.
All things considered, from a purely tactical point of view, the Japanese forces won most of the major engagements against the Ming-Joseon forces, and if anything this speaks for the fact that the Japanese armies of the period proved to be a fierce and challenging enemy.
I don't want to sound biased, although my statement before sounded truly bold (and in fact it was, given the premise of this thread), I do respect the Ming military of the period and I believe it was one of the major world power at the time. However as a matter of fact they underperformed during the war, and I would argue that this was due to a very loose commitment to the Korean cause ( this can be supported by the fact that there was a strive for diplomacy whenever possible and no counter offensive against the Japanese islands, despite the willingness of both the Korean navy and other minor kingdom supporting the Ming).
Still the debate on the Imjin war tends to get poisonous very fast for so many reasons. But if I join is usually to confute the idea that one of the main player was highly superior in terms of military strength than the others: the Samurai were no super duper warriors but at the same time the Ming didn't "stomped" the Japanese armies at all.
Good YT recommendation here. Metatron always brings it. As the Chinese knew what mail armour was, the choice to use lamellar armour is a curious one. It seems to me that lammellar armour would be heavier and less flexible and less effective than even butted mail. Your explanation of why Chinese never widely adopted plate armour is interesting.
On an individual basis japanese armour seem superior at least in the later stages, but it makes sense due to how the chinese typically had to field larger armies of mass levies so the performance of individual pieces of armour likely had more importance in japanese armies.
Though we are missing a pretty important part in the comparison, what about the shields used?
And BRIGANDINE!!!!!
They used rattan shields and tall wooden shields with dragons painted on them. Some of them had holes to which a gun barrel could be stuck through
most of samurai used a bow, so they didn't a hand-carry shield a lot. Also their large shoulder armor replaced a shield.
In the later stages, they used a placed shield to prevent guns.
Very nice drawings! Consider me impressed.