Since ancient times, in the art of war, it has been very taboo to "kill a thousand enemies, self-inflicted eight hundred", in order to effectively protect their own combat forces, China in ancient times attached great importance to the development of individual protective equipment. Since the era of cold weapons, China has used the saying of "soldiers with armor" to measure the strength of the country, so the quality of armor has become one of the important measures of the strength of the army's combat effectiveness.
Spectators who have visited the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Xi'an Qin Shi Huang will find that the Terracotta Warriors are all armored soldiers wearing neat leather scales. Those who have visited the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are all shocked by their strict military formation, on the other hand, such a large number of soldiers also reflects the qin dynasty's strong national strength and superb metallurgical technology. It can be considered that the Qin Dynasty can destroy the Six Kingdoms and unify the world, in addition to the excellent command of the generals, it is inseparable from the sophistication of its equipment. When fighting with the other six countries, it was completely one-sided crushing - the enemy's sword could not be strengthened, so it provided an effective guarantee for the combat effectiveness of the Qin soldiers.
After the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty still basically followed the Qin Dynasty's armor design, but because of the popularity of iron, the material of the armor was mostly iron, that is, iron scale armor, also known as Xuan Jia. There are also a small number of fish scale armor and lock armor used by senior generals. After the Han Dynasty, because of the opening of the Silk Road, Chinese and Western cultures were exchanged, so the Western armor style was introduced to China, which influenced the design of armor during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The picture below shows the appearance of Li Tianwang in the Dunhuang murals. It is not difficult to see in the mural that the armor worn by Li Tianwang has evolved into a bright armor that protects important organs. The design idea of the Mingguang armor is very similar to the armor design of the ancient Greek region to provide protection for important organs.
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the style of armor gradually diversified, and the development of Mingguang armor, embellished scale armor, mountain armor, black hammer armor and other thirteen different uses of armor, according to the different uses and design and equipment of different armor, which also on the other hand set off the strength of the Tang Dynasty's national strength. Later, by the time of the Song Dynasty, China's armor design officially entered the peak period. The economic development of the Song Dynasty also accelerated the pace of development of military equipment, and the design of armor was also more elaborate. On the basis of inheriting the armor design of the Tang Dynasty Mingguang armor and other armor, the song dynasty armor optimized the structure to make it more protective and more convenient to wear.
Since the Song Dynasty, China's armor has gradually stagnated, because the Yuan Dynasty's cold eyes on heavy armor, the decline of the Ming Dynasty's national strength have led to the initial decline of the armor, until the Republic of China, the advent of the era of hot weapons, bulky armor no longer adapts to the new battlefield environment and withdraws from the historical stage, and it is replaced by multi-functional individual soldiers born under modern industry. (Blade/Cloud-piercing Eagle)