III. DEFENSIVE ARMOR OF THE HAN PERIOD 



"Your servant understands that, according to the clas- 

 sics, the perfection of government consists in preventing 

 insurrectionary troubles, and the highest point of military 

 art is to avoid the occasion of war." 



Yang Hiung in Ts'ien Han shu. 



The sculpture of the Han period unfortunately furnishes no decisive 

 contribution to the question of body armor. While possibly the artists 

 may have intended in some cases to represent armor, as perhaps in some 

 of the fighting horsemen, the stone work does not minutely indicate 

 texture, and the material is such that no positive inferences can be 

 drawn from it. 1 The only piece of defensive armor that is clearly enough 

 outlined on these monuments is the shield or buckler, usually handled in 

 connection with a sword. It is oblong and rectangular in shape with a 

 convex curvature in the centre, causing a hollow on the inner side where 

 the wearer's hand finds its place, and is notched in the middle of the 

 upper and lower ends (Fig. 25). It is a parrying shield easily movable, 

 and sufficient to protect the left arm and to ward off blows struck at it. 2 



It is notable that many soldiers represented on the Han monuments 

 carry their shields also in their right hands, while manipulating the 

 swords in their left; I presume that the fighters, when wearied out, 

 sought relief in this manner by changing weapons from one hand to 

 the other. In Fig. 25 a left-handed, and in Fig. 26 two right-handed 

 shield-bearers have been selected. The same shield is employed also by 

 soldiers fighting from war-chariots. 



Another form of shield is much larger, more convex, almost roof- 

 shaped, decorated with what appears like a tree design, and capable of 

 hiding a man's face and the upper part of his trunk (Fig. 27). 3 



1 The difficulty of studying from the bas-reliefs the costume and the ornaments 

 displayed on it, is acknowledged also by M. Chavannes in his recent work Mission 

 arch£ologique dans la Chine septentrionale, Vol. I, part 1 : La sculpture a l'epoque 

 des Han, p. 39 (Paris, 1913). On a stone of the Hiao-t'ang-shan, M. Chavannes 

 (p. 82) has correctly recognized some warriors clad with cuirasses; but hardly any other 

 conclusion than that it is in general the question of hide armor can be drawn from 

 these representations. These warriors are barbarians styled Hu, and in all probability 

 Huns (Hiung-nu, who are frequently termed also Hu). We shall come back to this 

 monument below in speaking of the tactics of the Huns. 



2 See, for example, Chavannes, Mission, Nos. 131, 136. 



3 Ibid., No. 190. Chavannes (La sculpture a l'epoque des Han, p. 251) states 

 that this buckler is of rattan, doubtless for the reason that there are still rattan shields 

 in China; but these are always circular, almost half-spheroidal, and plaited in basketry 

 style. The present specimen is a rectangle, and exhibits no characteristic features of 



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