Defensive Armor of the Han Period 



209 



word han (p. 1 75) was now likewise connected with the classifier "metal " 

 (No. 3816); and an entirely new word ye (No. 12,996), composed of the 

 phonetic element ye ("leaf") and the same classifier, springs up to 

 denote a new contrivance in the structure of protective armor, — a 

 metal lamina (literally "metal leaf"). These facts combined go to 

 prove that far-reaching innovations had set in after the close of the 



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Chou dynasty, and that the Han period must have revolutionized the 

 entire method and technics of armature. Cheng K'ang-ch'eng, the 

 famous commentator of the Chou li, who lived in the second century 

 a.d., says anent the armorers of the Chou time 1 that the ancients em- 

 ployed hide in the manufacture of corselets {kid) , but that now (in the 

 author's time) metal (kin) was utilized for the same purpose, and that 

 this product is designated k'ai. Of what metal was this new armor 

 made? And what type of armor was represented by it? The most 

 interesting contribution to this question is made by Chung Ch'ang-t'ung, 



1 Biot, Chou li, Vol. II, p. 152. 



