280 Chinese Clay Figures 



nances sheltering the nape and the forehead, amounted to one catty and 

 one ounce. The leather straps wound around the head weighed five 

 catties, twelve ounces and a trifle more than a half. Each suit had a 

 weight of forty-nine catties and twelve ounces. The weight of an armor 

 naturally depends upon the weight of the individual wearer; in the army, 

 however, concern about the individual would not be feasible, and would 

 incur heavy expense as well as waste of material. It was therefore 

 thought advisable to reach a compromise, and to standardize the weight 

 of the armor at from forty-five to fifty catties, with the strict under- 

 standing that in no case should it exceed fifty catties. 1 



In regard to the Mongols, we mentioned the employment of hide and 

 hide scale armor in their armies (pp. 190, 197). There are also accounts 

 to the effect that plate mail was known to them. In the earliest Euro- 

 pean document regarding the Mongols, written by Matthew Paris under 

 date of 1240, giving the first description of this new people, they are 

 described as "men dressed in ox-hides, armed with plates of iron, . . . 

 their backs unprotected, their breasts covered with armor;" their 

 backs remained unprotected so that they could not flee. 2 William 

 of Rubruck, travelling from 1253 to 1255, makes us acquainted with 

 sundry types of armor in use among the Mongols, — the haubergeon 

 (chain mail), scale hide armor, and iron plate armor, the iron plates 

 being introduced from Persia. 3 But the Franciscan Friar John of 

 Pian de Carpine (or Latinized, Piano Carpini), who travelled to the 

 Court of Kuyuk Khan (1245-47) as ambassador of Pope Innocent IV, 

 is that mediaeval writer who has left to us the clearest and most 

 complete description of Mongol plate armor. At the same time he is 

 the first European author to give any description of Eastern plate 

 armor at all. In his "Libellus historicus" (Cap. XVII) 4 he describes 

 the defensive armor of the Mongols, and states that the upper part of 

 their helmet is of iron or steel, while the portion guarding the neck and 

 throat is of leather. Whereas the majority wear leather armor, some 

 have their harness completely wrought from iron, which is made in the 

 following manner. They beat out in large numbers thin iron laminae 

 a finger broad and a full hand long. In each they bore eight small 

 apertures, through which they pull three straight leather thongs. 

 Thereupon they arrange these laminae or plates one above another, as 



1 See Sung shi, Ch. 197, p. 6. 



2 W. W. Rockhill, The Journey of William of Rubruck, p. xv (London, 1900). 



3 Ibid., p. 261. He mentions also iron caps from Persia. 



4 In the new edition of G. Pulle, pp. 86-88 (Studi italiani difilologia indo-iranica, 

 Vol. IX, Firenze, 1913). C. R. Beazley, The Texts and Versions of John de Piano 

 Carpini, pp. 89, 124 (London, 1903, Hakluyt Society). 



