The Problem of Plate Armor 281 



it were, ascending by degrees, and tie the plates to the thongs mentioned 

 by means of other small and tender thongs drawn through the apertures. 

 And in the upper part they fasten a single, small thong, doubled on each 

 side, and sew it on to another, that the plates may be well and tightly 

 connected. Thus a uniform protection is effected by these plates, and 

 such-like armor is made for their horses as well as for their men. It is 

 so highly polished that a man may mirror his face in it. In regard to 

 shields, Carpini observes that they have them made of wickerware or 

 small rods (de viminibus vel de virgulis factum) , but that they carry 

 them only in camp and when on guard over the emperor and the 

 princes, and then only at night. The armament of the Mongols was 

 not uniform; and this complex and expensive structure of plate armor 

 was probably within the reach of but few. Their ordinary armor was 

 a cuirass of boiled-leather scales. According to Carpini, the leather 

 was that obtained from an ox or some other animal ; and the scales were 

 a hand broad. 1 Three or four of these were held together by means of 

 pitch, and connected with one another by means of cords. In double or 

 triple rows they were laid around the trunk. The complete set of 

 armature consisted of four parts, — the front piece, reaching from the 

 neck down to the lower part of the thighs, and well adapted to the form 

 of the body; the back protector, and an apron encompassing the back 

 and abdomen; and the brassards and cuishes. The back of the upper 

 arm was guarded by two iron plates hinged together. 



The plate idea has remained the basic principle of the officially 

 recognized body armor down to the end of the eighteenth century. 

 The changes were those of style and ornamentation only, while no funda- 

 mental innovations were added in the Ming and Manchu periods. The 

 Statutes of the Ming Dynasty (Ta Ming hui tien) contain the following 

 regulations relative to plate armor: "In 1374 it was ordered that in- 

 stead of the threads, by means of which the armor-plates were held 

 together, leather thongs should be used. In 1376 the General Staff was 

 ordered to make war-suits of cotton (mien hua chan i) , and to apply to 

 them four colors, — red, purple, dark blue, and yellow; for Kiang-si and 

 other places, to make war-coats with different colors on the exterior and 

 interior, and to cause the officers and petty officers to change their 

 uniforms accordingly. In 1383 orders were given for harness, each set 

 to be made as follows: for the colletin (neck-guard) thirty plates, for 

 the body armor two hundred and nine plates, for the plastron (breast- 

 plate) seventeen plates, for the pauldron (epauliere) 2 twenty plates. 



1 Pulle's complete text is followed here; this portion is lacking in the former 

 editions of Carpini. 



2 In Chinese, "arm-pit plates" (chi wo ye). 



