Defensive Armor of the T'ang Period 303 



pure iron mixed with one catty of steel are required, and that a skin 

 cut in five layers, to the weight of two catties, is laid around this founda- 

 tion. 1 The term ni k'uei is not interpreted in this passage; but this 

 word ni occurs only in the combination suan-ni, designating the lion. 

 We noticed above (p. 276) that Ma Sui of the eighth century fashioned 

 helmets in the shape of lions. A lion-helmet {suan-ni mou) is mentioned 

 as having been in the possession of General Han Shi-chung, who died 

 in 1 15 1. 2 



A similar helmet with the same designation is illustrated also in the 

 Wu pei chi 3 (Fig. 49) ; and the descriptive text there given is identical 

 with that of T l u shu tsi ch'eng; nevertheless the illustration of the latter 

 is not derived in this case from that book, as the knob of the helmet 

 and the number of plate-rows in the attached coif of the helmet are 

 different, being six in the T'u shu, and five in the Wu pei chi. It will be 

 noticed that the triangles on the plates are alternately drawn point 

 upward or downward, and that the T'u shu begins with points down- 

 ward, the other book with points upward: the two sketches must there- 

 fore come from different sources. 



Still more curious is the fact that the Wu pei chi 4 illustrates an armor 

 of a different design under the same name, T'ang ni k'ai (Fig. 50) . While 

 the two drawings agree fairly well in the upper portions, the breast and 

 sleeve coverings, they are considerably at variance in the middle and 

 lower parts, though notwithstanding both evidently represent the same 

 type of armor. The cut of the Wu pei chi is identical with the one 

 figured by Amiot; 5 and the quaint text supplied by him is found there 

 also. It runs thus: "The lion-armor of the T'ang. First, five catties 

 of the ' plant penetrating into the bones' 6 and three catties of radish- 

 seeds are mixed into a pap which is placed in clear water to the quantity 

 of a hundred catties, and boiled till it bubbles two hundred times. The 

 residue is removed, and five scales of the pangolin 7 are added; further, 



1 Several designations for other kinds of helmets are added, and it is further 

 said that in the south also old cotton is used in their making. 



2 Giles, Biographical Dictionary, p. 251. The passage alluded to above is con- 

 tained in the biography of Han Shi-chung in the Annals of the Sung Dynasty (Sung 

 shi, Ch. 364, p. 6 b). A "lion-armor" (shi-tse kia) is mentioned in the Annals of 

 the Yuan Dynasty (Yuan shi, Ch. 79, p. 24 b, K'ien-lung edition). 



8 Ch. 105, p. 6. 



*L. c, p. 15. 



6 L. c, Plate XXVIII. 



8 T'ou ku ts'ao, identified with Mercurialis leiocarpa, an euphorbiaceous plant 

 (G. A. Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica revised from F. Porter Smith's Work , 

 p. 263, Shanghai, 191 1). 



7 Ch'uan shan kia, the scaly ant-eater (Manis tetra dactyla). The word ch'uan 

 is here written with the character ' river ' (No. 2728) instead of No. 2739. This animal 



