from now on i will never say the Chinese Ming dynasty armour is frumpy。。。。XD
it's so funy! ....and...a little cool

There are Chinese armed police mobile troop soldiers with brigandine and extra armour on southeast coast in middle of 16th century..

Well, you don't see that every day. It looks awfully imbalanced with all the armor on the left side, and I cannot see the wisdom in leaving the defense of the empire in the hands of men armed with small trees. :p

What is the context for those illustrations? Could someone translate the text?

Is it bulletproof?

If it's meant to stop musket shots, it would be thick, and that might make it worthwhile only covering the side facing the enemy.

But what is the context? Does this image come from a contemporary writer or is it a guess by someone from a later period? If it was European I might ask whether it was a primary source or a Victorian source.

I'm not certain what the exact context is. However, every Chinese person I have shown it to says that the writing is very old, (one person compared it to Shakespearian English), which suggests that the original may well have been written in the Ming Dynasty. But whether it is originally from there, or a later copy of an earlier text, I cannot say. Similarly, what the text's purpose was, and why it was written, is unknown to me.

Taking a risk here with Wikipedia but they have this picture


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo

About half way down


Which looks a lot like the armour in question


Cheers mat.

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Also, where is the evidence for Chinese leather armour that was covered with ceramic particles? How is this coating supposed to have any effect on its protective capacity?

By the way, I have a translation for the top right image that comes from someone who teaches Chinese literature:

"A set of armor is equipped at the left side. In case of inconvenient situations such as climbing mountains, crossing water or riding horses, the part of armor below the belt can be lifted and hitched with a hook; in this way, one can move freely and easily."

The addition powdered glass and other hard materials to leather armor was known in Europe and the Middle East as well. See the following thread on Armour Archive, relevant excerpts given below.
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewto...p;t=131492

Ashmole 1389, p.36

Quote:

For to make a doblet of fensce: Take lether that ys half tannyd and drye hym, and schave the flesshe syd; and take glwe wt water, and set yt over the fyere, and melte yt wt water, and then al hote ly yt a pone the leder on the flesshe syde, and strawe ther on the powder of glasce bete yn a brasene morter wt fylyne of yrene y mellyd to geder; and then laye a nother pece of the same lether flesshe seyde to flesshe, and nayle hym to the scylde and lete hyme drye, and ther nother sper nother ege tole enter ther ynne.

That is,
How to make a doublet of defense
Take leather that is half-tanned and dry it, and shave the flesh side; and take glue with water, and set it over the
fire, and melt it with water, and then when hot lay it upon the leather on the flesh side, and strew thereon the powder of
glass beaten in a brass mortar with filings of iron mixed together; and then lay another piece of the same leather
flesh side to flesh, and nail it to the form and let them dry, and then neither spear nor edged tool will enter therein.

Russ Mitchell wrote:

From Nicolle, David. Jawshan, Cuirie, Coats-of-Plates: An Alternative Line of Development for Hardened Leather Armor, in Compantion to Medieval Arms and Armour, ed. David Nicolle, Boydell Press 2002. There are several recipes, much too long to transcribe here, but I'll transcribe one sample for y'all: [p204] David Nicolle wrote: Al-Tarsusi's instructions for the making of leather shields similarly reflects the high level of leather technology in Egypt at the time, and they also have similarities with the making of the cuirass: Al Tarsusi wrote: Take a clay mould with the dimensions you require for the turs [round shield] or other form [of shield], or better still go to the potter and ask him to make a mould of the sort you require. Cover it with teh skin which you have chosen, lay it long-ways with the 'bowels' and the 'glue' to soak into it, and leave to dry. Do the same sideways with the ground up spleen or with blood. Scatter over it crushed marble through a sieve, leave to dry, and attach it also lengthways and breadth-ways in the same manner as you did the first time. Smear it with the fish glue and the spleen; sieve over it the scrapings of shaburqan ['hard iron' or 'natural steel']; that is to say the iron filings abundantly, leave to dry. Smear with spleen and fish glue, sieve over it pulverized glass and marble abundantly, leave to dry. Replace the fish glue, with plenty of iron filing, as much as will be soaked up, and leave to dry. Again attach lengthways and breadthways, then 'powder' it with wood-dust which you have reduced to ash, and again leave to dry. If you want your shield 'sculptured,' double it [meaning unclear] and do as you would for ceramics [probably indicating that the resulting shield could be shape d much as a potter shaped clay].* If you want it to have a picture, put on it whatever you want.... This shield cannot be penetrated by an arrow or any other device. Dry it well.

Is it bulletproof?

IIRC, Peterson gives an account of the Virginia colonists trying to impress the natives by showing them a leather shield which resisted shot, but after it was pierced by an arrow, the colonists scrambled for a steel targe to have the native "re-do" the test.