History

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During the Warring States era in China, most armor was made of leather or bronze, or a combination of both. The metal that was used most for military purposes was bronze. Wrought iron (pure iron) began to appear in the 5th century BC, but did not begin to replace bronze until the 2nd century BC. Most infantrymen wore lamellar or coat of plates cuirasses. The lamellar cuirass worn by these men was made of hundreds of small overlapping metal and/or leather plates laced together to make a flexible

Chinese Door Knock

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Qin Shi Huang (The First Emperor)

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Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE – 210 BCE), personal name Zhao Zheng, was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BCE to 221 BCE during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BCE. He ruled until his death in 210 BCE at the age of 50. Qin Shi Huang remains a controversial figure in Chinese history. After unifying China, he and his chief adviser Li Si passed a series of major economic and political reforms. He undertook gigantic projects, including the first v

Silk

absurdzen

Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China, possibly as early as 6000 BCE and definitely by 3000 BCE. Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Lei Zu (Hsi-Ling-Shih, Lei-Tzu). The writings of Confucius recount that a silk worm's cocoon fell into the tea cup of the empress Lei Zu. Wishing to extract it from her drink, the young girl of fourteen began to unroll the thread of the cocoon. She then had the idea to weave it. Having observed the life of the silk worm on the r

Ninja

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In the history of Japan, a ninja was someone specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These included assassination, espionage, and other martial arts. Although their exact origins are still unknown, with some historians speculating about Chinese origin or influence, it is known that they appeared in 14th century feudal Japan, and remained active from the Kamakura to the Edo period. Their roles may have included sabotage, espionage, scouting and assassination missions as a way to

Samurai

Kiki

Samurai was a term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. The word "samurai" is derived from the archaic Japanese verb "samorau," changed to "saburau," meaning "to serve"; thus, a "samurai" is a servant, i.e. the servant of a lord. It is believed warriors and foot-soldiers in the sixth century may have formed a proto-samurai. Following a disastrous military engagement with Tang China and Silla, Japan underwent widespread reforms. One of the most important was that of the Taika Ref

Shogun

Kiki

Shogun is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The modern rank is equivalent to a General. As a title, it was the governing individual at various times in the history of Japan, ending when Tokugawa Yoshinobu relinquished the office to Emperor Meiji in 1867. A shogun's office or administration is known in English as a "shogunate" or in Japanese as a bakufu, the latter of which literally means "an office in the tent", and originally meant "the house of a general". The tent is symbolic

Daimyo

Kiki

The daimyo were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the 19th century in Japan. The term "daimyo" literally means "great name." From the shugo of the Muromachi period through the sengoku to the daimyo of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The term "daimyo" is also sometimes used to refer to the leading figures of such clans, also called "lord". It was usually, though not exclusively, from these warlords that a shogun arose or a regent was chosen. The d

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