How PAPER ARMOR Beat BULLETS #china #chinesehistory #chinesehistory #warfarehistory #ancienthistory

How China created a paper armor that could block bullets. Sources: Consul Bedloe (US envoy to China) “Paper and cotton cloth in the south of China. It seems ridiculous to call such combinations armor, and yet they make an armor superior in many instances to steel. Thirty thicknesses of alternate calico and paper will resist a pistol bullet or one from a rile at a distance of a hundred yards. A spearman who thrusts his weapon into a man clad in this kind of garment can neither wound his enemy nor extract his weapon, and if his enemy is an archer or is armed with a long sword or javelin, he is likely to lose his life for his mischance. The suit of a famous Yiinnan bandit consisted of sixty thicknesses of cotton cloth and paper, and made him practically invulnerable. These suits are comparatively light, are very durable, and of course, extremely cheap.” ---------------- Source Mao Yuanyi (Chinese Naval commander) “The best choice for foot soldiers is paper armour [“where foot soldiers [...] cannot take heavy loads on their backs when travelling swiftly. If the ground is wet or there is rain, iron armour easily rusts and becomes useless.”], mixed with a variety of silk and cloth. If both paper and cloth are thin, even arrows can pierce them, not to say bullets; the armour should, therefore, be lined with cotton, one inch thick, fully pleated, at knee length. It would be inconvenient to use in muddy ields if too long and cannot cover the body if too short.” -------------------- Source: Peter Dekker “The earliest references to paper armor appear to date from the Tang dynasty, which lasted from 618 to 907 BCE. During the latter part of this dynasty a certain Shang Suiding is credited with the invetion of paper armor that was initially only used by civilians in times of peril. 1 Later yet in the Tang we ind an account on governor Xi Shang (847–94) of the city of He-Dong who kept an army of one thousand soldiers at the ready who were equipped with suits of pleated paper armor. It is of special interest that this armor was described as being able to withstand heavy arrows. “[...] Soft materials yield and neutralize much of the impact energy before they start taking damage. In tests per- formed with replicas of historical armor-piercing arrowheads, a mixed steel plate was easily pierced while softer targets such as a pillow were impossible to penetrate.”