Difference between revisions 14009871 and 14659273 on enwiki

''Zhijia'' (纸甲), or '''paper armour''' originated during the Tang dynasty. 

It was said that this form of armour was made during the reign of Tang [[Yizong]] (859 – 873 CE). During the [[Song-Hsia Wars]], thirty thousand of this form of armour was made and worn by the besieged archers of the [[Song dynasty]] in the fortress in [[Shanxi]]. It was made from a form of processed paper being one to three inches thick. Under wet conditions such as rain the material would turn even tougher making it a valuable form of defence against arrows and fire.(contracted; show full)

According to the ballistic experiments of US Army Ballistic Center even iron and bronze plates were pierced by arrows of good Asian [[composite bows]]. Only the felt lining allowed the soldier to avoid the serious wound as the arrowheads were stopped only by thick felt plate after being penetrated for 2-5 mm through the iron/bronze scale, while paper armour were able to absorb these shots better than plate armour.