Shields of China's peripherals and Sinosphere

With few exceptions, the development of shields in China's peripherals and East Asian cultural sphere closely mirrored that of China, although they often lagged slightly behind the latest development or trend in China.

Goguryeo Kingdom (contemporary to Sixteen Kingdoms period)

(Section of a mural found in Anak Tomb No. 3, depicting several Former Yan or Goguryian troopers carrying shields reminiscent of the "squashed adarga" of Eastern Han period, as well as the hexagonal long shield of Southern Dynasties period.)

Although history of the Goguryeo Kingdom stretches much longer, Goguryeo shield design before, and after, fourth century CE is not very well recorded.  Nevertheless, it is believed that Goguryeo military equipment closely mirrored the development in China.

Great Jin (contemporary to Song Dynasty)

(Jin period brick relief depicting several children play-fighting. One of the children is holding a round cavalry shield.)

The Great Jin (大金), also known as Jin Dynasty (金朝) but not to be confused with another Jin Dynasty (晉朝) hardly qualify as China's "peripherals" as it was actually the dominant power in China compared to the weaker Song Dynasty. Jurchen warriors were known to use shields (recorded by Japanese during Toi Invasion), although very little is known about Jurchen shield design.

Dali Kingdom (contemporary to Song Dynasty)

(Section of the painted scroll 'Da Li Guo Miao Gong Zhang Sheng Wen Hua Fan Xiang [《大理國描工張勝溫畫梵像》]', depicting several Dali warriors, one of them holding an ornate great shield.)

Dali Kingdom (937 AD – 1253 AD) was a kingdom located at present-day Yunnan. As a contemporary of Song Dynasty, Dali Kingdom also favoured large infantry shield, although Dali shield was quite unlike anything used by Song Chinese.

Joseon Dynasty (contemporary to Ming and Qing Dynasty)

(Drawing of a jangbangpae [장방패 or 長防牌] on top of a wonbangpae (원방패 or 圓防牌), from 'Gukjosogoryeui Seorye [《국조오례의서례》 or 《國朝五禮儀》]'.)

Joseon shield design received very strong influence from Chinese shield, to the point that they were nearly indistinguishable from each other. Like Ming Dynasty, early Joseon shields were also made of wood, reinforced with leather facings and iron rims. Due to the close tie between Goryeo Dynasty (predecessor of Joseon Dynasty) and Yuan Dynasty, Koreans continued to use Yuan-style naming convention for many of their military equipment well after the establishment of Ming Dynasty. In fact, bangpae (방패) is simply the Korean pronunciation of Fang Pai (防牌).

(Korean rattan shield, or Deungpae [등패 or 藤牌] differs from its Chinese counterpart by the presence of a small zoomorphic shield boss at the centre of the shield)

During the interbellum of Imjin War, Joseon army underwent a reform modelled after the army of Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光) under the suggestion and supervision of Ming general Luo Shang Zhi (駱尚志), and Chinese rattan shield was adopted by the Koreans through this reform.

(A late Joseon period processional shield that is virtually identical to Ming Dynasty swallowtail shield.)

Vietnam (contemporary to Ming and Qing Dynasty)

Although Vietnamese people managed to shake off Ming domination in a very short time, Chinese influence (in particular, Qing Dynasty) on Vietnamese military equipment can still be strongly felt. Nevertheless, Vietnamese shields were not simply carbon copies of Chinese designs, and displayed Southeast Asian elements as well as features unique to themselves.

(Two Vietnamese oblong shields, one made of wood and another of rattan.)

Vietnamese warriors continued to use oblong- or oval-shaped shields well into eighteenth century (and possibly later), preferring it over other designs. They also continued to use lacquered shield even though Chinese had largely switched over to tung oil. Vietnamese oblong shield also featured a horizontal grip (similar to Roman scutum and Celtic shield) made of carved wood, a design not found on Chinese shield.

(A nineteenth century Vietnamese rattan shield, or Đằng-Bài. Source: Mandarin Mansion)

Given that rattan is quite common in Southeast Asia (in fact, the name rattan is derived from Malay word rotan), it is not surprising that Vietnamese warriors also used rattan shields. Vietnamese rattan shield came with several grip configurations, from Chinese-style rattan loops and handle bar to carved wooden grip, as well as combination of the two.

(Lacquered wooden shield used by the hill tribes of Vietnam. Source: Joe Loux Asian & Tribal Art)

Not all Vietnamese shields were influenced by Chinese though. The hill tribes of Vietnam had their own shield design. Vietnamese hill tribe shield was a medium-sized, slight convex round shield made of lacquered wood. It also had a very unique grip made of wood and rattan.

(Early twentieth century photo of imperial offering ritual performed at Nam Giao altar, showing Nguyễn Dynasty guards with ceremonial shields reminiscent of Chinese design.)

Ethnic minorities of China (contemporary to Qing Dynasty)

While China has many ethnic minorities, each with their own rich history, knowledge on their shield designs is surprisingly scarce. Try as I might, I can only find a little information on two types of ethnic minority shields, which will be covered below:

(A page from Qing period 'Man Miao Tu Shuo [《蠻苗圖說》]', depicting several Jiu Gu Miao tiger hunters approaching their prey.)

Jiu Gu Miao (九鼓苗 or 九股苗) was a Qing period designation of nine Miao tribes living in present-day Taijiang County, although nearly all of them had since assimilated or merged into other Miao tribes and became lost. 

Jiu Gu Miao shield was made of wood, although whether it was joined from several planks of carved out of a single piece of wood is not known. It was trapezoid or rectangular in shape, and could have a sloped, strong concave, or flat with rolled sides surface. Two cords installed at the centre of the shield served as its grip.

(Round shield of the Yi people. Source: Joe Loux Asian & Tribal Art)

The shield of Yi people (彝族) was made of either lacquered thick hide or wood with lacquered hide facing, and was usually round in shape (although some Yi people shields had irregular round shape). Yi shield had a single cord strap, installed either at the centre of the shield or near its edge, so that it could be strapped to the arm. Some Yi shields also have leather arrow curtains extending from the shield's bottom.

Taiwanese Indigeneous Peoples (contemporary to Qing Dynasty)

(Several examples of the representative shields of Taiwanese indigeneous peoples. From left to right: Paiwan people, Tsou people, Amis people and Tao people.)

In general, the shields of Taiwanese indigeneous people displayed strong tribal features and received few, if any, Chinese influence. The four primary shield-using indigeneous groups of Taiwan were Paiwan people (排灣族), Tsou people (鄒族), Amis people (阿美族) and Tao people (達悟族). 

The Paiwan shield was a type of medium-sized, rectangular, flat or sloped shield made of two wooden boards joined together with rattan. It featured a horizontal wooden grip or a T-shaped grip that consisted of a primary horizontal wood handle and a secondary vertical rattan grip, and sometimes fitted with several rattan guiges. Tsou shield was very similar to Paiwan shield, albeit with different decoration. Unlike Paiwan and Tsou shield, Amis shield was a slender rectangular long shield, sometimes with a slender projection pn top, and was made of a single piece of wood. It featured a vertical wooden grip. The Tao shield was the most primitive (but also the largest) of the four, made of multiple wooden sticks tied together, almost like a handheld wooden fence. A thicker wooden rod at the centre of the shield served as its grip.

Tibet (contemporary to Qing Dynasty)

(A Tibetan shield currently in the possession of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

Tibetan shield design was heavily influenced by the Mongols due to being ruled by two Oirat Khanates (Khoshut and then Dzungar) for nearly a century before its incorporation into Qing empire. Tibetan shield was a centre-gripped, medium sized round shield, and came in flat and heavily domed (concave) variety. It was made of willow cane like many shields from North China, although unlike Chinese shield it was often heavily reinforced with metal attachments and had a metal shield boss.

Kamakura to Edo period Japan (contemporary to Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty)

 (Section of the painted scroll 'Kasuga gongen genki-e [《春日権現験記絵》]', depicting several tate shields.)

In general, Japanese warriors strongly favoured rectangular flat shield, before and throughout samurai era. Most Japanese shields, or tate (たて or 盾), were relatively simple, free-standing pavises made of two or more wooden panels joined together with nails. They did not appear to feature any kind of wood finishing, leather facing or metal boss reinforcement, and were only minimally decorated with the kamon/family crest of a feudal lord. Iron version of tate was sometimes used in siege.

Although much rarer, Japanese warriors also used several types of handheld shields, known as jidate (持楯) or tedate (手楯).

For a more comprehensive overview on Japanese shield, here's an article from Gunbai blog.

Ryūkyū Kingdom (contemporary to Ming and Qing Dynasty)

(A modern Okinawan kobudō practitioner posing with a turtle shell tinbē.)

Ryūkyū Kingdom was an ancient kingdom that ruled present-day Okinawan island. While geographically closer to Japanese archipelago, Ryūkyū Kingdom was a tributary state of China and imitated Chinese court system, thus it had a much more sinicised culture compared to the Japanese. 

Due to its unique position, military equipment of Ryūkyū Kingdom displayed an interesting blend of Chinese and Japanese influence. Ryūkyūan warriors wore Japanese armours, either imported directly from Japan or manufactured locally in imitation of Japanese style, and carried either Japanese swords or ryūkyūtō (琉球刀), a unique Ryūkyūan sword with imported Japanese sword blade modified for one-handed use and fitted with Ryūkyū-made hilt. Likewise, they probably used Japanese shields, in particular the handheld jidate variety, to pair with their one-handed swords. Ryūkyūan archers also used Japanese bows, although they shot much shorter arrows. Both Japanese- (straight narrow spearhead with inserted tang) and Chinese-style (socketed lozenge spearhead, often with tassel) spears, as well as spears of Ryūkyūan origin/style (also socketed), were used by Ryūkyū military. Other Ryūkyūan polearms displayed much stronger Chinese influence, however. 

During the Qing period, frequent contact between Ryūkyū Kingdom and China, especially Fuzhou, eventually led to stronger influence from Southern Chinese civilian self-defense/martial arts weapons (instead of military equipment) on Ryūkyūan armaments. Many weapons found in Ryūkyūan martial arts (now known as Okinawan kobudō), such as tecchu (鉄柱), tekko (鉄甲), sansetsukon (三節棍), suruchin (するちん) and rochin (ロチン), were the result of this relatively recent (as recent as early 20th century) wave of Chinese influence. In fact, the iconic Okinawan shield tinbē (藤牌) was itself an adapted version of Chinese rattan shield. Okinawan tinbē was originally made of rattan and had similar a rattan loop and a wooden handle bar like its Chinese counterpart, although Ryūkyūan people soon developed their own variation of the shield made with turtle shell, and used both strapped and centre-grip configurations.