Subject: cavalry

Culture: Khitan

Setting: Liao empire, Machuria-Mongolia 10-11thc

Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)

Costume

* Greer p89-91 (describing a Khitan [Liao] Cavalryman)

"Although equipped with lacquered leather band armor, these cavalrymen operated as skirmishers. Armed with bows, javelins and swords, they lacked horse armor, most of the personal armor, and the halberd of their heavier counterparts.

"Nobles had a dress code that distinguished peerage. Only the highest nobles wore sable, with a purplish-black sheen being preferred over a plain black one. Ermine followed, with sheep, and mole furs being utilized by the lower classes. Khitan (Liao) officials wore a tunic (kalat) of dark green, fastened by buttons to their left."

* Peers/Perry 1996 p47 (reconstructing a Khitan ordo cavalryman)

"The famous Wen Ch'i scroll depicts a party of these 'barbarians' in the act of looting a Chinese house. It is thought that the scroll is based on an original of the Sung period, and that the models for the figures were Khitan warriors. This man has removed his helmet, showing the soft cap worn underneath. ...

"This source shows coats in various shades of brown, and trousers as brown or blue. ... They arranged their hair in a pig-tail and, like the later Manchus, imposed this style on their Chinese subjects as a sign of submission. Guards at the Kin court are said to have worn red or blue cuirasses, probably of lacquered leather."

Sword

* Peers/Perry 1996 p

Ornaments

* Kimbell Art Museum > Passport to Asia

"Hailing from Inner Mongolia, the Liao dynasty took control of the northern part of the Chinese territory in the early tenth century and eventually conquered the steppes. From an artistic perspective, the Liao were strongly influenced by the Tang carving of jade ornaments for secular use."