Work in Progress

Project of Song Dynasty

Posted by rayloryan on 06 Apr 2019, 02:44

Besides Ming , Song Dynasty(960—1279) is also one of my favorite historical period. In traditional historical point of view, Song was always treated as a Dynasty that was weak in Military but strong in economy. The Song court always paid money for keeping peace with States of Liao and Jin. The north Song was even perished by the invasion of Jin. The South Song survived. It fought against with Jin, and then resisted the Mongolian for nearly half a century.
Bravely fighting the final battle with the Mongolian fleet at Ya Shan, the prime minister Lu xiu fu held the young emperor onto his back and jumped into the sea. So did all the Royal house.More than 100,000 civilians and soldiers also jumped into the sea to follow their fallen empire. No one surrendered. Song finally fell.
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Another prime minister Wen tian xiang was captured by the Mongolian and send to Da du (now Beijing). He never gave up his loyalty and before his execution, he told the executioner “ All my things are done now” and knelt to the South (where the South Song Dynasty located), accepting his death.
During its over 300 years reign , Song was the only Dynasty that was NOT perished by internal rebellion but fell in the hand of foreign invasion.
Since Song was surrounded by the nomad people, it was lack of good horses. Developing the heavy infantry was the way to fight against the cavalry. The armor they wore was called" Bu Ren Jia (Footmen's Armor). it had around 1825 scales and weighted near 50KG. Later the weight altered: for spear man 32-35KG; for archers 28-33KG; for the bolt man 22-27KG
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Here is my first attempt of the heavy infantry spear man, inspired by my friend Dominic( he is a fan of Chinese history, rare among western people...)
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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by MABO on 06 Apr 2019, 13:21

This going to be another dashing project, I am sure! :shock:
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MABO  Europe
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Posted by huib on 06 Apr 2019, 16:46

Unbelievably good!
And you are right. Few Western people know much about Chinese history. Me neither.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by dombom on 07 Apr 2019, 10:16

Hey bro,
You did a great job as always. I feel honored to be your inspiration for that project.
Can't wait to get the first of these little guys and paint them. I plan to make a diorama with them and the song cavalry (italeri). I hope we can also inspire other people, Chinese and Westerners, to join in and maybe even add more content. Let's resurrect the Song dynasty to its previous glory and achievements and lets make the heavy infantry famous again.
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Posted by rayloryan on 08 Apr 2019, 16:19

Another two soldiers joined the army.
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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by Durruti on 12 Apr 2019, 20:20

Oh yes! Fantastic! Rayloryan, I'm really looking forward to this project as the Song Dynasty in the 13th century wars against the Mongols and others is one of my favourite subjects. However as mentioned by others (including PSR), I've struggled to find a complete picture of their appearence, organisation, tactics etc. in the West (although it did briefly figure in the pop-culture Netflix TV series "Marco Polo" that was axed). I have the Italeri Chinese cavalry and was planning to convert some of the Caesar Ming infantry into Song period troops.

In another thread, Lirui recommended a PC game mod covering 13th century China for Medieval Total War 2 called ""Shaoding: The Road to Luoyang" 绍定入洛 - I don't know if you've seen that? From what I can tell, for game purposes, it divides the Song into the following 4 forces:

Song Imperial Court
Liang Huai or Huai River region
JingHu region
Xichuan region

Each region reflects subtle differences in army composition and armour types.

The imperial guard and regular forces have armour – light, medium and heavy and different unit types – long spears, short spears and shield, halberds, sword and shield, Zhan-Ma-Dao ( 2-handed "Horse-Chopping Sword"), archers, crossbows and firelance infantry.

Provincial militia conscripts in each region have similar unit types but wear no or little armour.

Cavalry reflects the same but was supposedly relatively poor. Artillery has the Chinese advances in catapults, bolt-throwers and incendiary weapons.

Rayloryan, Grateful for your thoughts about that? Thank you!
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Posted by rayloryan on 15 Apr 2019, 15:35

Two new recruits.

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5 men team
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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by rayloryan on 15 Apr 2019, 15:49

Durruti wrote: I'm really looking forward to this project as the Song Dynasty in the 13th century wars against the Mongols and others is one of my favourite subjects.


Good to know someone who is also interested in the same historical time period. Here i Post some Song Armor references. You may have better idea.

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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by Hellboy on 15 Apr 2019, 19:14

I am absolutely speechless! :shock: Your characters are just fantastic. :yeah: Real works of art !!!
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Hellboy  Germany
 
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Posted by rayloryan on 24 May 2019, 16:36

The casting was done and i painted one. looks good , wish i had more time for painting
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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by rayloryan on 02 Jun 2019, 16:27

more poses
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Song heavy armed spear man Vs. Ming Sword and shield team
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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by AgaPablo on 03 Jun 2019, 17:59

Masterly done! Congratulations! :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:
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AgaPablo  Spain
 
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Posted by Graeme on 03 Jun 2019, 18:27

50 Kilos of armour. :shock: A line of those infantrymen would be nearly as immovable as The Great Wall.

The figures look great and they are beautifully painted. :yeah:
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Graeme  Australia
 
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Posted by Beano Boy on 04 Jun 2019, 01:49

Fantastic looking animated poses. A vast battle display of mass formations would certainly have the Wow, factor. Well done on your journey of artistic endeavours thus far. :thumbup:

It is such a shame that lots of your pictures no longer remain in place upon this topic. I for one missed seeing them when they were first place on full view. However carry on posting so we can see what else develops next.

Greetings from the ever green gardens of Fiddle Wood, United Kingdom. BB
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Posted by huib on 05 Jun 2019, 18:00

Extremely beautiful!
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Posted by Peter on 06 Jun 2019, 15:26

Stunning! :shock: :thumbup:
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Posted by KenzoSato on 10 Jun 2019, 22:25

fantastic
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Posted by rayloryan on 15 Jun 2019, 16:17

newly painted, the more the merrier. hope some day my formation will be done
the one that poling the boat :P
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thrusting
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Line formation
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================================================
and here is today's special, Song civil life. The paint was drawn by famous North Song emperor Song Hui Zong( Hui zong emperor of Song). He was very talented at arts but not at administration of a big emperor. Jin invaded Song during his later reign. the emperor and his royal house were all captured by Jin so Norh Song was fallen.
The paint is called Ting Qin tu( Listening to the playing of Guqin, Guqin is an traditional music instrument of China, mainly played by the high classes). In this paint the main character ( it was said it is the emperor himself) was playing the Guqin, wearing a dark robe. The listeners are intoxicated by the beautiful music. The four figures are depicted vividly and lively, each with a unique style.
This replica diorama was done by a friend of mine who loves Song arts.
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rayloryan  China
 
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Posted by Ben90 on 15 Jun 2019, 17:18

Fantastic work! Those battle formations look very cool. Mybe the figs are a bit too glossy for my taste, but nicely painted, though...
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Ben90  Germany
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Posted by huib on 17 Jun 2019, 17:15

Beautifully painted figures. And the little diorama is also very nice. Very silent compared to the rumour of battle.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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