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.
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
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...)