Moro shield

[Nick Wardigo]

I also wanted to mention that the Koreans used similar shields. I'm posting drawings from the recent translation of the Muye Dobo Tongji, the Korean military manual originally commissioned in 1790 by King Jungjo. Six of the fighting systems, including shield fighting, were based on an older Korean manual, the Muye Jebo, published shortly after 1598. This, in turn, was based upon a Ming (Chinese) military manual (I believe the same one that the drawing above comes from; the author's name is similar ["Ch'i Chi-kuang" in the Osprey book; "Chuk Kye-kwang" in the Muye Dobo Tongji]).

My point is, rattan shield-fighting was prevalent in China, Vietnam, and Korea as early as the 16th century (probably much earlier), still widely used in 1790 (at least enough to warrant prominent mention in a Korean military manual), and existed at least until the end of the nineteenth century. There was clearly a sharing of shield-fighting techniques across borders, and I would expect also a sharing of shield-making techniques, if not the shields themselves.

In short, unless someone can describe variations in weaving techniques (and in the absence of distinctive decorative motifs, like the Chinese tiger face), I am increasingly of the opinion that it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to distinguish the rattan shields from China, Vietnam, Korea, and possibly other Asian countries.