"Chinese translation of uniform picture?" Topic

Hi can anyone translate the writing on this picture?
It's a uniform plate of the eight Chinese Banners.
en.bjchp.org/?attachment_id=4900

In short…they just name the brigandine armor of the eight Manchu banners (army).

eg. Top row first left…Main yellow banner brigandine armor.

Edited as I made out another character:

Some of the characters are are a bit too pixelated for my eyes when blown up, but as far as I can make out, the captions read;

八旗 － 8 flags

1/
正黄旗 铠甲：zheng huang qi kai jia. Correct/upright/main- yellow – flag – armour -(another character for) armour: – together the last two characters mean suit of armour.

So I am guessing, 'First yellow flag armoured guys'.

That's the first one. I'll see if I can do a few more. Beats work.

Thanks. I just found this page which explains which uniform matches which banner! So I can match up the pictures now. And yes, it definitely beats work!

link

Ah, the others are the same, but referring to white, blue and red flags.

There are two subdivisions within each colour, 正 （zheng) which I am guessing means first battalion (brigade / regiment / group / whatever) and another one I can't quite make out but － with the help of google – I think is 镶 (xiang, meaning edge), which I am guessing means second battalion etc.

正 is sometimes used for 'main' as in 正门 （main/front door: Apple does a terrible job of the character 门 btw － it should look more like this 们，but without the bit on the left). So I am guessing they are the 'main' and 'supporting' (edge) 'regiments'.

They are labels and not reproductions of actual banners though, as the type is in simplified Chinese, which was not used before 1950.

白 = white
蓝 ＝ blue (藍 as a traditional character)
红 ＝ red （紅 in traditional)
黄 ＝ yellow (黃 in traditional)

By flags, I am guessing they do not literally mean the flags, but the military group attached to the flag, like a 'banner' may refer to a group of horsemen in medieval Europe.

In this case, 正 is used the the context of "plain", as in a 正 yellow banner is just plain yellow, where as 镶 is used in the context of "frame", so a 镶 yellow banner has a yellow banner with a border.

More info here:

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"镶" can also mean "edged". Also, in this context "正" or "plain" can also mean "primary", while "镶" or "edged" can mean "secondary". If I remember correctly, three of the "plain" / "primary" color banners (I think yellow, white and red, but don't quote me on that) were always lead by the emperor's sons, while the others were lead by other important Manchurian families.

In the picture, top row from left to right are Plain Yellow, Framed Yellow, Plain White and Framed White. The bottom row from left to right are Plain Blue, Framed Blue, Plain Red and Framed Red.

Amendment to the above: Both plain and framed yellow, and also plain white were under the emperor's direct command, while the other five were commanded by members of the royal family.

Good article on Wiki

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Good discussion on China History Forum

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阿！当然。谢谢 pedrobear, taskforce. My reading is improving but I still make many basic mistakes.