Armor
Tangni Kai 唐猊鎧
About this item
The Tangni Kai is the armor Lü Bu wears in the Romance. In Chapter 3 of the Romance, when Ding Yuan leads his troops out to challenge Dong Zhuo, Lü Bu, who comes out before the lines with Ding Yuan, wears a hair-binding golden crown on his head, a hundred-flower battle robe, Tangni armor and a jeweled lion-and-barbarian belt, and levels his halberd before charging straight at Dong Zhuo. Romance, Ch. 3 §34–35
The Romance mentions the Tangni Kai once, in Chapter 3. In Chapter 5, Lü Bu, facing Wang Kuang, the Administrator of Henei, is depicted wearing linked armor carved with a beast's face, so the armor has a different name. The Tangni Kai appears neither in Chen Shou's text nor in Pei Songzhi's commentary. Chen Shou's biography of Lü Bu says only that Dong Zhuo, having entered the capital, enticed Lü Bu in order to kill Ding Yuan and absorb his troops, and that Lü Bu cut off Ding Yuan's head and went over to Dong Zhuo. Romance, Ch. 3 §35Romance, Ch. 5 §43Records, Wei 7 §2–3
In the Romance
In Chapter 3 of the Romance, at a banquet in the Wenming Garden, Dong Zhuo announces that he will depose the emperor and set up the Prince of Chenliu, and Ding Yuan, Inspector of Jing Province, rebukes him. At this time Lü Bu stood behind Ding Yuan with the Fangtian Huaji in hand and angry eyes. The next day, when Ding Yuan leads his troops outside the city to challenge him, Dong Zhuo too leads his troops out to meet him. Romance, Ch. 3 §28–31 · 34
When the two lines face each other, Lü Bu, dressed in a hair-binding golden crown, a hundred-flower battle robe, Tangni armor and a jeweled lion-and-barbarian belt, spurs his horse, levels his halberd and comes out following Ding Yuan. As Ding Yuan rebukes Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu charges in at full gallop, Dong Zhuo flees in panic and his army, badly defeated, falls back more than thirty li. When Dong Zhuo wants to win Lü Bu over, Li Su, from the same home district, offers to entice him with the Red Hare, gold and pearls, and Lü Bu, persuaded by Li Su, kills Ding Yuan at night and goes to Dong Zhuo carrying his head. Romance, Ch. 3 §35–37 · 46–47
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Ownership history
| Owner | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lü Bu | 189~ | Romance 「擐唐猊鎧甲，系獅蠻寶帶，縱馬挺戟」 |
Ownership is checked against the source texts (3KDEX) — each entry rests on the passage where the item changes hands. Owners not in the People index are not shown.