The Rattan Shield: When War Dance Becomes Living DNA

Beneath the light glare of Xiamen’s City Museum lies a tiger-painted rattan shield. Its surface—woven from Taiwan’s mountain vines boiled in tung oil—seems to still bear the sword scars from 1661, when its owner blocked the Dutch bullets during Koxinga’s Taiwan campaign. Every groove here is a conversation with ghosts.

The Fujian rattan shield (藤牌 téng pái) defies categorization. Part military tech—its seven-pound frame could float soldiers across rivers or stop 17th-century musket balls—part cultural cipher. Modern metallurgists remain baffled by its alchemy: wild Calamus vines harvested during autumn rains, woven anti-clockwise to mimic dragon scales, then cured in tung oil until the fibers achieved ballistic-grade density. The Dutch colonizers at that time called it “the Devil’s parasol,” watching helplessly as Zheng Chenggong’s troops rolled beneath gunfire like human tumbleweeds, their shields hissing through coastal sands.

However, in Pingtan County, the rattan shield’s afterlife unfolds through unlikely portals. A chef in a restaurant may even plate braised pork belly on shield-shaped ceramic dishes, their edges mimicking the original’s defensive curves. Usually, the locals call this ‘Culinary Formation Tactics’.

Each Spring Festival, Pingtan’s cobblestone alleys tremble under the téng pái cāo war dance. Teenagers in LED-lit armor recreate the Siege of Fort Zeelandia to dubstep remixes of Ming battle horns. The choreography remains lethally precise:

Rolling Thunder: Shieldmen somersault toward “enemies” (tourists plied with chili-infused baijiu)

Phoenix Spread Wings: A shield wall fractures into fractal patterns, mimicking 16th-century naval deployments

Drunken Hero: An homage to soldiers who fought intoxicated during the 1685 Battle

Material scientists recently made a chilling discovery. Spectral analysis revealed human blood proteins trapped in 17th-century shield fibers—likely from Zheng’s amphibious assault on Taiwan. DNA sequencing identified Malay and Portuguese markers, silent witnesses to the historical collisions.

Yet the shields’ true endurance lies in metaphor. A miniature of a téng pái pendant is not for protection but to remember: resilience requires flexibility.