China in WW2

A Century of Chinese Uniforms

• By Peter Harmsen
• 24 March, 2019
• 11 Comments

China has seen tremendous change over the past century, and along with the rest of Chinese society, the transformation of the nation’s military forces has been profound. At the start of the 20th century, the armed forces of the waning Qing dynasty were still only groping their way into modernity, and the new technologies that were to revolutionize warfare in the decades ahead were only adopted with great difficulty. Fast forward to 1937, and Republican China’s military was able to fight a protracted defensive battle against the Japanese invader which left him with no hope that he would soon be able to subdue China. 

This is a story that can be told in many ways. One of them is through the uniforms that China’s fighting men and women were wearing during the 20th and 21st century. This is what Wu Shang-jong from Taiwan has done with his amazing book “100 Years of Chinese Military Uniforms.” Through numerous high-definition, full-color photos, he shows the evolution of Chinese uniforms in the period from 1905 to 2018. Since the photos are featuring live models, the reader gets a unique understanding of what the uniforms actually looked like.

A great deal of the photos are from the crucial years 1937 to 1945. The photo above shows uniforms worn by Chinese forces at Marco Polo Bridge in 1937 as well as Taierzhuang the year after. However, the author also shows developments before and after the war. Following the 1949 events, he shows uniforms from both sides of the Taiwan Straits. It’s interesting to see how in the 1950s and 1960s uniforms in China and Taiwan differed greatly, only to become more and more similar as we approach the present age.

Update (July 27, 2019):  a Kindle version of the book is now available on Amazon. Click here

Sichuan troops from the early part of the war with Japan.

A soldier of the legendary 88th Division.

Soldiers from the Burma and southwest China theater of operations.