Did samurai, chinese or korean warriors ever use shields?
Both Chinese and Korean lower-grade troops used various forms of shield; often rectangular for the Koreans and round for the Chinese. A portion of the Chinese forces fighting during the Boxer Rebellion were still equipped with round shields as late as 1900, just before the Chinese forces were properly modernised. In Japan in the earliest phase of development (around the 3rd and 4th centuries AD), strange rectangular shields with in-curved sides and a rounded top were used by the lower-grade troops. These shields were no longer in use by the 10th century. Later, and before the 19th century modernisation of the Japanese Army, large numbers of large, rectangular wooden shields fitted with a leg at the rear (equivalent to the western pavisse) were used on the battlefield, within fixed fortifications and in siege lines. These were portable and could be re-positioned as required, but left both hands free to use a bow or matchlock musket. They were thick enough to stop both arrows and bullets
