Ancient Chinese Warfare PDF
Preview Ancient Chinese Warfare
Table of Contents Title Page Dedication PREFACE A NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION Chapter 1. - PRELIMINARY ORIENTATIONS AND LEGENDARY CONFLICTS THE SEMILEGENDARY PERIOD Chapter 2. - ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS, I CHARACTER AND FUNCTION OF EARLY WALLS EVOLUTION OF THE FORTIFIED TOWN Chapter 3. - ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS, II SICHUAN PRECURSORS FORTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY AND METHODS Chapter 4. - THE HSIA ORIGINS AND PREHISTORY EARLY SITES AND CAPITALS RESOURCE CONTROL POINTS Chapter 5. - WARFARE IN THE HSIA POLITICAL ORGANIZATION AND MILITARY STRUCTURE Chapter 6. - THE SHANG DYNASTY TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE SHANG’S RISE CONQUEST OF THE HSIA Chapter 7. - SHANG CAPITALS, CITADELS, AND FORTIFICATIONS STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT AND HISTORICAL IMPLICATIONS SHANG EXTENT AND FLUCTUATIONS Chapter 8. - CHAOS, CONTRACTION, AND RESURGENCE LATE SHANG: THE ANYANG PERIOD MARTIAL ACTIVITIES IN THE ANYANG ERA Chapter 9. - KING WU TING, I WU TING’S EARLY PERIOD WU TING’S MIDDLE PERIOD Chapter 10. - KING WU TING, II WU TING’S LATE PERIOD WU TING’S COMMANDERS Chapter 11. - THE LAST REIGNS CONFLICTS AND CAMPAIGNS Chapter 12. - THE SHANG MARTIAL EDIFICE SHANG MARTIAL COMMAND SHANG MILITARY CONTINGENTS Chapter 13. - TROOPS, INTELLIGENCE, AND TACTICS SHANG MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONAL TACTICS TRAINING Chapter 14. - METALLURGICAL EVOLUTION IN CHINA THE SHANG REALIZATION Chapter 15. - EARLY WEAPONS AND THE AXE THE AXE Chapter 16. - KNIVES, DAGGERS, AND SWORDS DAGGERS AND SWORDS Chapter 17. - THE KO OR DAGGER-AXE THE CHI Chapter 18. - SPEARS AND ARMOR ARMOR AND SHIELDS Chapter 19. - ANCIENT ARCHERY DESIGN, POWER, AND ACCURACY OF THE BOW EARLY CHINESE BOWS THE ARROW Chapter 20. - THE CHARIOT IN CHINA DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS ORIGINS Chapter 21. - THE HORSE IN CHINA TRAINING ROLE AND EFFECTS HORSEPOWER Chapter 22. - THE CHARIOT IN BATTLE WARRIOR COMPLEMENT AND ACTIONS INTEGRATION WITH ACCOMPANYING FORCES Chapter 23. - CHARIOT LIMITATIONS AND DIFFICULTIES COMBAT ISSUES Chapter 24. - ANCIENT LOGISTICS Chapter 25. - MUSINGS AND IMPONDERABLES CONQUEST AND DISPLACEMENT ✦ NOTES ✦ ✦ INTEGRATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ✦ ✦ INDEX ✦ Copyright Page FOR LEE MEI-CHÜN PREFACE ANCIENT CHINESE WARFARE AND ITS COMPANION, Western Chou Warfare, were started more than thirty years ago but were soon de-emphasized, though never abandoned, to investigate more accessible topics because insufficient archaeological material was available for assessing many aspects of ancient Chinese military history. Even though dramatic new finds such as San- hsing-tui (Sanxingdui) can still provoke astonishment and significantly affect historical understanding, the accumulation of thousands of discoveries and hundreds of highly relevant reports over the intervening decades has not only resulted in something akin to a minimal critical mass, but also considerably diminished the impact of archaeology’s accidental nature. To cite just one example, reports on Wangch’eng-kang in the early 1980s indicated the existence of a fortress consisting of two small but conjoined square citadels roughly 100 meters on a side that immediately prompted heated arguments about its possible identity as an ancient Hsia (Xia) capital. However, a partial excavation of the greater site in the early twenty-first century has now revealed that the “King’s City” once enclosed a massive 300,000 square meters within its substantial outer fortifications, considerably buttressing claims for an imperial role. Although my efforts over the last few years, whether in the cold of Korean winters or heat of interminable Indonesian summers, have been focused on this volume, many more could easily be spent. No one has ever been granted indefinite longevity, yet it is difficult to escape the persistent feeling that only now, after nearly a half century of pondering Chinese topics, am I approaching some requisite level of understanding upon which the entire topic should be restudied. This is particularly true with respect to the ancient period because of the inescapable necessity of relying on innumerable interpretive archaeological reports and scholarly explications of oracular and bronze inscriptional materials, the core of this book. Despite the convenience of the Internet and the growth of extensive (but not yet fully accessible or comprehensive) databases, exhaustive examination of all relevant articles on any single aspect of ancient Chinese military history, even something as focused as arrowheads, remains impossible. Paradoxically, numerous materials that were once relatively available through interlibrary loan, especially Japanese books and articles, have become even more difficult to
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