Table Of ContentTable	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
Description:The history of China is a history of warfare. Rarely in its 3,000-year existence has the country not been beset by war, rebellion, or raids. Warfare was a primary source of innovation, social evolution, and material progress in the Legendary Era, Hsia dynasty, and Shang dynasty--indeed, war was the