Subject: 士 shi warrior
Culture: proto-Chinese
Setting: Warring States period, China 5th-4thc BC
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Mair tr. 2007 p24-25
"There is actually no unanimity as to precisely when the Warring States period began. Some say that it started in 481 B.C., when the chronicles of Lu (Confucius' home state) conclude, marking the end of the Spring and Autumn period. Others maintain that the Warring States period began in 403 B.C., when the Eastern Zhou rump court (King Wei Lie) officially recognized Han, Wei, and Zhao, three states that had resulted from the breakup oJin half a century earlier (453 B.C.). Many scholars, however, accept 475 B.C. as the beginning of the Warring States period, because that year witnessed a dramatic readjustment of the feudal order.
"Be that as it may, the Warring States period was in full swing by the beginning of the fourth century B.C., with seven major states (Yan, Qi, Chu, Han, Wei, Zhao, and Qin) contesting for power. The rulers of all of these states usurpingly referred to themselves as 'king' (wang), and each strove to expand his territory at the expense of the others, with the ultimate goal of achieving complete control over tianxia ('all under heaven'). A key feature of the politics of the Warring States period was the ambivalent relationship between a ruler and the feudal lords associated with him. Though the feudal lords may have sworn fealty to the ruler, they were often on the verge of revolting and were constantly trying to assume the dominant position that he occupied. The situation was by nature highly unstable and endlessly in flux, so constant wars were inevitable. ... "In contrast to the Spring and Autumn period, war during the Warring States period was no longer restricted to brief, chivalrous battles. These had now given way to unrestrained, violent campaigns involving enormous armies. Contributing to the ferocity of warfare during the Warring States were entirely new and ruthelessly efficient military features such as cavalry and the crossbow, both of which appeared in East Asia for the first time during this period (the former from the far north and the latter from the far south), and both of which transformed war into a more terrifying phenomenon than it had ever been before. But the changes in warfare were not restricted to innovations in weaponry and vastly enhanced mobility. The ways in which human beings were marshaled were also thoroughly transformed, with the deployment of mass infantry, the skillful dispatch of spies, and the rise of competing tacticians, none of which had been seen in East Asia before."* Peers/McBride 1990 p12
"The 5th century saw temporary stalemate, as the ambitions of each of the leading powers were thwarted in turn. Tsin, which had long suffered from instability, was defeated by its former allies at Ching Yang in 453, a blow which led to its disintegration and to the foundation of the three new powers. However, economically and culturally it was an age of great progress, and the population of China increased from 12 million in 650 to as many as 40 million. Pressure on land became yet another factor driving the states into war."
Sword
* Coe/Connolly/Harding/Harris/Larocca/Richardson/North/Spring/Wilkinson 1993 p173-174 (Thom Richardson, "China and Central Asia" p172-185)
"The sword probably entered the Chinese arsenal at the same time as the use of cavalry -- the practice of riding became widespread in Central Asia from the eighth century BC onwards. Encountering this new means of transport, probably among the nomadic tribes of the Ordos region, and perceiving its military potential, the states of northern China equipped themselves with mounted troops.
"The earliest Chinese swords come from sites in northwestern China, for example from Zhangjiapo in Shaanxi province. These swords, of cast bronze, are of jian type, with straight leaf-shaped blades reinforced by rounded medial ribs. Blade length was very short, about 14 ins/35 cm. The tang was also relatively short and fitted with a large bound and guardless grip. This type persisted in southern and western China, but in the east the blade was cast with a much longer round-sectioned tang and an integral disc pommel. This development, which seems to have taken place by the seventh century, was a distinct improvement, for it reduced the tendency of the hilt to part company with the blade. A small shoulder-like guard was added at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou period in the sixth century."* Chinese art of the Warring States period 1982 p71
"Opinions differ as to whether the sword was introduced into China from outside or was developed independently by the Chinese. In any case, there is no denying that the sword appeared in China relatively late, with the finds from the ancient state of Kuo at Shang-ts'un-ling, Honan Province, demonstrating that they were in use before 655 B.C. During the Chou dynasty the sword became an important military weapon, and as late as the fifth century B.C. swords of the type represented by the Freer example were made with elongated blades and articulated handles. According to Chinese records and on the basis of archaeological finds, it appears that some of the finest swords were made in south China. Excavations in the areas occupied by the ancient states of Ch'u, Wu, and Yueh have yielded outstanding examples of Eastern Chou swords. While iron swords were made during the Eastern Chou, bronze examples continue to be more numerous in excavations."
* Peers/McBride 1990 p13
"[B]y 500 the sword was beginning to gain popularity, and from this time swords start to predominate over bows in battle narratives, sword and shield being apparently regarded as a superior combination for infantry fighting to the spear or dagger-axe."
* Peers/McBride 1990 p14
"Swords were still of the short stabbing type; blades were still bronze, but from the 5th century iron began to appear, the states of Ch'u and Han being known for their weapons of low-grade steel. Iron smelting technology, however, remained very primitive until the 2nd century BC, and the metal could not replace bronze for most military purposes."
Crossbow
*
Halberd
* Peers/McBride 1990 p14
"Armour and bows were similar to earlier types, but the dagger-axe continued to evolve, and by the 4th century the addition of a spear-blade to the end of the shaft had turned it into a true cut-and-thrust weapon or halberd. Spears and dagger-axes fell into two groups, one about nine feet long, the other around 18 feet."
* Chinese art of the Warring States period 1982 p76
"[D]uring the late Warring States and Han periods, halberds were made, frequently of iron, in a simplified shape consisting of a long vertical shaft from which a single blade projects downward at an oblique angle."
