dynasties, different peoples from the steppe and within the Chinese ecumene
circulated in unprecedented numbers, generating great turmoil as well as
great culturalflourishing. In short, it is a hard period to simplify.
The most important changes in martial arts would remain in place until
fully modern military practice in the nineteenth century rendered them
obsolete. The sword pushed out the long sword as the primary close
combat weapon, the spear displaced the halberd as the main polearm,
and, by the end of the period, heavy cavalry yielded precedence to horse
archery aided by stirrups. There were some notable individual exceptions
to thefirst two of these changes, and this would continue to be the case in
the succeeding centuries. Individual martial artists sometimes chose idio-
syncratic weapons, but the common soldier and the majority of martial
artists relied upon swords and spears. Archery in general remained a
critical martial skill, though the non-Chinese engagement with archery as
a martial art had different cultural implications than had existed within the
earlier Chinese cultural context. Archery for Confucius was different from
archery for a steppe warrior.
Also important, the people who practiced martial arts went through a
series of changes and regional variations with the influx of steppe warriors.
Northern émigrés went south and temporarily formed a group marked by
their military orientation. The remaining Chinese in the north sometimes
separated themselves from the warrior class and sometimes joined it by
learning steppe martial arts. Local strongmen all over China formed bands
of men trained in martial arts that were effective below the battlefield level.
Prolonged exposure to Chinese culture also changed steppe martial arts as
it changed steppe culture. Some steppe aristocratic women, for example,
gradually moved away from practicing martial arts. There was a dynamic
intermixing of skills and cultures, and over time, individuals could learn
parts of these formerly tightly connected suites. Chinese soldiers, for
example, could learn to ride and shoot without adopting steppe culture.
The major political and military shift that was closely, if not conclu-
sively causally, related to the unification of China in the sixth century, was
the large-scale recruitment of Chinese commoners into the army. This new
force of infantry connected Chinese farmers directly to the state through
honorable military service. Battlefield martial arts became a widespread
skill among ordinary Chinese men, reversing the Later Han dynasty shift
away from universal military service. Steppe martial practice was still
important on the battlefield, however, and not surprisingly, the ruling
group that emerged to unify China was military and a cultural hybrid of
Chinese and steppe.
92 The Six Dynasties