threat to Xiang Yu’s interests and convinced Xiang Zhuang to try to assassi-
nate Liu.
14. Ban Gu,History of Former Han Dynasty, 91.
15. Sima Qian (Watson, trans.),Records of the Grand Historian, 206.
16. Ban Gu,History of the Former Han Dynasty, 120.
17. Ban Gu,History of the Former Han Dynasty, 127.
18. Ban Gu,History of the Former Han Dynasty, 143.
19. Zhang Chunben and Cui Lequan,Zhongguo Wushu Shi, 106.
20. Ban Gu,Hanshu, Taibei: Dingwen Shuju, 1997 , 6. 194 and 6. 198.
21. Ban Gu,Hanshu, 96 b. 3928.
22. Ban Gu,Hanshu, 68. 2961. Here I have followed Jin Zhuo’s金灼gloss of the
termhuas“neck”in his notes to theHanshu. Several alternative readings
suggest themselves, however, if we readhuas either“blind”or“barbarian.”
Meng Kang孟康explains the term as a kind of“hidden”or perhaps“surrep-
titious”turn,whichis close to the“blind”meaning; see his note inHanshu
68. 2962. Alternatively, given the close connection with the steppe, a technique
called“throwing the barbarian”might not be beyond reason either.
23. Wei Shou,Weishu, Taibei: Dingwen Shuju, 1998 , 109. 2828.
24. See the comment in Fan Ye,Houhanshu, Taibei: Dingwen Shuju, 1999 , 28. 3624.
25. See Sima Qian,“Letter to Ren An.”Hanshu, 62. 2725 – 2736.
26. Zhang Chunben and Cui Lequan,Zhongguo Wushu Shi, 110.
27. Note 9 in Zhang Chunben and Cui Lequan,Zhongguo Wushu Shi, 111.
28. Ban Gu,Hanshu, 54. 2451.
29. Sima Qian,Shiji, 117. 2999.
30. Zhang Chunben and Cui Lequan,Zhongguo Wushu Shi, 115.
4 The Six Dynasties
1. To this list we can also add“China’s Dark Ages”mentioned by Albert Dien.
See Albert Dien,Six Dynasties Civilization, New Haven: Yale University Press,
2007 , 1 .Fora more general history of the period in English, see Mark Edward
Lewis,China between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties,
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Lewis prefers the term
“Northern and Southern Dynasties.”
2. Guojia Tiwei Wushu Yanjiuyuan Bianzuan,Zhongguo Wushushi, Beijing:
Renmin Tiyu Chubanshe, 1996 , 106.
3. Albert Dien,“The Stirrup and Chinese Military History,”Ars Orientalis, 16 ,
( 1986 ), 38
4. On local fortifications, see Albert Dien,Six Dynasties Civilization, 15 – 45.
5. Albert Dien,Six Dynasties Civilization, 1.
6. Cited in Albert Dien,Six Dynasties Civilization, 6.
7. Lin Boyuan,Zhongguo Wushushi, Taibei: Wuzhou Chubanshe, 1996 , 132 – 3.
8. Liu Xi,Shiming, ch. 23 (Explaining Weapons),China Text Project, 14 June
2011. http://ctext.org/shi-ming/shi-bing:“A spear eighteen feet long is called a
‘shao,’it is said that, wielded from horseback, this shaoshao is effective at
killing.”
9. Pei Songzhi,Sanguozhi(Weishu), Taibei: Dingwen Shuju, 1997 , 17. 519.Notes to Pages 63 – 79 249