in the martial skills of both steppe and sedentary society. Intermarriage with
Chinese elites created a hybrid martial culture that allowed for a spectrum of
ethnically marked skills rather than widely separate categories. While most
of the Chinese or steppe population functioned within only one culture,
many elites even below the top level had to move between cultures regularly.
Different groups understood the many necessary skills and behaviors differ-
ently, placing, for example, greater or lesser value on certain martial arts.
Thus learning to practice particular martial arts directly shaped an individ-
ual’s image and place in society at many separate and sometimes conflicting
levels.
The main arc of martial arts development on the battlefield from the Six
Dynasties to the early Tang dynasty was from steppe cavalry armies to
conscripted infantry armies. Although steppe cavalry armies did most of the
fighting, particularly in north China, in the Six Dynasties, local militias and
security forces for local landlords, strongmen, and institutions were a regular
part of Chinese society. Few governments were able to offer real protection
for local communities from the depredations of bandits or other local security
threats. Communities were forced togroup together under some leader or
other, train infighting, and often build fortified positions where they could
resist low-level military threats.^4 In a time of political and military turmoil
anyone who had anything valuable had to be able to defend it to keep it safe.
The Northern and Southern Dynasties
From the third to the sixth centuries the territory of what had been the Han
dynasty was divided in a shifting pattern of kingdoms and dynasties. Non-
Chinese rulers, officials, and families controlled most of the northern
polities, though Chinese people did serve in government, intermarried
with the ruling groups, and maintained considerable influence at the
local level. A few states were even run by Chinese rulers. The designation
“Six Dynasties”comes from the succession of regimes established in the
south, with a capital at Jiankang (modern Nanjing), run by Chinese
refugees from the north.^5 The northern émigrés controlled the army and
court between 317 and 420 , when a rebellion culminated in their displace-
ment. From 420 until 589 southern politics was tumultuous with twenty-
six rulers spread across four dynasties. Cultureflowered in the south
during this period despite, or perhaps because of, the political instability.
Northern China was similarly tumultuous, as the Xianbei pushed the
Xiongnu, the group that had caused the Han dynasty so much trouble,
south into Chinese territory. The Xiongnu settled along the frontier zone
The Northern and Southern Dynasties 75