Th ere were long periods of peace and a style of combat that
remained constant over the centuries.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
Th e fi rst Chinese dynasty that historians and archaeologists
can confi rm was the Shang (c. 1550–1045 b.c.e.). Th e Shang
were a warlike people, constantly trying to expand their ter-
ritories through conquest and frequently defending their
territories against barbarian raiders. Th e head of the Shang
military was the king, and below him were nobles who were
expected to be offi cers. Governors of Shang provinces led
military campaigns on their own. Most of the soldiers in a
Shang army were peasants, usually poorly equipped and
poorly trained. Th ey did most of the dying.
In the Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 b.c.e.) peasants still
made up most of a Chinese army, but the elite status of the
aristocratic warriors was emphasized. Th ese warriors fought
while on horseback. A battle could be very stylized, with no-
bles showing off their skills in front of assembled armies. In
matters of conquest, however, battles could be very serious
aff airs, with tens of thousands of troops perishing. Th e Zhou
favored fi ghting one huge, decisive battle rather than several
small ones, and a war was oft en decided in one engagement.
Th e Qin Dynasty (221–207 b.c.e.) changed the way offi cers
were selected, choosing to promote military leaders on the
basis of their performance in battle rather than on the ba-
sis of noble birth. It was replaced by the Han Dynasty (206
b.c.e.–220 c.e.), which brought order and discipline to its
military policies by establishing a clear chain of command
that limited the ability of individual commanders to estab-
lish their own armies and wage their own wars in pursuit of
political power.
For the rest of the ancient era Chinese governments
imposed a draft. Every district of China had an offi cial re-
sponsible for fi nding people to serve in the military. Th e age
requirements varied from time to time, but in general any
man between the ages of 23 and 56 was expected to serve two
years in the army or the small navy. Weapons and armor were
usually provided once the new soldiers had marched to where
they were expected to serve. Th ey lived in small forts made of
brick or stone.
Th e Great Wall was one long fortress with numerous tow-
ers. Each tower had a way to signal that it was under attack,
usually by raising fl ags. Soldiers were expected to help main-
tain the wall. Th ey lived in barracks behind the wall where
armories and food stores were placed near them, also behind
the wall. When an emergency arose, soldiers rushed to de-
fend the wall. At other times they were drilled in how to fi ght
in formation and in how to use their armaments. In this way
the government ensured that it always had well-disciplined
soldiers available for defense and conquest.
In ancient India wars were fought frequently, and the
military was an important institution in its kingdoms. Noth-
ing is as yet known about how the Harappan culture (2600–
1500 b.c.e.) of the Indus River valley conducted its military
aff airs. In the 1500s b.c.e. it was overcome by Aryan tribes
invading from the north. Th ese tribes had a heroic culture,
which means that they celebrated warriors and military hero-
ism over all else. Th eir elite warriors used chariots.
By the 400s b.c.e. most kingdoms followed a pattern
required by tradition and religious law. Any monarch who
w ished to rema i n a mona rch needed to reta i n a sta nd i ng a rmy,
because kings were expected to increase their status through
war on other kings. Th ey were members of the Kshatriya caste.
Th is caste encompassed warriors and rulers. It was the king’s
calling to aspire to become a maharajadhiraja, a king of kings.
He achieved this by forcing other kings to become his vassals.
If he became a king of kings, his son would sacrifi ce a horse in
an ancient Vedic ritual, making his father’s status offi cial. Th e
king could then aspire to be a cakravartin, a king of the world,
by expanding his kingdom’s frontiers to encompass almost all
of the territories of India that he knew to exist.
Every capital city was heavily fortifi ed, because attacks
on capitals were oft en the most direct way for a king to force
another monarch to become his vassal. Defensive works could
be impressive. A tall earthen wall, sometimes several miles in
circumference, would encircle the city. Th e wall would be pa-
trolled day and night by soldiers, and its gateways would have
squads of soldiers stationed at them. Some cities had ditches
and wooden barricades outside their walls. Within the city
was a fortress that served as the king’s residence. He would
make his last stand in that fortress if he had to do so.
An Indian army originally was divided into four parts.
One was the infantry. Th e infantry included guild militias.
Each guild of tradesmen, members of the Sudra caste, was
expected to maintain a militia that could be called to arms to
fi ght bandits, preserve public order, or fi ght in a war. Another
part of the army was the cavalry. Th is consisted of horsemen
mostly from the Kshatriya caste, but it could include mem-
bers from other castes. A third part of the army consisted of
elephants and their handlers. Th e elephants were covered in
armor and ridden by a driver and two or three soldiers, who
were armed with arrows or spears. Th e fourth part of the
army consisted of chariots with their drivers and soldiers. A
chariot driver sat on the shaft , while as many as three soldiers
rode inside the chariot. Maneuvering a chariot on India’s
frequently muddy battlefi elds was diffi cult, and the chariots
could not keep up with men on horseback. Aft er the 600s
b.c.e. chariots were supplanted by the cavalry.
According to the Chinese, the people of Japan, called the
Wa, were very warlike. Archaeologists have found a settle-
ment on the island of Honshu with two ditches dug around it,
as if for defense. A Chinese ambassador to the court of Queen
Himiko, during the 200s c.e., noted that Himiko’s palace was
surrounded by a wooden palisade, with fearsome guards at
its gates, which suggests that she had at least a small standing
army. Th e Wa were mostly illiterate and apparently left no
military records.730 Military: Asia and the Pacific