From the Han to the Sui Dynasties, there were many large-scale wars in which troops fromHuanghe River(Yelloe River) drainage area marched southward to theYangtze River. Most of the wars were coordinated fights involving infantry, cavalry, and navy, amongst which the most noted ones include the Chibi War at the end of theEastern Han Dynasty(25-220), the war that theJin Dynasty (265-420)fought against the Wu Kingdom (222-280), the Feishui War in the Jin Dynasty, and the war in which theSui Dynasty(581-618) defeated the Chen Dynasty (557-589). In all of these wars, political and military struggles were combined; stratagem, decision-making, and the commanding all had a very high level.
From the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to theYuan Dynasty(1271-1368), many governments of different ethnic groups co-existed and opposed each for a long time. War frequented. With the development of productivity and the needs of war, firearms and complicated equipments appeared and exerted great influence on the wars.
The nomadic ethnic groups built several regimes in North China, and all of them were known for their cavalry troops. The most prominent of them was the Mongolians who built a system that combined military and herding. The advantages of cavalry were fully elaborate. The high ingenuity and ability to quickly learn from the advanced technology of the enemy all contributed to their success in defeating all the other regimes at the time in China.
The abovementioned wars and military books have greatly developed and enriched ancient China's military thoughts.
The period of gradual advance in the conflicts of conformism and innovation
From the end of the 14th century to the 1940s, feudalism gradually became corrupted with continuous large-scale peasant uprisings, national insurgences, and also foreign invasions. With advancement of the firearms and introduction of some advanced weapons in this period, independent navy, artillery, engineering corps, and some other technological arms of services appeared. Furthermore, the changes of the enemy also led to changes in building the army and commanding.
In the term of military thoughts, on one hand, the conservative notion, which focused only on defending the cities and strongholds, strengthened, while on the other hand, highly innovative military thoughts epitomized from war practices also appeared in many books on the art of war.Ji Xiao Xin ShuandLian Bing Shi Ji, two military books by the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang, are the representatives of the innovative thoughts.
Ancient Chinese military thoughts are a summarization of thousands of wars throughout Chinese history. Its rich content, as a legacy from the Chinese ancestors, is an important component of brilliant Chinese culture. The military thoughts of the modern times or even the current time have learned much from it.
Author: Jeff
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