Just as the so-called "soldiers, the great affairs of the country, with the way to the survival of the homeland and the country", although Confucius was cautious about war, he knew that "those who have civilian affairs must have weapons", and advocated enough food and sufficient soldiers, teaching the people to be rong, which shows the importance of the army.
The pre-Qin period included the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn Warring States and other stages. In this long period of history, Chinese society has completed the transition from primitive society to slave society and from slavery to feudalism. The army, which was an important part of the state, began to emerge and developed rapidly.
Stills of Confucius in The Spring and Autumn of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
The army of the Xia And Shang dynasties
The establishment of the Xia Dynasty army was to safeguard the interests of the nobility, which was also the result of the primitive form of military system. At that time, the army was all in the hands of the leaders, and there was already strict discipline.
However, at that time, in the early stages of class society, coupled with the weakness of the productive forces, the number of troops was small, and there were only guards composed of nobles. In the event of war, the leader must temporarily recruit princes to form an army to fight.
Portrait of Dayu of the Xia Dynasty
At this time, the combat class was mainly infantry, equipped with a small number of vehicles. In the war of this period, due to the scarcity of manpower and the weakness of military equipment, it was more than the mobilization ability of leaders and the charm of winning people's hearts.
By the Shang Dynasty, the royal family remained the supreme commander of the army. In addition to leading the army, they also need to preside over the pre-war mobilization and the recruitment of soldiers. In peacetime, people engage in productive labor, and in wartime, they form an army to join the ranks.
With the development of society and the evolution of the form of war, the "standing army" began to appear. But it is not the "full version". At this time, the main force was still the people of the people and the army, and the "standing army" only gathered some nobles and commoners to make a temporary formation.
Therefore, the military service system of the Shang Dynasty was still a temporary conscription system, and the difference from the Xia Dynasty was only the convenience of recruitment and the number of people who joined the army.
For example, Shaokang, the King of Xia of "Shaokang Zhongxing", fled to the Youyu tribe, but only five hundred subordinates, and later united the two tribes of the Huoxun clan and the Huoguan clan to overthrow the usurper Han Hun and restore the rule of the Xia Dynasty. Such a battle, presumably, will not be too many, about a thousand people should be regarded as a large-scale confrontation.
SangkAng Images
This temporary conscription system in the Shang Dynasty was of course aimed at peasants, and sometimes the number of troops was insufficient, and slaves were also incorporated into the army. This situation has a fatal shortcoming: the loyalty of the army cannot be controlled.
For example, in the "Battle of Makino", the King of Shang surrendered the world to King Wu of Zhou because the slaves who had been incorporated into the army defected before the front.
The establishment of the Shang Dynasty army, in ancient documents and archaeological materials, recorded "division", "brigade", "line" and other levels of organization. According to research, the "one line" consists of about one hundred people, the left, center, and right "three lines" form "one big line", and the "three major lines" form "one brigade". Therefore, the "First Brigade" has about a thousand people, including command, logistics, communications and other personnel. The "Three Brigades" formed the "First Division" and formed a staff of three thousand people.
Stills of the King of Shang
As for the classes, it is still infantry and vehicles that work together. Chariots are generally equipped with two or three armored men. The one in the center drives, the one on the right holds the goe, the one on the left holds the bow, and there are still a number of on-foot servants next to the car, on the one hand, to protect the chariot, on the other hand to cooperate with the battle.
In terms of weapons, in addition to shooting weapons such as bows and arrows, long weapons such as spears, short weapons such as knives and axes have also appeared, and defensive instruments such as shields, helmets, and armor have also begun to be used. It is worth noting that at this time most of the weapons have been made of bronze, which is obviously more advanced than the Xia Dynasty.
The army of the Western Zhou Dynasty
Although the military system of the Western Zhou Dynasty followed the System of the Shang Dynasty, it was improved and developed.
First of all, Western Zhou established a strong standing force, and in accordance with the principle of sub-feudalism, it stipulated the number of armies directly under the jurisdiction of Tianzi and the princely states.
From "Zhou Li? Xia Guan? It can be clearly seen from the records of Sima that the army of the Western Zhou Dynasty had organizations at all levels such as "army", "brigade", "division", "pawn", "two", and "wu", and further subdivided the organizational structure of the army in the Shang Dynasty system.
Not only that, but there are also clear regulations on the number of people: "the first army" has 12,500 men, the "first division" has 2,500 men, the "first brigade" has 500 men, the "one pawn" has 100 men, the "one or two" has 20 men, and the "first army" has five men.
"Pawns", "two" and "personnel" are the grass-roots organizations of the army, "brigades" and "divisions" are the middle and upper-level organizations, and "army" is the highest organization. The supreme commander of the "army" is the "general", and the "general" is served by the "secretary" with a knighthood; the leader of the "division" and "brigade" is the "marshal", the "division commander" is served by the middle doctor, and the "brigade commander" is the lower doctor.
Since the command of the Western Zhou army was completely concentrated in the hands of Zhou Tianzi, in addition to zhou tianzi's authorization to give conquest, the princes did not have the right to carry out conquest without authorization, otherwise it would be regarded as rebellion, which is what Confucius said: "If there is a way under the heavens, then the lile conquest comes from the son of heaven."
It is recorded in the Zhou Li that the kingdom has six armies, the large ones of the princely states have three armies, the medium two armies, the small ones have one army, and the commanders of the armies of the various princely states are uniformly appointed by Zhou Tianzi.
In order to improve the leadership system of the army, the Western Zhou Dynasty began to implement the "Sima system", and the central government set up a large Sima to assist Zhou Tianzi in managing the affairs of the army. At the same time, there are also military and political offices, which are divided into "governments" that control the overall situation, "histories" who are in charge of documents, "Xu" who is in charge of errands, and "disciples" who are responsible for military equipment.
Stills of the chariot of "The Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty: Spring and Autumn"
The Western Zhou Dynasty still used conscription. The "Nationals" were the main force of the Western Zhou soldiers, and their main task was to perform military service, and the service age was generally from twenty to sixty years old. In addition, "savages" cannot perform military service, which also shows the clear boundaries between the country and the wilderness.
"Jade Sea" cloud: "The kingdom is a hundred miles for the suburbs". Those who live in the suburbs are called "chinese people", and those who live in the suburbs are called "wild people". The Nobles of the Zhou Dynasty lived in the suburbs, while the defeated merchants scattered in the wilderness. Therefore, "nationals" and "savages" have different political identities. It can be seen that the western Zhou Dynasty has a distinct hierarchical color.
As for the main army of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was still the car soldiers, and the car war gradually became the most important form of battle. Each chariot was equipped with ten soldiers, three men on the chariot, seven men next to the chariot, fifteen pawns, and five apprentices. The weapons they used were much the same as those of the Shang Dynasty, except that they had more halberds and qi, and improved the Ge and spears.