What happened to the military during the Warring States period?

The Qin Dynasty was a stage in which China's material civilization and spiritual civilization developed and matured gradually. Although the military activities and behaviors caused by the war only constituted one aspect of China's early civilization, its cultural characteristics and cultural connotations directly or indirectly reflected some basic characteristics of China's social life in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to varying degrees. Especially in the pre-Qin period, the development of Zhao's military culture was more representative and typical. This paper intends to analyze the structure and evolution of the arms of the Zhao army during the Warring States period, aiming at focusing on the historical characteristics and influence of Zhao's military development during the Warring States period.

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During the pre-Qin period in China, with the frequency and expansion of wars, primitive military theory and military command art were gradually formed, which laid a reliable and solid foundation for the subsequent military struggle and the full development of military theory. China's ancient army construction has roughly experienced four different historical development stages, namely, primitive infantry stage, chariot stage in slave society, infantry stage under feudal social system, and joint operation stage of infantry and cavalry. Although the above division is not accurate, these four stages can roughly outline the development process of China ancient military from primitive society to feudal society, from primitive to mature. The development of pre-Qin military, because of its specific social environment and historical background, decided that it was different from the military action in the middle and late feudal society.

Before King Wuling of Zhao carried out the military reform of "Khufu riding and shooting", the history of Zhao's military development could be generally described by the rise and fall of the history of automobile war development. Car hopper refers to the general term for attacking and guarding cars. Because of their different textures, equipment and uses, they are often called personnel carriers, pickup trucks, military vehicles and light vehicles. In the pre-Qin period, car wars were widely used in Central Plains countries, and the literature records are self-evident. Not only the early military activities of Zhao, but also the Central Plains countries, including Chu, went to the battlefield at the latest in the Spring and Autumn Period. Twenty-three vehicles were unearthed from the tomb of the Chu royal family in Huaiyang saddle. (Henan Institute of Cultural Relics: Brief Report on Excavation of the Tomb of Chu in Ma 'an, Huaiyang, Henan Province, Cultural Relics 1984,No. 10. Wen Wei Po 1989120/month reported that in the summer of 1989, a huge Chu chariot pit was discovered again in Luogang, Huzhou Village, Puhe Town, Yicheng, Hubei Province, and seven practical Chu chariots were unearthed. From the perspective of military cultural history, countries in the pre-Qin period influenced each other militarily. This infiltration shows that the Central Plains vehicle warfare technology developed radially from the central area of the Central Plains to the north, south and west, which can be proved by the practical chariots unearthed in Chuchemakeng. Moreover, even during the Warring States period, Ye Zhao was deeply influenced by this way of fighting. This can be further confirmed from the archaeology of Zhao's remains. Up to now, a total of 13 tombs have been discovered in the archaeology of Zhao's noble tombs. Zhao Qing's Tomb in Jinsheng Village, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, contains two large chariots and horses pits, 44 martyrdom horses and 0/6 chariots, and a large number of exquisite bronzes have been unearthed. (Brief Report on Excavation of Chunqiu Tomb No.251in Jinsheng Village, Taiyuan City and Chemakeng) For the discussion of the owner's identity of Tomb No.251in Jinsheng Village, Taiyuan City, see Cultural Relics No.9 1989.) Hundreds of villages in Handan were excavated from 65438 to 1959. (See Archaeology 1962 and 12 for the Warring States Tomb in Baijia Village, Handan, Hebei. ) 1976 A martyr's pit was also found in the mound of Tomb No.3 of Zhaowangbei 1. (The Monument to the King of Zhao, see Archaeology No.6, 1982. ) In 2000, during the construction of Qicun section of the West Ring Road in this city, three chariots and horses pits were found in the tomb of Zhao Guizu (see color map 16), of which 20 horses, 2 dogs and 4 vehicles were sacrificed in pit 3 (see cultural relics bulletin 200 1 fifth report of Handan Institute of Cultural Relics). Among them, 1 pit 10 martyrdom has been moved to Handan Museum for exhibition. ) This is one of the tombs of Zhao nobles, including the chariots and horses pit unearthed from Tomb No.2 of Zhaowangbei in 200 1 year (see color map 15), where many sacrificial chariots and horses were found. The tombs of Zhao nobles discovered by archaeology are all buried with horses and chariots without exception. In addition, he Zhao, one of the three Jin Dynasties, still had a car battle in the early Warring States period. Many wooden carts arranged in pairs were unearthed from Wei TombNo. Huixian 13 1 in Henan Province. (Huixian Excavation Report, Science Press, 1956). Of course, these are all directly related to the automobile war.

After the Spring and Autumn Period, although the car war gradually declined, it did not completely disappear. From the beginning of 4th century BC until the end of Zhao Dynasty when Cheng Xiao was king and Wang Xiang was in power, Zhao's army still used chariots in military operations. Historical Records Volume Bayi Biography of Lian Po and Records of Li Muchuan by Lin Xiangru.