Ancient Chinese Warfare (54 page)

With the advent of the Lungshan culture stone arrowheads suddenly began to multiply, and many excavations yield approximately equal numbers of bone and stone specimens.
⁷⁸
Nevertheless, variants produced in bone continue to be more elongated, at 5 to 8 centimeters in length, and more precisely formed, marked by a sharp curvature at the bottom and well-defined stems (
t’ing
).
⁷⁹
In contrast, although odd shapes frequently appear and a few unusually long specimens have been recovered, the triangular stone embodiments are generally shorter and squatter, at 4 to 5 centimeters, and have somewhat raised spines, but generally lack visible
t’ing
until late in the period. However, increasingly obvious, functional
t’ing
evolved in the elongated or willow leaf form, as attested by 8-centimeter heads commonly being found, some including clearly defined
t’ing
of 3 centimeters, even as the arrowhead tended to lengthen over time.
⁸⁰

The process of gradually lengthening the increasingly welldifferentiated
t’ing
is also visible in the peripheral cultures that flourished in the late Neolithic, particularly the Liang-chu culture located in the southeast, long known for the large number of arrowheads recovered from its sites, as might be expected from purported Hsia enemies.
⁸¹
However, the best examples tend to be preserved in the northern region, especially Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, where each excavation augments the assemblage of arrowheads that show the
t’ing
emerging as the preferred mounting method.
⁸²

Whereas the laborious process of chipping and grinding stone blanks essentially limited stone head shapes to a relatively flat form with two cutting edges and a remnant raised spine, bronze casting allowed an almost unimaginable freedom coupled with virtual perfection in symmetry and balance. Moreover, in contrast to the brittleness of stone arrowheads fabricated out of hard minerals such as flint, which might be extremely sharp but also had to be resharpened after use, bronze arrowheads were virtually indestructible and largely retained their original edges
after impact. Nevertheless, stone and bone arrowheads would predominate well into the Shang,

The earliest metal arrowheads yet discovered in China have been recovered at Erh-li-t’ou and Tung-hsia-feng, evidence that the late Hsia had already begun using bronze variants, although in extremely low numbers. (Because the numbers attributable to lower Erh-li-kang sites are equally limited, claims that the Shang enjoyed a substantial technological advantage from their bronze arrowheads obviously lack substantiation.)
⁸³
Highly similar to original bone types, these early bronze arrowheads are characterized by a rounded body with long but undifferentiated
t’ing
, flattened projections, and two clearly defined backwardfacing points that would increase the extraction difficulty if they fully penetrate and cause a more disabling wound.

Thereafter, there is a continuous progression from this early bronze form through those excavated at Cheng-chou and then Anyang, the so-called Shang style, primarily consisting of a flattened shape marked by a raised spine and increasingly defined
t’ing
. Yen-shih/Cheng-chou era specimens fall into two categories, a shorter variant some 5 centimeters long that has a rounded
t’ing
and raised spine, and a somewhat longer version with extended rearward projections, highly sharpened points, and a reduced but still obvious
t’ing
. No doubt because multiple-cavity casting was already being employed for bronze arrowheads at Cheng-chou, great uniformity is evident within subgroups.

Although arrowheads rapidly proliferated during Shang rule from Anyang and their substyles could be multiplied almost endlessly, a limited number of functionally differentiated forms prevailed in the common mediums of stone and bronze.
⁸⁴
The short triangular style predominated in the former,
⁸⁵
but elongated or leaf-shaped variants continued to appear, especially in southeastern peripheral areas. Yin-hsü bronze arrowheads tend to be characterized by a fundamentally triangular shape marked by varying degrees of stubbiness and elongation, a clearly defined
t’ing
of varying
length, and two sharpened blades.
⁸⁶
Most bronze versions also embody downward-projecting blade tips that could become extreme.
⁸⁷

Other aspects that frequently draw attention are the degree to which the core of the arrowhead remained essentially circular, a characteristic also visible on some spearheads, or displayed the more common rhomboidal cross-section. Shang bronze arrowheads invariably have just two blades, even though exaggerating and sharpening the raised rhomboidal portion could have easily produced an arrowhead with four edged surfaces. (In later eras the entire body would be redesigned for three blades rather than the four inherently present, no doubt because matching them with the three vanes that came to be commonly employed ensured better flight characteristics.)

An additional feature that appears in mid- to late Yin-hsü bronze arrowheads is a
kuan
or slight protrusion that emanates from the base just above the
t’ing (
as shown at left), the latter then being reduced in diameter and adumbrated to a length of just a centimeter or two.
⁸⁸

However, despite the visibly staggered profile, the design is functionally indistinguishable from its predecessor because only a minor shift has occurred: when the
t’ing
is inserted into the shaft, the top of the shaft now butts against the base of the
kuan
rather than the body of the arrowhead itself. Moreover, the long elongation of the
kuan
and
t’ing
that would be deliberately employed in later periods to add weight at the front of the shaft had not yet materialized. However, as attested by bundles recovered at Yin-hsü, military arrowheads averaged 7 to 8 centimeters in length and weighed from 12 to 14 grams.
⁸⁹

Finally, a few long, slightly bulbous arrowheads that completely lack discernible vanes or points are among the anomalous arrowheads excavated from Shang sites. Variously identified as intended for practice or as arrowheads for shooting birds, they seem to be precursors of the many more recovered in the Western Chou and thereafter. Many of the latter have small holes below the tip where some sort of line was probably inserted, evidence that they were employed to shoot flying
birds.
⁹⁰
However, as in the West, the others may have been intended to stun or kill small animals, particularly if the skin or fur was to be undamaged, or even for mock combat, an activity that would have entailed considerable risk for the participants even if their leather armor were directly struck. However, there is no evidence for the existence of this antique equivalent of modern paintball, nor have any scholars suggested it as a possibility.

Beginning with the Western Chou, arrowheads would generally expand in profile, coming to be marked by wider-angled projections and more sharply defined rearward points. Although bronze would finally dominate, stone and bone arrowheads continued to be employed, possibly in an ancillary role such as hunting rather than warfare, though the successful slaying of an animal destined for the dinner table would hardly have been an unimportant event. This tendency to greater width then reversed in the Spring and Autumn with more triangular arrowheads, whose rearward barbs now curved inward and gradually became smaller, in both profile and actual size. This may have been because warfare had become far more extensive, requiring certainty in killing, or because developments in armor necessitated a reduced profile to ensure greater penetration.

20.

L
EGENDS ABOUT THE chariot’s inception vary, the most common being that the Yellow Emperor invented the chariot but that Yü the Great was the first to employ it. Because he was similarly said to have invented the cart, the Yellow Emperor has also been known as Hsüan Yüan, a name whose characters refer to two types of draught pole but in combination designate chariots in general.
¹
However, the chariot’s creation is also attributed to Hsi Chung, thought to have been one of the Yellow Emperor’s ministers or to have lived in Yü’s era, as well as to Hsiangt’u, another of his officials or perhaps the grandson of Ch’i, the Hsia’s first hereditary ruler. Yet another variant combines elements of these tales by asserting that the Yellow Emperor fabricated the first vehicle (
ch’e
), Emperor Shao Hao yoked a pair of oxen to it for motive power, and Hsi Chung widened it and substituted horses, creating a device with true battlefield potential.
²

Late writings credit Hsi Chung with the crucial achievement of bending wood to make curved wheels, harnessing horses and oxen, and (perhaps reflecting the emergence of bronze tools) being an expert craftsman.
³
Kuan Chung therefore analogized the workings of the ideal government by citing his precision in woodworking: “Hsi Chung’s skill lay in chopping and planning.
⁴
When Hsi Chung fabricated chariot components, the square, round, curved, and straight all accorded with the compass and lines. Thus the frame and revolving components matched each other, and when employed it was sturdy and advantageous.”
⁵
However,
another section of the
Kuan-tzu
suggests his skill was more innate than measured, that his spirit naturally resonated with tools and implements such as the axe.
⁶

Excavations conducted during the highly troubled middle part of the twentieth century revealed the existence of chariots dating to the late Shang, immediately prompting a few tentative formulations of its history. Subsequent finds have altered the general conclusions but slightly, their chief impact being to augment detailed knowledge of the chariot’s construction, moving parts, and harnessing system and reveal a continued emphasis over the centuries on making the chariot lighter but sturdier, capable of withstanding actual field use.
⁷

As reconstructed, even the earliest Shang chariots recovered from the tombs and burial pits at Anyang are already complex, well-crafted units whose construction combined lightness and strength. Fabricated from wood, rattan, bamboo, bronze, and leather, they consisted of an essentially rectangular compartment mounted directly over a transverse axle. Powered by two horses connected to a single, centrally mounted draught pole, the chariot was roughly ten feet long from the rear of the chariot compartment to the tip of the shaft. Despite employing fairly compact animals, when the horses’ heads; rearward profile of the large chariot wheels; and expanse of the axles, whose hub, fittings, and other projections extended some ten feet or more, are included, even without the blades that were attached in the Warring States period these early chariots occupied the considerable area of approximately ten by eleven feet.