70
“The Questions of King Wei.”
CHAPTER 13
1
Fu Hao’s exact role is also questioned: Did she simply represent the king in some ritual fashion, direct the battle, or even participate in some physical way, ranging from acting as an
archer to wielding a shock weapon? (See, for example, Wang Hsiao-wei, ed.,
Ping-yi Chih-tu,
1997, 39-40.)
2
Other clans apart from the Shang royal
tzu
clan and even some foreign peoples such as the Chiang, Chi, Yün, and Jen inhabited the core domain and could be called upon for military personnel (Ch’en Chieh, HCCHS 2003:2, 15-22).
3
Somewhat surprisingly, arguments to the contrary have begun to appear even in PRC publications. For an example based on a revised reading of the “P’an Keng” section in the
Shang Shu
, see Yü Fu-chih, HCCHS 1993:9, 49-55. (See also Li Ch’an, HCCHS 1998:2, 19-24.)
4
For example, in a much-cited appendix to his unpublished PhD dissertation, David Keightley concluded that the Shang did not depend on slaves for productivity.
5
Two useful overviews in the acrimonious debate over the status of the
chung
are Wang Kuei-min, CKSYC 1990:1, 102-114, and Yang Sheng-nan, 1991, 303-352. David Keightley concluded that there is no evidence for the
chung
having been slaves. (
Cambridge History of Ancient China
, 285-286.) Kung Wei-tuan, HCCHS 1986:11, 41-47, among others, concurs.
6
For example, see Ch’ao Fu-lin, CKSYC 2001:4, 3-4.
7
Robin Yates, JEAA 3, nos. 1-2 (2002): 283-331, notes that slaves originated as military captives whose deaths had been temporarily remitted and who had thus become nonpersons.
8
However, Kung Wei-tuan claims that they were not sacrificed (HCCHS 11 [1986]: 41-47).
9
Oracular inquiries about the possibility of them “being lost” (
sang
) have been interpreted in two ways, querying whether they had deserted or had perished. (For an example of the latter see Liu Feng-hua, KKWW 2007:4, 22-26.) They are noted among the king’s prognostications about distant agricultural activities, hunting exercises, and military expeditions. (The chaos marking the latter two certainly would have provided ample opportunity to escape.) However, because the
chung
mobilized for these activities seem to have enjoyed a particularly close relationship with the king and the inquiries are far too frequent, this interpretation seems less likely. Furthermore, in the context of the Shang’s draconian punishment system, the possibility of successfully escaping may well be doubted. (It should also be noted that there are inquiries regarding the pursuit of defectors or others who betrayed the king, including men of high rank.)
10
Small numbers were employed in farming in Wu Ting’s era, only rarely in the hunt or military activities except against a couple of
fang-kuo
. (Ch’ao Fu-lin, CKSYC 2001:4, 3-12.)
11
For an expression of this view see Hsiao Nan, 1981, 129-130.
12
See, for example,
The Cambridge History of Ancient China
, 282-283.
13
However, Ch’ao Fu-lin holds the unusual view that the
chung
were basically members of the royal lineage who undertook various tasks and could even participate in the king’s sacrifices, whereas the
jen
were primarily people from other areas (including prisoners) or under the control of other lords. This would account for their greater mobilization in Wu Ting’s military campaigns (CKSYC 2001:4, 8-10).
14
At least this is Ch’ao Fu-lin’s interpretation (CKSYC 2001:4, 3-12).
15
Ch’ao Fu-lin, 11. Ch’ao believes they formed the basis for the unit known as the
jung
.
16
Chung Po-sheng, 1991, 104-116; Wen Shao-feng and Yüan T’ing-tung, 1983, 286-298. Chung (116) claims that the use of
ts’e
or bound reports (of bamboo strips) shows it was well established.
17
This trepidation would cohere with Chang Tsung-tung’s in MS 37 (1986-1987): 5-8 that Wu Ting was paranoid.
18
Claims that horses were already being ridden in the Shang have been advanced by Chang Shih-ju and others, including (for the dedicated purpose of forwarding intelligence to the capital) Wen Shao-feng, Yüan T’ing-tung, and Chung Po-sheng.
19
Wen Shao-feng and Yüan T’ing-tung,
Yin-hsü Pu-ts’u Yen-chiu
, 1983, 292.
20
Wen Shao-feng and Yüan T’ing-tung,
Yin-hsü Pu-ts’u Yen-chiu
, 289-292. The king queried whether he would receive urgent warning by signal drums on more than one occasion.
21
For a discussion see Wen Shao-feng and Yüan T’ing-tung, 286-288. Not all the examples they cite seem to fall into this category, some still perhaps being more correctly interpreted as the king posing (saying) a question as traditionally understood, but certainly those recorded as “
lai yüeh
”—“come to report” or “incoming report”—do.
22
For a discussion of this paradox see Ralph Sawyer,
Sino-Platonic Papers
157 (2005).
23
For examples see Wen Shao-feng and Yüan T’ing-tung, 1983, 292-297.
24
For example, as already noted in the era summaries,
Ping-pien
311 preserves apparently simultaneous queries about whether the king should attack the Pa-fang with Hsi or the Hsia-wei with Wang Ch’eng.
25
In HJ6543 and HJ6544 the king seems to be querying which of two alternatives will receive blessings, while HJ6959 preserves two separate inquiries on the same day in which Ch’üeh and Ching are to attack different enemies.
26
For example, HJ6475, whether Chih Kuo or Hou Kao should accompany the king in attacking the Yi, and HJ6477
cheng
, where the king inquires about having Hsi (?) accompany him in an attack on the Pa or Wang Ch’eng in an attack on the Hsia-wei.
27
For example, HJ7504, choosing between two commanders.
28
For inscriptions, including HJ6476
cheng
, see Wang Yü-hsin, 1991, 151.
29
For inscriptions, including HJ6480, see Wang Yü-hsin, 150.
30
The classic formulation appears in “Vacuity and Substance” in the
Art of War
, but Wu-tzu and Sun Pin subsequently elaborated the concept.
31
Luo K’un, 1998, 172, based on HJ6480, and Han Feng, 1982.
32
Numerous examples are seen in Wu Ting’s period, including HJ27972 and HJ6981. (It should be noted that the character is sometimes understood as meaning “victory.”)
35
For example,
Yi
916 has the king ordering a commander named Mao to slaughter the Wei-fang.
36
For example, HJ5805.
T’un-nan
2328, as interpreted by Li Hsüeh-ch’in (CKSYC 2006:4, 3-7), indicates that the right and left
lü
were to observe the enemy prior to undertaking a probing attack.
37
This is implied by HJ7888.
38
HJ35345, as cited and interpreted by Li Hsüeh-ch’in, CKSYC 2006:4, 3-7.
39
With an early form of the character
wei
(without the border enclosure) being employed. (For a brief discussion, see Chin Hsiang-heng’s famous “San-hang San-shih,” 8-9; for examples of two and even three Kung-fang armies surrounding the Shang in Wu Ting’s era, see “San-hang San-shih,” 15.)
41
Chao Kuang-hsien, HCCHS 1986:2, 30, notes that the various units underwent constant training under officers such as the
Yin
,
She
, and
Shih
.
42
For a brief examination see Han Chiang-su, CKSYC 2008:1, 37-38.
43
Li Hsin-ta,
Wu-kuan Chih-tu
, 1997, 21, believes that Wu Ting particularly valued warriors who had undergone training and assigned positions to them.
45
For example, HJ5772. (For further discussion see Ho Ching-ch’eng, KK 2008:11, 54-70, and the archery discussion that follows.)
46
Even Sun-tzu, who stressed the need for training, never discussed the means or measures, and the classic military writings, apart from the
Six Secret Teachings
and
Wei Liao-tzu
, barely
mention the subject. (On night exercises [based on
T’un-nan
383], see Meng Shih-k’ai, LSYC 1990:4, 103.)
47
For an example see Shang Ch’ing-fu, HCCHS 1999:6, 5-15. According to the
Mo-tzu
(“Ming Kuei”), King T’ang employed the “bird deployment and geese formation” to attack the Hsia, a description interpreted as evidence of a core force with two flanks. Although such projections back into the mists of antiquity are unfounded, not to mention inconsistent with the fundamental nature of society at the time, it should still be remembered that if more than a few men are mobilized, some sort of basic formation or form of deployment, whether circular or square, line or block, is inherently advantageous.
CHAPTER 14
1
More than a dozen stones, including limestone, quartz, sandstone, and jade, were employed for edged weapons in the Hsia and Shang. (For examples recovered from Anyang, see Li Chi, BIHP 23 (1952): 523-526 and 534-535. Wang Chi-huai discusses an early axe fabrication site in KKWW 2000:6, 36-41.)
2
Note that in making a distinction between
metalworking
(defined as limited-scale hammering, forging, etc.) and
metal production
, Ursula Franklin (“On Bronze and Other Metals in Early China,” 279-296), among others, has emphasized the importance of scale in metallurgy’s role in civilization.
3
See, for example, Yen Wen-ming, 1989, 110-112. In Yünnan, a region of vast copper resources, stone weapons continued to be employed during the early Bronze Age even after primitive axe shapes had appeared, forging and molding were being practiced, and basic alloys were already known. (Yün-nan-sheng Po-wu-kuan, KK 1995:9, 775-787.)
4
Cheng Te-k’un, the chief proponent for indigenous development in his books and articles such as “Metallurgy in Shang China,” was seconded by Noel Barnard in an important early review that still retains currency. (In “Review of
Prehistoric China
,
Shang China
,
China
,” Barnard argues that piece-mold casting techniques were almost unique to China as metals were worked in the West; smithy practices were few; the lost wax process that predominated in the West did not appear until the end of the Warring States period; binary and then ternary alloys were employed early on; and there is essential continuity with the ceramic tradition. In contrast, An Chih-min, KK 1993:12, 1110-1119, has speculated that ancient trade routes could have played an important but unspecified role. For further discussion see Shang Chih-t’an, WW 1990:9, 48- 55; Li Shui-ch’eng, KKHP 2005:3, 239-278; and Ch’en Hsü, HSLWC, 171-175.)
It has also long been held that bronze molding techniques evolved to allow the casting of metallic versions of ceramic precursors and that this continuity from ceramic to bronze realizations provides substantial evidence of the indigenous development of metallurgy in China, particularly in the absence of hammering and other smithy techniques. However, a dissenting voice has been raised by John La Plante, EC 13 (1988): 247-273, who claims Chinese molding techniques evolved to facilitate the production of vessels originally fabricated by the hammering and joining of sheet metal.
Finally, it was originally believed (and is still sometimes claimed) that Shang bronze casting relied on the lost wax method, but more recent evidence has clearly shown that it didn’t appear until sometime in the Warring States period. Furthermore, in his classic article “Yin-tai T’ungch’i,” Ch’en Meng-chia (KKHP 1954:7, 36-41) provided an analysis of the evolution of Shang molding techniques that effectively argued that they never employed the lost wax process. His viewpoint was seconded a decade later by Noel Barnard in “Review of
Prehistoric China
,
Shang China
,
China
” and more recently updated by T’an Te-jui, KKHP 1999:2, 211-250, who similarly concluded that the lost wax process didn’t evolve until well into the Warring States period. The
process was also employed in later times out on the periphery of Chinese civilization. (For example, see Chiang Yü, KK 2008:6, 85-90.)
5
For a discussion of these differences, see Miyake Toshihiko, KK 2005:5, 73-88. Metallurgical traditions also evolved in peripheral cultures such as Hsia-chia-tien in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, and northern Hebei (1700-1200 BCE); Yüeh-shih (1600-1300); and of course San-hsing-tui, whose technological advances and stylistic elements were the result of complex interactions with the core cultural area coupled with indigenous cultural factors and ore characteristics. (For an analysis of metal developments in Hungshan culture in the northeast that date to about 3000 BCE, see Chu Yung-kang, KKHP 1998:2, 133-152.)
6
For example, in the middle Neolithic some areas seem to have specialized in the production of stone implements despite lacking immediately available resources. (For an example, see Li Hsin-wei, KK 2008:6, 58-68.)
7
In recent years several excavations have been carried out at ancient mining sites, leading to a new appreciation not only of their extensiveness and sophistication, but also of the widely varying ore profile. (For example, see Mei Chien-chün et al., KK 2005:4, 78 ff.) Wu Ju-tso, CKKTS 1995:8, 12-20, notes that copper is found naturally intermixed with zinc or lead at numerous small mines around places like Chiao-chou, Kao-mi, An-ch’iu, and Ch’ang-le. Tuan Yü, WW 1996:3, 36-47, describes the low level of tin used in Pa/Shu ritual vessels in comparison with the Shang.