Military Technology

TO THE TEACHER

OBJECTIVES OF THIS UNIT: To help students think about warfare from the perspective of the technology used, thus linking military history to economic history and the history of science.

TEACHING STRATEGIES: This unit can be used to help students grasp the long-term military confrontation between Chinese dynasties and the northern steppe societies. This unit lends itself to a comparative approach as many of the weapons and techniques have close counterparts in other parts of the world.

Most of the images in this unit were taken from wood block illustrations in traditional Chinese books. To make this unit more challenging, teachers could raise questions about the advantages and limits of such sources.
WHEN TO TEACH: Although the material in this unit derives primarily from Song dynasty sources, it deals with weapons and defensive systems in use for many centuries, and even in a chronologically-organized course could be used earlier or later to good effect. If used as part of instruction on the Song period, students would get more from the unit if they have already been introduced to the struggle between the Song and its northern neighbors, culminating with the Mongols. This unit would also be appropriate for use in teaching comparative military history.

The Song period is a good point to take stock of China's military technology. First, warfare was central to the history of the period. The confrontation between the Song and the three successive non-Chinese states to the north (Liao, Jin, and Yuan) made warfare not only a major preoccupation for those in government service, but also a stimulus to rethinking major intellectual issues. Second, we have illustrated sources for the military arts of the period, in particular, The Essentials of the Military Arts [in this Teacher's Guide this link is below], published in the eleventh century. Most of the illustrations in this section have been drawn from this book. Third, the military technology of the Song-Yuan era can be compared to that of Europe in the same period. In this era, although China did not win all the wars, it had surprisingly advanced military technology.

The Essentials of the Military Arts (Wujing zongyao) was completed in the early Song (1043) by Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, and others at the order of Emperor Renzong. The book has four parts, including institutions, frontier defense, campaign anecdotes, and divination. The book can be seen as an encyclopaedia of Chinese military arts till the Song time. Its topics range from military strategy and organization to infantry and cavalry training, the production and employment of weapons, and famous campaigns of earlier periods. The large number of illustrations in the book make it especially valuable as a source for the military technology of the time.

Warfare in this period usually aimed to capture cities, which were the centers of both commerce and government. Therefore, this unit deals primarily with the type of weapons, implements, and strategies used in attacking and defending cities. Before firearms were invented, crossbows and catapults were the most important of these weapons.
Think about the following issues as you view the sections on the right.

	*Given the military technology of the period, how much of an advantage went to the side that could afford lots of expensive weapons?*
	*In what ways was siege warfare in China similar to siege warfare in medieval Europe? What sorts of differences are significant?*
	*Why would the Chinese publish guides to the construction of weapons? What if they fell into the hands of the enemy?*
	*Would the nomads of the north, such as the Mongols, have any particular advantage in siege warfare?*

siegecraft

crossbows and armor

spears, clubs, and swords

catapults

warships

gunpowder and firearms