Military

The Zhou Military

Introduction The Zhou may have seemed like a peaceful civilized dynasty and maybe they were, but one thing about them was definitely not civilized and that was their greatly feared military. The Zhou armies were brutal and were overwhelmingly powerful. They were artists and their masterpiece was that of war. The Zhou isn’t a military that is talked about much when ancient civilizations are mentioned, but they did cross a lot of milestones and invent and practically discover some of the most valuable secrets of war.

The Legacy Yes the Zhou were crafty and creative in the art of war, but that’s not all they were good at. The Zhou were very strategic in everything they did. One thing the Zhou kind of copied from the Qin dynasty was building walls to keep out invaders out. Although these walls weren’t as famous as the great wall they still proved to be an addition to the already militarily strong Zhou. These walls served their purpose and were eventually connected to the great wall.

Rules of War In the game of war the Zhou were brutal. Even though the Zhou were barbarians on the field of battle they had to play by the rules. If the leader in command didn’t follow the rules they would be shunned by the Zhou society. It actually wasn’t a set of rules it was just one. The leaders had to follow this code of conduct, very similar to the code of chivalry of medieval Europe. No one could kill a defeated enemy or attack an opponent before he had time to mobilize his forces. So even though the Zhou were brutes they did “play by the rules”.

Warfare and Tactics The Zhou military was strong, advanced and way ahead of it’s time, as you already know. When the military first became strong the army was made up of a majority of peasant foot soldiers with cheap weapons and armor and some chariots mounted with Knights and lords that were well armed and equipped and well trained. The army was very strong even though the majority were foot soldiers who weren’t well equipped or trained. The peasants wore whatever clothing they had and used farming tools as weapons, the knights were armed with armor that was made of a lot of pieces of leather attached together with hemp. Last, but not least, the lords wore breastplates that were made of hardened pieces of leather band had bronze weapons. The breastplates that the lords wore were painted in the colors of their domain. By the 6th century B.C. the army has replaced chariots with cavalry and have taken in the nomadic war strategy. While their cavalry attacks at full gallop archers let off a volley of arrows. The army also decided to better equip and train its foot soldiers.



www.wikipedia.com

Conclusion These are only some facts about the Zhou military. And these are only some of the reasons why the Zhou Army was so powerful. Better yet, if you liked reading this why not read our whole blog on Ancient China.

Questions: 1. How did the Zhou’s military evolve in the sixth century?

2. Who in the Zhou military were at the most risk?

3. Who’s strategy in war did the Zhou leave behind?

4. What did the Zhou military leave behind?