Ancient Chinese Warfare (35 page)

As early as Wu Ting’s era the army (
shih
) was already an identifiable operational force. Although the title
chiang
, usually translated as “general” in accord with Western convention, does not appear in the Shang, the character
shih
is used in naming certain commanders. (The usual format is
shih
plus clan name such as Pan, so essentially “General Pan.”) In addition,
shih chang
or “leader of the
shih,
” which is mentioned in the
Shang Shu
but not the oracular inscriptions, may have been a functional title, particularly late in the dynasty in accord with the army’s increasing prominence and formalized organization.
²⁵

Shang oracle writings indicate formalized ritual procedures were observed whenever the king appointed someone to direct a campaign.
²⁶
Although dating a thousand years later, something like the ceremony described by the T’ai Kung in advising King Wu how to properly empower his field commander and transfer the necessary authority apparently occurred in the ancestral temple:
²⁷

Composed in the late Warring State period, this excerpt reflects late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States thought first expressed in the
Art of War
about the commander’s necessary independence in the field. Nevertheless, generals were to be commissioned before the ancestors and properly sanctioned by appropriate prognostications, and their appointments were recorded on wooden tablets, just as oracular inscriptions indicate occurred in the Shang. Even King Wen of the Chou was reputedly appointed as the Western
Po
(duke) with the awarding of a bow, arrows, axe, and
yüeh
axe, all symbolic of conferring authority.

Although many military needs were fulfilled by clan members and others who temporarily but repeatedly assumed prominent combat responsibilities, officials also staffed a number of recurring, obviously martial positions.
²⁸
The incipient administrative structure discernible even in the earliest oracular inscriptions clearly evolved over the centuries at Anyang, becoming more formalized and specialized. Apart from being consistently entrusted with functionally differentiated tasks such as reclaiming lands on a repetitive basis, members of the Shang warrior elite primarily exercised military authority.
²⁹
Without their modifiers (such as
tuo
for many, generally indicating a higher or supervisory position and thus meriting the appellation “chief,” and
mou
for “directing,” later “planning”), these officials included the
ma
(horse),
ya
(commander),
fu
(which means “quiver” but whose role is unknown),
³⁰
she
(archer),
wei
(protector),
ch’üan
(dog), and
shu
. Although their exact responsibilities remain nebulous, their titles imply that they had charge of well-defined battlefield aspects ranging from animals through weapons and, in addition to logistical responsibilities, probably directed training and led units as subcommanders on the field.

The position of
ya
or “commander,” seen alone and as
tuo-ya
and
ya-mou
, without doubt was a purely military position with encompassing martial responsibilities and authority. It not only appears numerous times in the oracular inscriptions, but also on late Shang bronze vessels and great symbolic axes of power that have been recovered from military enclaves on the Shang periphery.
³¹
Individuals with the title
ya
were deputed to border locations, where they performed defense-related functions and could appoint subordinate officials and assign command responsibilities to local nobles, evidence of their considerable authority;
undertook command of field armies entrusted with attacking and damaging enemies such as the Ch’üan; and shouldered responsibility for the king’s protection.

The discovery of not just individual chariots but also multiple vehicles buried as marks of martial prestige with high-ranking nobles as well as in burial mounds solely of horses and chariots clearly proves that they existed in sufficient numbers to be of more than occasional use for prestige transport. However, they were expensive, fragile, complicated to manufacture, and probably functioned mainly as dispersed platforms for archery and exercising command over units of closely integrated infantry. There are few references in the oracle inscriptions to employing them on the battlefield, and the maximum number ever specified is only 300. (In the latter case they may have comprised discrete chariot units that could have acted as penetration or flanking forces if used en masse, or simply highly mobile archery platforms.)

Because horses provided crucial motive power, the
ma
or horse officer seems to have been entrusted with proportionately greater authority. (The term
ma
is interchangeably used to indicate the physical presence of “horses” and the warriors or officers who employed them, whether charioteers or perhaps even cavalry riders.) Highly knowledgeable and presumably experienced in equine-centered military affairs, in normal times the
ma
was entrusted with raising, training, and evaluating the state’s horses, including those sent in as tribute.

Tuo ma
, literally “many horse” but clearly a functional equivalent of “horse commander” or “chief
ma
,” also appears. To the extent that chariots formed a core component of the army, the
tuo ma
appears to have controlled contingents of the standing army; assumed a command role on the battlefield, being deputed on campaigns to attack enemy states; been entrusted with defensive responsibilities that extended to the ruler; and also directed the hunt on occasion. Sometimes even
tuo ma ya
, or “supervisor or commander of the
tuo ma
,” is recorded in the inscriptions. However, the esteemed title
ssu-ma
—“supervisor of horse,” but later, in the Chou feudal hierarchy, functionally the “minister of war”—though probably equivalent to “
tuo ma ya
,” had not yet evolved.
³²

The “canine officers” (
ch’üan
) probably had their origin as kennel masters for the king’s dogs, but their number multiplied and their authority
expanded as the role of dogs increased in protection, the hunt, and perhaps the battlefield,
³³
and they apparently performed intelligencegathering functions.
³⁴
The “chief canine officer” (
tuo-ch’üan
) also appears in the inscriptions, but most of the entries refer to the
ch’üan
supervising the hunt and assembling the “new” archers, commanding attacks on enemy states, and offering Ch’iang prisoners in sacrifice to the early Shang ancestor T’ai Chia, a remarkably rare privilege. The term
ch’üanmou
also appears in a few instances, apparently designating either a canine officer named Mou or one entrusted with planning responsibilities.

Archery was highly esteemed in the Shang, and two official titles appear,
she
and
tuo-she
.
³⁵
Just as the term
ma
(horse) has an extended meaning as the horse commander or official in charge of horses, the character for
she
has been generally interpreted as a title that clearly derives from the archer’s basic role. Apart from whatever responsibilities they must have had for archery contingents in combat, the
tuo she
undertook broader responsibilities for the realm’s protection, often in conjunction with the
wei
or protector.
³⁶
However, their role seems to have been more circumscribed than other military officials.

Unexpectedly, the position of “
shih
,” functionally “historian” or “astrologer” in later ages (especially with the honorific “
t’ai
” or “grand” preceding it as an official title), in this early form meaning “emissary,” also seems to have been responsible solely for military activities in the Shang.
³⁷
Inscriptions indicate that
shih
were being dispatched to the various quarters, especially west and south, and to designated locations for both offensive and defensive purposes. In some cases they commanded expeditionary campaigns such as against the Kung-fang during Wu Ting’s reign; in others they were entrusted with mounting some sort of standing defense against external threats, particularly from the steppe, thereby becoming the first known border commanders.

Queries about whether a particular
shih
would return from a longstanding assignment on a certain day or be successful in capturing prisoners indicate their importance in the king’s consciousness. Granting of martial authority to them similarly was formalized with ceremonies that had to be held on auspicious days, no doubt much as described above. Regional designations also seem to have appeared, such as “
nan shih
” or the “southern shih” and at least two ranks,
ta
(great) and
hsiao
(“little,” “minor,” or perhaps “ junior”)
shih
. For one southern campaign they were further differentiated as center, left, and right, clearly in accord with Wu Ting’s initiation of tripart field forces, implying that the south had become a troublesome area.

Although it has been suggested that the term
shu
—which means something like “guarding” or “protecting”—designated a border contingent, in many usages it clearly refers to an officer entrusted with command of units responsible for defending the periphery. The character itself is seen as being composed by a man and a dagger-axe (
ko
), the same elements as
fa
, “to attack.” However, in the latter the man is holding the
ko
, whereas in
shu
he is standing underneath the
ko
.
³⁸
In various inscriptions the
shu
are ordered to exercise command functions in the field, sometimes in association with other normally subordinate officers such as the
ma
or
she
; dispatched to attack and damage enemy states; and assigned responsibility for ordering and commanding the
chung
, especially the king’s
chung
(for whom they may have been the only commanders).
³⁹
Shu-mou
and
wu-tsu-shu
are also seen, with the latter probably referring to the commander of a group of units from the five major clans that had been deputed to shoulder perimeter responsibilities. Whether referring to actual contingents, as in Wu Ting’s era, or an official title, the common tripart designation of left, right, and center also appears.
⁴⁰

Finally, depending on how titles such as
tuo ma
are interpreted, some analysts claim to be able to discern the existence of a fairly structured military hierarchy even in the Shang, though certainly not the one depicted in systematic Warring States idealizations. Although not necessarily unexpected because minimal lines of battlefield authority would have been required for the army to perform effectively, the more important question would seem to be how rigidly defined they may have been. Although the term
tuo
can simply refer to the many officials of a certain type, it usually indicates a superior position or commander for such officials, with even the
ma hsiao-ch’en
(junior official for horses), for example, serving under the
tuo ma
. The appellative
ya
should then designate an even higher-ranking position within a hierarchy of defined functions. Presumably everyone on the field of battle would have been subservient to the overall army commander, whether the king, minor ruler, or specialist such as the
shu
(when out at the border), but subordinate
authority may have been more fragmented, with less clarity in the relationships prevailing among the commander of the dog officers, archery commanders, and others.