Ancient Chinese Warfare (44 page)

The four
yüeh
recovered from Fu Hao’s tomb, although not the only ones dating to the early Yin-hsü, epitomize the weapon’s symbolic nature and confirm its role as the ultimate prestige battlefield implement. The largest two are thick, heavy specimens in a square style that measure 39.5 and a nearly identical 39.3 centimeters high and have
blade widths of 37.3 and 38.5 centimeters, respectively. The former has slightly indented sides, a somewhat rounded blade, a wide tab, and two binding slots on the shoulders, and is decorated with two tigers leaping toward a man in the center of the blade itself.
⁴²
Although basically rectangular, one of them being 24.4 centimeters long and 14.8 wide at the blade, the two middle-sized
yüeh
have the deeply indented sides of an hourglass shape, and
t’ao-t’ieh
patterns embellish the upper portion of the blade, but no flanges.
⁴³

The seven
yüeh
discovered in the tomb of a high-ranking military commander named Ch’ang, apparently the progenitor of the Ch’ang clan, dated to late in the second period at Yin-hsü, well illustrate the tendency to individuality. Not only are the shapes and decorations unusual, but the characters
ya Ch’ang
are also included on one blade.
⁴⁴
Nearly as large as Fu Hao’s
yüeh
, the most massive and interesting specimen has a 40.5-centimeter-high blade, a maximum width of 29.8 centimeters where the blade flares outward, and an extremely heavy weight of 5.95 kilograms. Marked by a somewhat asymmetrical curve at bottom and a top shape that conforms to the molded design of the protruding decorations, it was secured by a large, embellished tab and lashing holes at the top of the blade. Dragons and the characters for the commander’s name complete the appearance. Five of the other six are similar, being more rectangular, with a length of about 20.5 centimeters; long tabs; a surprisingly light weight of about 0.67 kilogram; and a combination of stylized circles, triangles, and an animal motif for decoration. However, the last specimen, rather squat at 21.2 centimeters high and 18.7 wide, has a comparatively simple, symmetrical curved edge with a large hole centered in the upper blade, a centered tab, and weight of 0.75 kilogram.

Whether recovered from Anyang or farther afield, the
fu
and
yüeh
dating to the final reigns show continuity with previous styles but a pronounced tendency to be symbolic, as attested by specimens whose thinness precludes any combat utility.
⁴⁵
Although a few are marked by elaborate decorations including complex
t’ao-t’ieh
patterns or three large triangles, others, probably intended for less distinguished commanders or even for interring with the deceased, display simplified, abstract patterns.
⁴⁶
However, exceptions and anomalies (such as asymmetrical blade
shapes) are not unknown,
⁴⁷
especially out in the northwest, where socketed versions evolved, and local characteristics as well as external influences are strongly evident, such as in a comparatively narrow but long half-moon blade with three large holes mounted lengthwise at the top of a short shaft.
⁴⁸
Even some tabbed versions came to display unusual features, including a three-dimensional ram’s head on both sides.
⁴⁹

16.

R
ATHER AMORPHOUS, minimally effective knives percussively flaked from rough mineral blanks began to assume consistent, discernible form early in the Neolithic period, initiating a slow evolutionary process that took advantage of the ongoing advances in lithic and eventually metallurgical knowledge to improve their contour and quality.
¹
Although it is generally believed that they were employed solely as tools and in hunting, any knife can always be utilized, albeit awkwardly and with considerable difficulty, as a weapon of last resort at close range, as well as for slitting the throats of the unwary, slaying sacrificial victims, and dismembering enemies. Eventually knives would lengthen to become the large
tao
or sabers carried by late Warring States cavalry riders.

Selected characteristics derived from the more deadly but still utilitarian knives created on the periphery during the late Neolithic influenced the shape of Shang knives and daggers. Nevertheless, almost all the specimens recovered from the Hsia and Shang have simple designs featuring integral handles, were clearly intended for tedious applications, and rarely exceed twenty-five centimeters in length.
²
However, the metal embodiments that were initially molded or occasionally hammered from copper or naturally occurring alloys rather than cast from bronze are generally longer and more elegant, similar to contemporary straight razors and some rectangular knives employed in modern Chinese cuisine.

Shang variations other than length and width are seen in the degree of curvature, if any; the type of handle, flat and straight or circular and
therefore suitable for wrapping cord; the pointedness of the tip as well as whether it suddenly arcs upward or downward; and the profile of the bottom edge of the blade insofar as it presents a smooth contour, cuts sharply downward, or expands and contracts along the length.
³
Northern influences primarily affected the handle portion, with the animal figures, heavier tabs, and rings marking later Shang knives and daggers all having been derived from the Northern complex.
⁴

Debate has arisen over whether Shang fighters deliberately employed their knives as fighting weapons after expending their arrows and closing for combat or viewed them solely as tools. Their recovery in a few early Shang weapon sets has been seen as implying a combat role even though they were probably intended for purely utilitarian purposes such as maintaining the wooden components of their other weapons.
⁵
It has even been claimed that the knife’s size and the type of decorations embellishing the handle reflected the owner’s status within the emerging warrior hierarchy.
⁶

However, being extremely short and generally lacking a point for piercing, their utilization would have been confined to surprise and to hacking at disabled opponents. Furthermore, because more efficient weapons tend to quickly displace inferior ones on the battlefield, the simultaneous emergence of daggers, dirks, and short swords that were far more suited for fighting purposes almost certainly rules out any dedicated combat role for the knife. (The fact that daggers and knives coexisted in many northern cultures suggests that the former were weapons, the latter tools.) No knife fighter employing slashing motions at close quarters could survive a clash with an opponent armed with a dagger-axe or short spear!

Nevertheless, a few “lethal-looking” knives recovered primarily outside the core Shang domain may have functioned as weapons in desperate circumstances and for delivering the final cuts when slaying an incapacitated or otherwise constrained individual. For example, three knives recovered from P’an-lung-ch’eng could easily be weapons, including the longest at 35.6 centimeters (or about 14 inches), which has a saberlike elongated profile, sharp point, slight downward curvature in the upper edge, and slight curve in the bottom so that the blade bulges toward the middle. Marked by a fairly wide spine, sharp top and bottom
edges, very stubby flanges top and bottom, and a basically flat tang continuous with the upper edge and long enough to affix decent wooden pallets to create a handle, it is definitely a slashing weapon whose point could be used for piercing.

The second one is characterized by a straight top edge and a slight inward curve toward the middle on the bottom edge, but the blade retains a basically saberlike appearance. It has a short tang continuous with the top edge, no flanges, and is 30.8 centimeters long. The first two could have been grasped in the hand without additional improvements, but probably had cord or cloth wrapped on the handle to provide a secure grip. However, the third specimen, 30.4 centimeters long, looks more like a throwing knife but has an open filigree handle with a downward hook at the end and would have been unbalanced.

Legends of magical daggers and powerful swords began circulating as early as the Spring and Autumn period around Wu and Yüeh, the two states closely identified with the sword’s inception, and became part of the lore essential to
wu-hsia
(martial arts) stories by the T’ang dynasty, an era when swords were just assuming symbolic roles in localized folk ceremonies and Taoist rituals.
⁷
However, despite exaggerated claims and considerable controversy, archaeological discoveries show that rather than dating back to semimythical antiquity, the true sword (which might be simply defined as a thrusting or slashing blade that has a minimal length of at least two feet) did not begin to develop until late in the Spring and Autumn period. This explains why the
Art of War
, which presumably reflects late Spring and Autumn military affairs, never mentions swords when noting the fiscal burden incurred in warfare for the expenditure of bows and crossbows, chariots, helmets, armor, and shields.
⁸

Prior to the late Spring and Autumn, warriors may have carried daggers, traditionally termed “short swords,” or extemporaneous weapons such as spearheads or dagger-axe blades as their weapons of last resort. Only after infantry forces multiplied and metallurgical techniques advanced would thrusting weapons designed for extremely close combat begin to lengthen and displace the dagger-axe and spear throughout
central China, creating the requisite context for the emergence of slashing swords as well.
⁹
However, all the daggers and proto-swords recovered from Shang, Western Chou, and even Spring and Autumn sites have long been said to be designed for thrusting rather than slashing attacks.
¹⁰

Because swords proved to be not just ineffectual but even a liability in chariot combat, many scholars have attributed their proliferation in the late Warring States and Han to the demise of chariot-based warfare and the cavalry’s development.
¹¹
(Spring and Autumn swords would have been too short to impale opponents, while exposing the wielder to spear thrusts and dagger-axe strikes. Early swords were also ill designed to deliver the downward, saberlike slashing blows required of warriors standing in a raised chariot compartment.) However, prejudgments that have tended to constrain historical assessment by tying the sword’s initial absence to a chariot-dominated mode of warfare should be avoided.
¹²
No matter how numerous the chariots or how extensive their role, their numbers were still insignificant compared with the masses of troops that normally congested the battlefield.
¹³
The sword’s thrusting ability was clearly approximated by the short hand spear, essentially a dagger point mounted on a handle, and a preference for traditional weapons coupled with technical difficulties in making strong yet resilient swords more likely retarded the sword’s emergence as a critical weapon.

Theories about the dagger’s inception in China currently range from assertions that they imitated steppe weapons to claims of totally indigenous development, with or without nonmetallic precursors,
¹⁴
including from spearheads or dagger-axes that were elongated and strengthened.
¹⁵
Improvements in shape, durability, sharpness, and appearance then rapidly followed in accord with advances in metallurgical knowledge and practice. However, swords with slashing power and significant blade length simply could not be fabricated until the Spring and Autumn period, and even then would not flourish until the late Warring States and Han dynasty.
¹⁶

As the cavalry became a critical battlefield element, a single-edged sword with a ring handle, termed a
tao
or “knife,” in turn gradually displaced the long bronze Warring States swords and unwieldy early Han iron variants.
¹⁷
Thereafter, further advances in metalworking saw two
distinctive trends emerge, one toward high-quality, shorter, functional swords, the other toward purely ceremonial and elaborately decorated symbolic weapons. As a result, with the onset of the Sui and into the T’ang, steel “knives” eventually became the slashing weapon chosen by both infantrymen and cavalrymen.

The numerous daggers and short swords that have been recovered over the past few decades allow a minimal historical reconstruction. Hundreds of individual reports have described sites that contain from one to several swords, and a few synthetic articles have outlined the weapon’s history in particular periods.
¹⁸
However, the former tend to be marred by the idiosyncratic creation of multiple types and subtypes, and the latter often neglect the fundamental structural changes that affect combat efficiency and tend to study the sword in terms of visual qualities such as handle style, decorations, and overall appearance rather than the functionally critical aspects of blade length, relative dimensions, strength, and resiliency.