Military History of Chine Until 1911

One can find the traces of the presence of Chinese Military from 2200 BCE until the present day. After the Warring States Period, the development of the Chinese Military began and then the military became advance and powerful. The basic purpose with which the army at that time used to work was to defend the China from its intruders, providing protection to the people of China and to broaden the horizons of its influence across the continent of Asia. China has a long military history. Previous dynasties in Chinese history are based on the development of military of large-scale war. Historically there have been civil commotion and uprising. China and the surrounding minority, especially in the northern nomads, have an ongoing conflict. Opium War, China and the Western powers of the war almost ended in failure. The military of China has evolved itself over the period of time. Different events has shaped and developed the structure of the Chinese military. The aim and purpose of this paper is to talk about the military history of China. The following part of the paper discusses the history related to the military development and the structure of the military in different dynasties of China.

Presence of Military in China before Warring States

During that time the Chinese military was working at a very low level. At that time the military of China were very ill trained as well as very ill-equipped. The military used to obey the commands of the king and the feudal lord of the areas. They used to carry weapons made up of bronze such as sword and spears (Xiong, pp. 1).

Presence of Military in China during Warring States

The system of feudalism ended up during this time period and the notion of the centralized government came into being. With this change in the governing structure several changes also came in the army. As a result of the advancement of the technology Chinese army got the classification of professional standing armies and became able to fight sustained campaigns (Xiong, pp. 1).

Presence of Military in China during Qin-Han Dynasty

Qin made the attempt of unifying the China in 221 BCE. He made many attempts to minimize rebelliousness. He declared the private possession of weapons as illegal. Various long roads and canals were built for the deployment of the army. During the dynasty of Qin the army of China had to face the threat from the northern side in terms of Xiongnu. People could escape from conscription by paying a fee. People who used to provide horses and weapons were also not liable for conscription (Xia, pp. 17).

Presence of Military in China during Three Kingdoms - Jin

In this era the army of northern side diverged with the army of the southern side. This divergence resulted in a very different development of military in China (Xia, pp. 17).

Presence of Military in China during Sui Tang Dynasty

The adoption of the large elements of cavalry registered a success for Sui and Tang ...