Perspectives on Warfare in Pre-Modern China and the Mongol Empire (Essay Sample)

PERSPECTIVES ON WARFARE IN PRE-MODERN CHINA AND THE MONGOL EMPIRE
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Introduction
Pre-modern China is mainly about the late Qing dynasty and the fall of Imperial China. It dates from 1279 CE up to 1912 CE. Pre-modern China is categorized into dynastic and historical periods. The use of bows in Chinese warfare gave way to crossbows, chariots to cavalry, and eventually artillery stones gave way to gunpowder bombs. The Mongol Empire rose from the unification of various nomadic tribes in the Mongol homeland that was led by Genghis Khan in 1206 CE. Mongol warfare was based on military tactics and organization, enabling the empire to conquer near all its rival neighbors. At the early stage of the rise of the empire, the Mongol empire relied on warriors which mostly consisted of men and a few women. These worriers were skilled at using lances, battles axes, long knives, and swords during war. Pre-modern China and the Mongol Empire have relatively different perspectives on warfare. This paper aims at comparing and contrasting perspectives of war in the two regions. It will rely on primary sources to examine forces that influenced warfare.[Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Pg. 67] [Morris Rossabi’s the Mongols and Global History. Pg. 4]
The primary sources to be used in the analysis are The Art of War by Suzi Tzu; Chinese Civilization by Patricia Buckley; The Mongols and Global History; and Worlds of History by Kevin Reilly
The history of warfare in Pre-modern China
Warfare in Pre-modern China was a strategy for one region to gain control over another, state could expand and protect its people and resources, as well as allowed new leaders to replace the existing ones. With the rise of new war tactics and the need to become powerful, the Chinese intelligentsia may have frowned upon warfare that associated with it. There were times of peace but sometimes it was difficult to escape the demands of war –it was either to fight or die, lose all of a person’s win or win’s one’s possession, be enslaved or be conscripted. The Chinese bronze age led to the rise of a great military rivalry between the Chinese city rulers who were lusting to acquire all the wealth of their neighbors. Their success in grabbing the riches legitimized reigns and increased warfare in the region. Individuals who could not fight lost their possessions, their residents were demolished, some were killed, and other were enslaved. The history of China dates to war between one state with another, although the warfare was less glorified in Pre-modern China than it happened in other ancient societies.[Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Pg. 67]
Confucian philosophy and its accompanying literature is believed to be the main contributor of the absence of glorification of war in Pre-modern China. The philosophy stressed the essence of other matters of civil life. There were military treaties, minimizing stirring tales of derring-do in battle and martial themes in Chinese