The reign of Han Wudi (141-87 BCE) represented not only the triumph of imperial centralism but also the high point of Han expansionism. Tremendous economic growth during the early decades of the Han dynasty meant greatly increased resources for the imperial government, even with tax rates far below those that had been imposed in the late Warring States and especially Qin eras. A professional bureaucracy based on the Confucian ideal of appointment according to merit (and Warring States and Qin era experiences) was able to efficiently collect the taxes and utilize them to raise and maintain a large, professional military force and to fund vast military campaigns in China’s frontier regions.
There were several stimuli for these campaigns, including increased threats from the Xiongnu to the north, the need to secure trade along the Silk Road, a desire to spread the reach of Chinese civilization, and the will of the emperor Wudi. Indeed, the Silk Road did not exist before the Chinese military campaigns secured the trade routes of Inner Asia. The emperor spent large sums constructing this gateway to Central Asia from the east and to China from the west, and he established garrisons to protect the way stations along the route. Wudi also responded to increased Xiongnu raiding activity by adopting an aggressive policy of conquest and subjugation. A desire to expand direct and indirect Chinese control, cultural as well as political, and a curiosity about other lands also animated Wudi to dispatch Chinese armies far from the Central Plain. The will of this emperor, then, was the crucial factor in the initiation of the major military campaigns of the Han dynasty. Still, it was economic growth and an efficient bureaucracy that made these campaigns possible. These gave Chinese armies the resources needed, as well as in most cases superior weapons. Han opponents, with the possible exception of Korea, did not have the technological skills- especially in metallurgy-to compete in the manufacture of mass quantities of high-quality weapons.
Early in Han Wudi’s reign, Chinese armies were dispatched to reconquer the Min region (present-day Fujian Province). The lands there were fairly quickly subdued, but many of the native peoples were able to continue fighting, using several small islands along the coast as bases. Hit-and-run attacks apparently were very bothersome. In order to deprive the attackers of potential targets, the coastal population was removed to the interior. Although scholars doubt the evacuation was fully carried out, the Min region remained directly administered by the Han court.
In 112 BCE, Wudi dispatched his first expedition against the south (roughly, present-day provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi), as well as the small southern kingdom of Nanyüe (present-day northern Vietnam). This region had been briefly occupied by Qin armies but had reverted to independence during the chaos attending the fall of the Qin dynasty. Peoples in the Nanyüe region, including many Chinese who had fled there, had established a kingdom organized roughly on Chinese lines and accepted nominal Han sovereignty. Wudi decided to impose direct Chinese control over the region, and hundreds of small watercraft were constructed to transport the Han armies. The local peoples were no match for the Chinese, who reportedly arrived with armies of over 100,000 men. The sophisticated Han supply train kept its forces for the most part well fed and well supplied with technologically advanced weapons. Nanyüe, like the Min region, was incorporated as a directly administered region of the Han realm.
During the Warring States era, many Chinese refugees had fled to Korea, bringing their skills and culture along with them. The Qin period saw an even larger infusion of Chinese into Korea, including one Wei Man (Wiman in Korean), who had been made military commander of Korea by the king. In 190 BCE, Wei Man had used his army to take control of Korea and begin a new dynasty, which maintained amicable relations with Han China. On various pretexts, Wudi in 109 BCE sent military forces to invade Korea. A force of 60,000 traveled overland along with a force of about 7000 by sea. However, there was no co – ordination between the two groups, and the Korean army was able to force a withdrawal. Later in the year, a second expedition attacked Korea with more coordination, and this one proved successful. Northern Korea was incorporated into the Han realm, although this did not last more than a few years.
The largest, most complex, and most significant of Wudi’s campaigns were those directed against the Xiongnu. Beginning in 129 BCE, Wudi dispatched several expeditions against the Xiongnu, with armies that numbered in the tens of thousands. As in most military campaigns of the early and mid-Han era, the armies usually consisted of a core of regular or “military colony” troops, with most of the men being conscripts drawn from throughout the empire. Campaign armies also normally contained several units of cavalry. It is not clear how all the cavalry forces were raised, though we know that most came from allied nomadic tribes, including subjugated Xiongnu. Wudi’s military commanders were aware that without cavalry they were unlikely to catch their Xiongnu opponents, who could evade the more plodding Chinese infantry simply by withdrawing farther into the steppes.
Wudi’s expeditions were meticulously planned, with logistics (carts, oxen, laborers, food, weapons, and so on) carefully considered before the army left its camps. As northern territories suitable for agriculture were acquired, colonists-often convicts and their families-were settled to further solidify Chinese control (see below). These colonies also provided men and supplies for later expeditions. In Turkestan, the Han established fortified garrisons, especially in or near major cities along the Silk Road. The increased trade, and taxes obtained from such, was expected to defray much of the cost of the military campaigns. At great expense, Wudi and his armies succeeded in extending Han control over much of the north and west. Chinese armies were not always victorious, especially in the last decades of Han Wudi’s reign. One of the worst defeats came in 99 BCE, when the Xiongnu defeated a major Han force under the illustrious general Li Guangli, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers. In 90 BCE, Li blundered into a Xiongnu ambush, losing many thousands more of his men and being captured himself. Defeat in battle was deadly for both sides, as Chinese victories also often led to the slaughter of thousands of Xiongnu. Control of the captured regions remained tenuous throughout the Han dynasty, and the enormous expenses of the campaigns led to an almost empty treasury on the death of Han Wudi.
Weapons and Equipment
By the Warring States era, the main weapon of the Chinese soldier was the crossbow, mainly for the infantry, but also for many of the cavalry. Making its appearance sometime in the fifth century BCE, the crossbow became the main weapon of the infantry by the late Warring States era. Development of the crossbow reached a high point in the early Han era. Han armies marched to battle with their front and flanking units equipped normally with various spears, long axes, or halberd-type weapons, while the main body of troops were armed with crossbows.
Most infantrymen during this whole period were also equipped with some sort of armor, depending on their function and need-and also a shield, though, by the early Han dynasty, fewer troops were routinely equipped with shields. Camps were sometimes protected by mounting connected shields to the sides and tops of carts, which would then encircle the camp. Records suggest that sometimes these “deer horn carts” were also used on a smaller scale as mobile platforms.
The Chinese had learned cast-iron technology by the fifth century BCE, long before its invention in the West, and produced some weapons, although until the Han iron was mainly used for agricultural implements. In the Warring States era, rulers needed large quantities of foodstuffs in order to maintain their large armies, and iron implements contributed greatly to the increased efficiency of agricultural productivity. During the Warring States and even the Qin eras, Chinese weapons were made predominantly of bronze, and by the third century BCE, the technology of bronze-working was so advanced that the strength and durability of Chinese weapons was unrivaled in the world. The use of iron increased significantly in the third century BCE; by the Han period, a large proportion of blade weapons were made of cast iron.
