China
Warlord Period ā Foreign Advisors &Ā Mercenaries
1927: a White Russian crewman of the Northern Warlords Army armoured train āShantungā. He is wearing exactly the same uniform as his Chinese comrades, and, unlike White Russians serving in other armies, has no distinguishing insignia of nationality. (This train would later be captured by the NRA, and served in their 4th Armoured Train Battalion before being captured yet again…
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THE HAN ARMY
The territorial expansion of the Western Han, notably under Emperor Wudi, placed considerable stress on the maintenance of the army. In the first place, military force was deployed to take new territory, particularly in the northwest, where huge tracts were occupied beyond the Jade Gates into the Tarim Basin. To…
Early Vietnam
A Mosaic of a Hundred Viet The area of the Red River delta and the hills that line it from three sides is considered today to be the cradle of Vietnamese civilization, the sacred land from which todayās Vietnam traces its national heritage back for thousands of years. Viewed from…
The Chinese War JunkĀ I
Junk is a type of ancient Chinese sailing ship that is still in use today. Junks were used as seagoing vessels as early as the 2nd century AD and developed rapidly during the Song Dynasty (960ā1279). They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean…
The Chinese War JunkĀ II
In the case of the Ming Indian Ocean expeditions, the Emperor Zhu Di chose as his agent and leader of the expeditions the eunuch Admiral Zheng He. Born 1372 into a Muslim family named Ma in Yunnan, he was taken at age ten into the Ming service, and subsequently castrated…
Steamed Victory: The NemesisĀ II
The Nemesis Steamer British sailors towing warships toward the besieged city of Canton on 24 May 1841. On March 13, 1841, the rest of the British fleet arrived outside Canton, and blew the Chinese ships in the harbor to pieces and knocked out the cityās cannon. During the afternoon of…
Han Dynasty FrontierĀ Armies
One of the key transformations of Chinese society during the Han was the abolition of universal military service, an institution that had underpinned the Warring States and the Qin.22 With the Hanās defeat of the feudatory kingdoms in 154 B.C., the possibility of large-scale warfare in the interior of China…