Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • 13 - Violence and Warfare in Early Imperial China

  • from Part II - Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
  • Edited by Garrett G. Fagan, Pennsylvania State University, Linda Fibiger, University of Edinburgh, Mark Hudson, Max-Planck-Institut für Menschheitsgeschichte, Germany, Matthew Trundle, University of Auckland
  • Book:
    The Cambridge World History of Violence
    Published online:
    13 March 2020
    Print publication:
    26 March 2020, pp 277-296

  • Summary

    Military violence or warfare played a significant role in shaping the culture and society of ancient China. Nonetheless the subject has generated far less discussion than it deserves. This chapter studies the relationship between violence and warfare and their impact on the political, social and cultural trajectory of China in the period between the late third century BCE and the sixth century CE – a period during which the course of Chinese history went through the establishment of the early empires, their collapse, and the ensuing political division that lasted for nearly three centuries. It covers the topics of various notions of ‘just war’, the conduct of warfare, institutions of military mobilisation, military rites and their practices, and the mutual influence of religious beliefs and massive violence. Through an examination of multiple sources of evidence the chapter arrives at a broad understanding of how people in early imperial China conceptualised and justified violence in warfare, as well as the circumstances and purposes to which they resorted to war.