Continuity and change

Abstract

From the perspective of military history, Chinese history divides naturally into three periods. The first of these is Ancient China, from earliest times to the end of the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 B.C.E.). Separating fact from later idealizations has long been the major challenge confronting students of this period, but certain things are clear about its military history: The major weapons system was the two-wheeled Bronze Age war chariot, and the aristocratic and "feudal" social order symbolized by the chariot remained the ideal for most Chinese intellectuals throughout the following imperial period. Copyright © 2012 by The University Press of Kentucky.