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War during the Shang was an everyday occurrence, as the Shang were regularly at war
with its neighbors. The Shang military consisted of mainly infantrymen. These men were armed
with bronze dagger-axes, spear heads, arrowheads, bronze shields and helmets. These men
formed into military units of varying size, ranging between three thousand to ten thousand.
While the Shang developed new weapons for their infantrymen, they began early development of
horse-drawn chariots, although at this stage, chariots were used as luxury vehicles for the elites
and as command platforms. However, being in constant states of war proved to be the downfall
of the Shang. Even though they boasted a highly trained and experienced army, the Shang soon
fell to another warring kingdom, the Zhou.8

The Zhou Dynasty was a pivotal dynasty in ancient Chinese history. In the year 1045
BCE, the Zhou overthrew the Shang and established their capital in the Wei River Valley,9
initiating the first period of the Zhou Dynasty, the Western Zhou Period. Unlike the Shang and
Xia, the Zhou sought to legitimize their rule. They achieved this legitimacy through an early
form of a mandate of heaven, stating that the Zhou are meant to rule the lands of ancient China
by divine right. To further this legitimacy, they sought a new government system. The Zhou
developed a feudal system, placing people with familial ties to the royal house of the Zhou,
leading to the development of a new social class that resembled that of European knights. For
generations, this government system was highly effective as the Zhou still commanded a massive
military force and the respect of their subjects. But as the generations went on, the system began
to form cracks and the bonds of kinship became weaker and weaker. In 771 BCE, the Western
Zhou was forced to flee with the assistance of the feudal states of Jin and Qin. They relocated to

8 Tanner, China: A History, vol. 1, 45-46.
9 Tanner, China: A History, vol. 1, 49.

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