I was working on a First Corp 28 mm. Kingdom of Chu army when in looking for more affordable miniatures that perhaps were even being sold here in the United States. I stumbled across Caesar's 1/72 scale (out of production) Ch'in Warring States figures. Even allowing for the fact these had to be ordered from a store in the UK, they were still amazingly affordable.
Pictured here are some Chu swordsmen. The pattern on the flag is historically accurate and was taken from the book, "Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China."
After the miniatures arrived, I was even more impressed with the level of detail in these plastic figurines. My only problem with building a DBA warring states army using these Caesar's products was that no one makes 1/72 scale chariots, cavalry, or peasant levies for the Warring States period.
Instead of discouraging me, this intrigued me as a hobbyist. I found myself wondering if I could adapt figurines from another manufacturer to create a 1/72 scale DBA Warring States era army.
I started with a Caesar's Egyptian chariot largely because I liked the quality that I had hitherto seen with this manufacturer. Since Chinese chariots are boxy, I replaced the curved front and sides of the Egyptian chariot with cardboard. I initially kept the horses and created a light 2 horse chariot which is not included on the DBA list. I switched out the driver and crew with Caesar figurines. I also included sword blades on the wheel hubs.
As you can see in this restored painting that was found in a Chu tomb, light 2 horse chariots with two man crews screened the advance of heavier 4 horse chariots. The remains of several chariots may be seen in excavated pits in the foreground.
I then purchased an Assyrian chariot produced by HaT. This chariot came in boxy shape drawn by 4 horses. The plastic was much more soft than Caesar's. Aside from the inferior quality of this set compared to Caesar's, the only other issue I had with the overall shape of the Assyrian chariot was that the draught pole that connects the chariot to the horse yokes is parallel to the ground instead of flaring up at an angle.
Since the HaT horses were also HUGE compared to the Caesar versions; I replaced the two horses on the light chariot with four HaT horses. If I hadn't done this, the horses pulling the light chariot would have looked like ponies.
While the quality of the HaT pieces weren't nearly as good as Caesar's, I got three chariots with one order as opposed to just one chariot (most of which I wouldn't even use) from the Caesar's order. If I wanted to make heavy chariots using Caesar products, I'd have to buy two boxes for every one chariot (with 4 horses) that I produced. This did not seem cost effective particularly when I compared the size of the chariot horses to those of the cavalry.
As a final note on chariots, I will point out that stirrups weren't invented until 100 BC in India. Cavalry wasn't nearly as effective without stirrups since the force of a sword stroke would have been offset by the soldier's need to remain mounted. In contrast, chariots provided stable fighting platforms. This is probably why chariots were favored over cavalry during the Warring States period.
For cavalry I initially tried Red Box medium and light Chinese cavalry. Upon taking a closer look at these pieces, I decided that they weren't quite compatible with the bronze and iron era armor and weaponry of the Warring States. I therefore adapted Stretlets Samaritan Cavalry and used modeling clay to form robes over the trousers worn by the Samaritans.
The overall quality of the Stretlet pieces were greatly inferior to those from Caesar's. Some of these pieces were so poorly made that two of the horsemen appeared to be missing arms. I used modeling clay to replace these limbs. Since clay can be brittle, I crafted the arms alongside the body and reinforced the clay with a coating of Gravix Pro Line Professional Grade Cyanoacrylate "super glue" from Glue Masters.
I equipped one Qin cavalry unit with shields from the Assyrian chariots.
The peasant levies were made using Red Box Korean Guerillas and Linear B Roman slaves. The guerillas were largely armed with clubs and spears. The figures also came with topknots. All I had to do to adapt these figures was to use modeling clay to add robes. To add more variation I used figures from Linear B's Roman slave market. As with the Red Box figures, I added modeling clay to create robes as well as conical farming hats (since social etiquette required men to either wear hats or have top knots when outdoors).
You may have noticed that the peasant robes are shorter than those of the soldiers. Since the length of one's robe and the quality of material denoted status, peasants wore shorter robes. This was also a matter of practicality since long robes would have hampered their ability to work in the field.
I painted these figures in gray since grey or brown would have been fairly common fabric colors available to the peasants. While white would also have been available, this color has traditionally been associated with death and would not have been worn outside of a funeral.
Since Linear B included figures of a woman on her knees with outstretched hands in supplication, I adapted this piece to create a peasant scavenging from the body of a fallen soldier. If you look closely you may see a leather bag clutched between her hands. If I ever play a DBA game, I'll use bases like this to mark casualties on the battlefield.
The peasant woman seen here is looting the corpse of a Qin soldier.
The camp features a Chu command tent and such domestic features as a female servant (adapted from an Egyptian piece that came with the Egyptian chariot) and a cook with a roasted oxen along with a table filled with produce. The cook was adapted from the Linear A's "Silk Road in Ancient Times" boxed set.
In contrast, here is the Qin camp. I gave the Qin Emperor a much larger tent since he is historically known to have had a portable palace tent if not during the war then certainly after he united the warring states. Given his despotic rule the Emperor feared assassination and was often on the road.
In the foreground are two spear/ax men and an officer. All three of these figures were included with the Ch'in Warring States box set. While the sentries look nice in this picture, one of the only concerns I have about these Cesar's Miniatures are that the plastic poles are quite flimsy. This is the main reason why I haven't yet painted any spear/ax units. I am thinking of switching out the plastic weapons for steel wire. While this would be easier for pieces who were holding their weapons vertically, replacing the plastic for figures with leveled weapons would be more challenging.
In creating the Chu camp, I think I stayed historically true to the (declining) marital spirt of the Chu and their need for luxuries in the field.
As much as it grieves me to say this as a direct descendant of Chu refugees who fled the fall of the kingdom some 700 miles from what is now Hubei Province to what is now Guangzhou, honesty and the benefit of historical hindsight compel me to admit that my ancestors were (most likely) active participants in Chu's decline.
Although Chu became a powerful nation within the Zhou feudal system, this nation state's very success ultimately caused it to fail. While Chu was far more wealthy than Qin especially with its access to iron mines, this very wealth created luxuries that ultimately undermined the fighting spirit of the Chu military aristocracy. Just as the Mongols were eventually seduced by Chinese luxuries, the warrior spirt that had conquered the Kingdom of Yue as well as several smaller principalities eventually saw later generations of the aristocracy competing in contests for poetry and calligraphy instead of marital skills.
Adults who had grown up with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths were lazy, indolent, and unused to the rigors of hard campaigning that included forced marches, inclement weather, scant rations, and limited sleep that were interspersed with violent combat. One Qin general went so far as to observe that the Chu were "soft" and lacked the will for sustained fighting.
The early days of chivalry that had been practiced during the Warring States in which champions would duel between watching armies and enemy cities would only suffer a token occupation prior to having the victors withdraw were long gone. As the Zhao lost control over their vassal states, war on an unprecedented level swept across the land. Captive soldiers were beheaded. Villages were plundered burn. Those villagers who weren't slaughtered were often sold into slavery.
Chu had the opportunity to triumph over Qin and to establish a ruling dynasty that might have lasted far longer than Qin's mere fifteen years. As a nation, Chu was far wealthier than their rival. Their iron mines were creating armor and weaponry that was far stronger than bronze. The Qin were also feared and hated not just because they were ruthless but also because under the Legalists, they had become a totalitarian state.
Since it is a premise of legalism that people are by nature weak and prone to corruption, the Qin reasoned that the only way society could thrive would be if the state was governed by strict laws. Education, art, and philosophy were seen as a waste of time. The Qin government said that the only worthwhile pursuits were farming and sewing.
Under the Qin administration, scholars were buried alive. Entire libraries were burned. People were beheaded for what would have been considered minor offenses in other states. Those who weren't executed were either heavily fined, flogged, given a sentence of hard labor on public works, or were banished.
While the Chu could have used their wealth, strength of arms, and moral authority (such as it was) to unite their vassals and allies against the Qin who were hated and feared, they didn't. Not only had their wealth made them soft but it had also made them insular. Throughout the history of Chu, only two "outsiders" had ever risen to become prime minister. The vast majority of the upper ranks of the Chu government were run by members of the aristocracy.
Instead of promotion through merit, civil and military rank came from political intrigue, social standing, and outright bribes. In some cases Chu kings were replaced via regicide, sometimes even by members of their own families. Outsiders, especially those who had been common born, were scorned for being foreign and resented because of their competence.
A good example of this was the case of Wu Qi. Born in the state of Wei, he served as both a general and as a strategist for both Lu and Wei. To the annoyance of his senior councilors, King Dao recruited Wu Qi to serve as prime minister and to help the king in reforming the government. Minister QI knew that the military aristocracy was soft and that the government was rife with cronyism and graft. In an effort to revive the Chu martial spirit, he passed a law that said that inherited lands and titles would expire after three generations. He did this in an effort to encourage the aristocracy to return to the ways of their forefathers who had earned their titles and lands through their military achievements.
As you might imagine, Minister Qi's law was not well received but since he was under the personal protection of the king, there was nothing that could be done. Sadly after King Dao unexpectedly died, the aristocracy assassinated the prime minister by shooting him full of arrows at the king's funeral. It's ironic that the conspirators who assassinated Wu Qi were themselves put to death. In firing arrows at the minister, the assassins disrupted the funeral ceremony. Since the king's body was also perforated by several several bolts, his remains had been violated and under Chu law the assassins were all put to death.
Despite the shortcomings of Chu's military aristocracy, Chu could still have prevailed over Qin given that they should have had vast armies available to them through their vassal states and allies. Unfortunately the very luxury that had suborned the aristocracy had also created an entitled class who looked down upon their vassals as being their social inferiors. In the end this condescending arrogance contributed to Chu's downfall. During the final war with Qin when Chu tried to rally their vassals these subordinates either refused to answer the call to arms or were far too slow to be of any use in the final conflict.
While I don't know what sort of people my ancestors actually were, I surmise that they must have been well placed and wealthy. Who else would have had the resources needed to relocate our clan some 700 miles south from what is now Hubei Province to the southern coast? Not only were the surviving members of my clan able to flee Qin reprisals but they were also able to build a village which became our ancestral home for over the next 2,100 years.
I can only imagine the heartache of these refugees who abandoned their lands and estates along with their wealth and privileges in favor of life as simple farmers. The area they moved to was (at the time) far outside China's borders. No one in the area would have known who they were and no one is likely to have cared that they once had wealth and status.
With this being said, if they were unused to physical labor, I wonder how they built this village and established their farms. I suspect they used some of their remaining wealth to hire others to do this work. Perhaps by the time the last of this wealth was gone, their children or even their children's children had adjusted to life as low born peasants.
Had it not been for my grandfather who aspired to a better life, my family would have remained as peasants. As it was, following the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the end of World War II, my grandfather moved to the United States.
Sadly, for the sake of my family's history, I am now among the last of my generation. The only male among us who has married had a daughter and no sons. After we pass, the family line that came to the United States will no longer exist.
Unless there are other survivors of Chu refugees who still follow the old way of honoring our ancestors via shrines or family temples, it will only be in our ancestral village where our distant relatives still live, that our Chu ancestors will still remembered. The names of those who have gone before are inscribed on the walls of the family temple. I am told that the oldest names date back to the founding of this village which would have been founded sometime after 223 BC following the fall of Chu.
On holidays such as the Qingming and Ghost Festivals, incense is burned and ritual offerings are made to honor the ancestors. It saddens me to know that after just 3 scant generations, the American offshoot of our family will be no more. No one will know that I ever existed and I will be as lost to time as the fallen Kingdom of Chu.
In terms of an alternate history, given the indolence of the Chu military aristocracy and the corruption of the government, I doubt if we would have done any better for China than the Qin. While I believe that our dynasty would have outlasted Qin's mere fifteen years, I also think that the pattern of history would have been repeated with a jaded aristocracy and an Emperor who was out of touch with his subjects eventually falling before the righteous anger and force of arms of either a new dynasty or a foreign invader like the Jurchen or the Mongols.
gets medieval.
