The Primordial Bond of Collective Action

When a group of people move their arms and legs in synchronized activity over extended periods, they develop a primitive yet powerful social connection. Various individuals become firmly bound together, forming a tight-knit collective. Even in moments of extreme tension where survival hangs in the balance, they maintain the ability to follow commands.

This phenomenon, observed throughout military history, reveals a fundamental truth about human organization. The capacity for obedience, discipline, collective spirit, cooperation, standardization, and hierarchical structure—these traits that define modern society—were first perfected not by ordinary citizens but by ancient warriors centuries, even millennia ago. These military professionals became the elite of their time, forming specialized warrior classes that served as the core and reliance of warfare in their eras.

The Few Who Decide the Fate of Many

Throughout history, the actual participants in combat have always been a minority of “elites,” yet their fate determined the destiny of every person in their nation. This paradoxical relationship between the few warriors and the many civilians they protect has shaped civilizations across time and geography. The admiration for battlefield heroes and warriors has remained a perennial topic in popular discourse across cultures.

As early as China’s Song Dynasty, stories from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms circulated among common people, with characters like Zhang Fei and Deng Ai becoming household names. The fascination with military heroes has never faded, remaining an evergreen subject that captures the human imagination across generations. Yet traditional accounts have often focused too narrowly on individual heroic deeds, emphasizing humanistic history while lacking rational and objective analysis.

Beyond Heroic Myths: The Complex Reality of Warfare

Warfare is never determined by mere clever strategies alone. It represents the comprehensive embodiment of equipment, training, strategy, tactics, logistics, and even economic factors. The romanticized notion of battlefield genius must give way to a more nuanced understanding of military success.

Through actual battle examples and Western-style empirical perspectives, we can reconstruct authentic battlefield warriors using archaeological excavations, expert verification, and weapon reproductions. This approach allows us to recreate the processes through which these warriors engaged in bloody combat with their enemies. In those life-and-death confrontations, how did warriors gain advantage? Which traits provided this advantage, and how did they convert it into victory?

The Decisive Factors in Military Confrontation

Military writings passed down by frontline soldiers throughout history consistently point to several decisive elements in combat between opposing forces: mobilization systems, discipline and reward/punishment structures, superiority of weapons and equipment, military training and soldier quality, and combat command. These factors, rather than individual heroics, typically determined the outcomes of engagements.

What we seek to recount and reconstruct is the systematic, detailed knowledge and stories that ancient rulers, generals, and military theorists desperately sought to obtain and master—aspects that ordinary readers rarely appreciate or experience. This understanding forms the foundation of military strength and national power.

War: The Shadowed Science of Survival

War represents a science shrouded in shadow, where every step must be taken as if treading on thin ice, facing abyssal depths. From primitive tribal times onward, warfare has stood as one of humanity’s most important activities—an instinct born from natural selection’s survival mechanisms. The drive to occupy the top position in the food chain has been deeply engraved in human genes.

As humanity entered the era of civilization, countless ethnic groups, nations, and civilizations have disappeared. The survivors were not necessarily smarter, stronger, more civilized, or possessed superior science, economy, or culture. They survived simply because they won the survival game of warfare, which can negate all other factors.

Humanity detests and fears war yet cannot escape it or maintain naive illusions about its nature. Warfare constitutes a crucial reason for our continued existence to this day, remaining humanity’s ultimate means for resolving conflicts and consequently influencing most areas of human life.

Beneath the surface of our civilization persists a certain “cold primitiveness”—the reliance on combat as decisive action, determined to prevail in tests of skill and courage.

The Life-and-Death Struggle: Dragon Versus Wolf

War constitutes a special enterprise that differs from all other activities of human life. This unique nature of warfare becomes particularly evident when examining specific historical conflicts that reveal underlying military and political systems.

In the second year of the Tianhan era of Emperor Wu of Han , a lone Han dynasty army appeared. This force was commanded by Li Ling, grandson of the famous Flying General Li Guang. Then serving as Cavalry Commandant, essentially commander of the Han Empire’s imperial guard cavalry units, Li Ling represented one of the most promising young cavalry commanders of his time. Yet now he led only five thousand infantry soldiers.

Li Ling had led this force beyond the frontier for thirty days, covering over a thousand li in total distance. Since the Battle of Mayi in the second year of the Yuanguang era of Emperor Wu , the Han Empire’s counteroffensive against the Xiongnu had continued for thirty-four years. During this period, Han imperial forces had launched countless various attack operations against the Xiongnu people. But deploying only five thousand infantry deep into the grasslands represented a first.

Originally, Li Ling’s combat mission involved providing logistical support for General Ershi Li Guangli’s thirty thousand cavalry. But this young commander resolved to challenge the Xiongnu Empire using the traditional combat methods of Han men without relying on cavalry. Li Ling made this grand vow before Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che: “I wish to attack the many with few, leading five thousand infantry to strike directly at the Xiongnu Chanyu’s royal court!” Now Li Ling was fulfilling his promise, because north of the Eastern Junji Mountains lay the location of the Xiongnu Empire’s Chanyu royal court.

The Xiongnu Military System

Though the Xiongnu were nomadic people who followed their livestock transfers and migrated according to water and grass availability, they had established their political center since the time of the first Xiongnu Chanyu—Touman Chanyu. Later, Modu Chanyu established the Xiongnu Empire, creating the Chanyu royal court, Longcheng , and Dalin.

According to Records of the Grand Historian: Account of the Xiongnu, at the beginning of each year, Xiongnu leaders at all levels would gather at the Chanyu royal court to hold meetings. Each May, they would convene at Longcheng to worship ancestors, heaven and earth, and gods. When horses grew fat and strong in autumn, the Xiongnu would again gather at Dalin to review people, horses, and livestock. Thus the Chanyu royal court, Longcheng, and Dalin respectively served as the Xiongnu’s political, ceremonial, and economic centers.

The Xiongnu military system represented a sophisticated adaptation to nomadic life, creating a formidable force that challenged sedentary civilizations for centuries. Their organization allowed rapid mobilization, flexible tactics, and sustained campaigns across vast territories—capabilities that often confounded more conventionally organized armies.

The Enduring Legacy of Military Discipline

The patterns established by ancient warriors continue to influence modern society in profound ways. The organizational principles, chain of command, standardization processes, and collective discipline that enabled military success centuries ago have become embedded in contemporary institutions from corporations to educational systems.

The transformation of civilians into effective military units through training and discipline represents one of humanity’s most significant social innovations. This process not only created capable warriors but also established patterns of organization that would eventually permeate civilian life. The factory assembly line, the modern corporation, and even educational systems owe much to military organizational principles developed over millennia.

Military systems have served as laboratories for social organization, testing different approaches to leadership, motivation, and collective action under extreme conditions. The lessons learned on battlefields have often been applied to peaceful pursuits, shaping how societies organize themselves for various collective endeavors.

The Modern Relevance of Ancient Military Wisdom

Today, as organizations face increasingly complex challenges, the principles refined by ancient warriors remain remarkably relevant. The ability to maintain discipline under pressure, coordinate collective action, and adapt to changing circumstances—skills essential to military success—have become equally valuable in business, technology, and governance.

The study of military history provides not just accounts of past conflicts but insights into human organization, leadership, and adaptation. By understanding how ancient warriors developed the traits that made them effective, we gain perspective on developing similar capabilities in contemporary contexts.

The legacy of ancient military systems endures in unexpected ways, from the terminology we use to the organizational structures that dominate modern institutions. The “cold primitiveness” of combat as decisive action may have been civilized and institutionalized, but its fundamental principles continue to shape human interaction and organization.

In examining the development of military systems throughout history, we ultimately learn about humanity’s ongoing struggle to balance individual initiative with collective action, innovation with tradition, and aggression with cooperation—the same challenges that face societies today in different forms. The ancient warriors who first perfected these balances left a legacy that extends far beyond the battlefield, influencing how we organize, lead, and work together centuries after their passing.