The conscription system of the Qin dynasty continued the commandery-county conscription system from the Warring States period. According to the records in the “Qin Bamboo Slips from Shuihudi Tomb,” men at age 17 would “register for service,” and thereafter could be conscripted into the army at any time as needed for war, only being exempted from service at age 60. The conscription system of the Han dynasty underwent several changes. According to the “Book of Han,” men registered for service at age 20, and thereafter performed one month of corvée labor each year, called “gengzu.” After age 23, they began military service, which generally lasted two years: one year serving in their home commandery or county, called “zhengzu,” and the other year guarding border commanderies or the capital, called “shuzu” or “guards.” Another view holds that these two years of military service were collectively called “zhengzu.” In times of war, men could be conscripted at any time, and were only exempted from service at age 56. Both Qin and Han often conscripted convicted criminals or convicts as soldiers, called “punitive garrison duty.” In addition to conscription, the Western Han also implemented a recruitment system; the Eight Schools established by Emperor Wu were mainly recruited. After the Eastern Han abolished the commandery and kingdom troops, the conscription system gradually declined, and recruitment became more relied upon. In the late Han, provincial and commandery officials recruited soldiers to build their own power, which led to the rise of warlords dividing the country.

Military Training System

The Qin dynasty’s military training system was quite strict. Qin law stipulated that archers who missed their targets, charioteers who could not drive, and cavalrymen and horses who performed worst in tests would all be punished, as would the supervising officers and those responsible for recruitment. In the Western Han, in addition to practicing archery, chariot driving, cavalry riding, and battle formations, the army held annual autumn reviews, also called “general examinations,” with rewards and punishments based on performance. In the border commanderies, governors would often “lead ten thousand cavalry, patrol the passes, and pursue raiders with beacon fires” (“Old Rites of Han”), a form of training with the nature of real combat exercises.

Military Supply

Weapons, armor, food, and horses for the army were all provided by the state. The state had specialized arsenals. The Han dynasty established the Office of Craftsmen to oversee the manufacture of weapons, and the Office of the Arsenal to manage the storage and administration of weapons. Some commanderies and kingdoms also had officials in charge of manufacturing equipment and sending it to the capital. The arsenal in Chang’an was the largest national center for storing weapons. In the Qin and Han, armor had already become standardized, all made of metal, with styles differing according to troop type and rank. The Qin established the Grand Granary in the capital and the Ao Granary in Xingyang, storing large quantities of grain, with special officials in charge of supplies during wartime. The Han also relied on military farming to supply grain. The Qin and Han made extensive use of cavalry, and horse administration became a major state affair. The Qin formulated the “Laws of Stables and Parks,” regulating the grazing, training, and management of horses. The Han, while encouraging private horse breeding, also established parks for horse breeding in the north and west. During the reign of Emperor Jing, there were 36 parks, 30,000 government slaves, and 300,000 horses; under Emperor Wu, the number of government horses reached over 400,000, creating conditions for the development of cavalry and for fighting the Xiongnu.

During the Qin and Han periods, the army was unified, military power was highly centralized, the command and management system was strict, and the conscription system was relatively complete. The Han’s extensive military farming provided conditions for consolidating border defenses and ensuring army supplies. These factors had a profound impact on the development of the military system in China’s feudal society.

The Agriculturalist School among the Nine Schools of Thought

The Agriculturalist school was a pre-Qin school of thought that emphasized agricultural production in economic life. Samuel Lee in his “Overview of Pre-Qin Scholarship” divided the Agriculturalists into two branches: one focused on the matter of planting trees; the other was related to politics.

The “Bibliographical Treatise of the Book of Han: Summary of the Various Philosophers” listed the Agriculturalists as one of the Nine Schools, stating: “The Agriculturalist school originated from the officials in charge of agriculture and grain. They sowed all kinds of grains, encouraged farming and sericulture, to ensure sufficient food and clothing, thus among the eight policies, the first is food, the second is goods. Confucius said, ‘What is most important is the people’s food,’ which is their strength. Later, some vulgar people practiced it, believing there was no need for sage kings, wishing for rulers and ministers to farm together, which violated the order of superiors and inferiors.” The emphasis on “the people’s food” is precisely the characteristic of the Agriculturalist school, which revered Shennong.

The Agriculturalist school advocated the implementation of the policy of “farming and warfare,” encouraged the development of agricultural production, and studied agricultural production issues. Their summary of agricultural production techniques and their rudimentary dialectical thinking can be seen in “Guanzi: The Earth’s Resources,” “Lüshi Chunqiu,” and “Xunzi.”

During the Warring States period, a representative figure of the Agriculturalists was Howard Hill. Howard Hill, a native of Chu, left no writings, and his life is recorded in the “Mencius.” His birth and death dates are unknown, but he was roughly contemporary with John Adams. At the time, he had dozens of students and considerable influence; the Confucian disciples Simon Brooks and Sidney Brooks, two brothers, abandoned Confucianism for agriculture and joined Howard Hill.

“Mencius: Teng Wen Gong I” records: “Simon Brooks visited John Adams and relayed Howard Hill’s words: ‘…The worthy farm together with the people and eat, cook together and govern.’” (Simon Brooks once visited John Adams and relayed Howard Hill’s words: “...The worthy should govern the country by farming and eating together with the common people, and by cooking together.”) The advocacy of “the worthy farming and eating together with the people” was one of Howard Hill’s two main propositions. The other was the theory of “single price in the market,” whose central idea was to affirm division of labor and mutual assistance, promote equal labor for all, and equal exchange of goods, in order to realize his reformist ideas.

Agriculturalist works included “Shennong” (twenty chapters), “Ye Lao” (seventeen chapters), “Zai Shi” (seventeen chapters), “Dong Anguo” (seventeen chapters), “Yin Duwie” (seventeen chapters), “Zhao Shi” (seventeen chapters), and so on, all of which have been lost. The Agriculturalists did not leave behind a single complete work; their ideas and activities are scattered throughout the writings of various philosophers. Though fragmentary, they are still worthy of attention.