UNIT: Qi Shock Troops | Qi Jiji: 齐技击之士

Art by Thanh Tuấn

Music: Across the Savage Lands

During the Warring States period, Qi Jiji 齐技击 "Lit. Qi Shock Troops" were an elite unit of the powerful state of Qi. Of the many elite warrior units of the Warring States era, Xunzi, the 3rd great Confucian scholar who lived in the tail end of the age remarked Wei Wuzu "Wei Martial Troops" is greater than Qi Jiji "Qi Assault Warriors," however Qin elites are better than all. 

THE QI SHOCK TROOPS

Historical Context: Qi Jiji and many other units of renown were born from the radical changing conditions from the feudal and noble- led Spring and Autumn period to the king- led Warring States period. A glancing summary is that when the Zhou dynasty was consecrated, it's first Kings divided the realm into a patchwork of lords. The Zhou realm was largely decentralized and at each region, each major city was its own state, with its own ruling noble clan, and its territory was a mini- state in its own right with its own laws and customs. However when the Zhou royal authority was shattered when its King was slain by barbarian invaders at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period, the lords (now totally without oversight) took the matter into their own hands and began to war with each other. Over time great lords gobbled up all of the small states around them until at the end of the Spring and Autumn period. Many of the small states (and their clans) have been devoured~ leaving power mostly in the remaining 7 great states. Thus the Warring States period was born.

One of the major wielders of the Qi war machine was the talented philosopher- general Sun Bin. Traditional accounts related that he was a descendant of the famous sage Sun Tzu. However in was far more likely that it was Sun Bin (or another member of his clan) who actually invented Sun Tzu as their mythological ancestor to shore up their position in Qi. Before he came to Qi he was accused of treason in the state of Wei and had both of his kneecaps removed, despite having been crippled, even on wheelchair and wielding only his mind, he shepherded the Qi to resurgence and crushed Wei in the titanic war over the Central Plains at Maling. 

Qi Jiji Troops: Qí jìjī zhī shì 齐技击之士, (lit. "Qi Warrior Retainers") or more aptly "Qi Assault Warriors" were drilled by Sun Bin to become the best Qi could put into action at this time. These crack troops already existed in Qi centuries before Sun Bin, armored and well skilled with the sword and at times, halberds, the Jiji were given large bonuses as incentives for enemies they personally slew in battle, but at a flat initial rate. In Sun Bin's subsequent battles he very likely used them as shock troops to great effect. 

A major implication of this consolidation of power under the 7 major remaining states is that the victorious families of the great powers began to also centralize the power under the rulers at the expense of their feudal vassals. In time, much power were stripped from the traditional feudal noble warrior class~ and instead power became more meritocratic. By the Warring States period, entry barriers that were once exclusively reserved for high born nobles of proud lineages were now opened to talented men of low birth, who can be promoted and demoted at the leisure of the ruler. 

The Qi Jiji were emblematic of the state of general mass mobilization during the mid and late Warring States period. By this time war (especially when compared to early Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods) were no longer the purview of a small handful of feuding chariot- borne aristocrats. But rather, with more and more meritocratic and statist reforms: large swaths of the society began to be mobilized for war. Networks of large state funded armories were build and instead of conditional musterings, troops began to be withheld and drilled in a semi professional to fully professional capacity. With the build up of these war machines, specialized elite crack troop units were created by each of the remaining major powers.

In respect to warfare, this meant that much of the power of the old chariot- riding aristocrats were sidelined and the remaining great powers began to regularly field massive blocks of armored infantry in astronomical numbers undreamed before (in the hundreds of thousands) entirely obedient to their Kings and led by commanders who are largely proven by merit. Wars too began much larger affairs that involved the whole society (rather than endemic and waged by chivalric nobles in the thousands.) Because of this, professional crack troops were equipped, drilled, and deployed. 

It should be noted that the Wei army that the resurgent Qi army would face would also have one of the most renowned units in the era: Its best troops consisted some 50,000 heavily armored Wei zuzu 魏武卒 (lit, "Wei Martial Troop"- professional armored infantry) who were equipped and drilled as crossbow men, halberdiers, and also swords and shield men. The proved their worth tenfolds the lopsided battle of Yin Jin where the vengeful Qin threw some 500,000 soldiers against the Wei occupied Hexi Corridor, the paltry 50,000 Wei defenders that largely revolved around the core of Wei wuzu repelled the overwhelming Qin onslaught, cementing Wei's hold of Hexi in the west and its preeminence in the Central Plains. In short, Qi Jiji would have to contend against the best of the realm at this time.

Article about the Qi's resurgence and Qi Jiji in battle could be found here.

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