Tao of Soldiering

The Chinese Paradigm - The Shift in Human Resources Development in PLA and Lessons for India

Nihar Kuanr

• Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9788194285199
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politique et relations internationales
• Subtopic: Politique

Soldiering is all about the growth and development of human potential in the military organization. The approach to soldiering in China is apparently distinct as compared to Indian or Western military and the shaping of soldiery in China has taken a very unique and somewhat enigmatic course. In the context of PLA, in the ongoing reform era, a clear shift in the approach to HRM is apparent. One of the most important objectives of the ongoing reforms and restructuring of PLA is to appreciably augment its potential and efficiency for the effective prosecution of Integrated Joint operations (IJO) for winning Local Wars under Informationised Condition (LWUIC). This book attempt has been made to take a holistic look at soldiering and development of human potential in PLA thus progressing understanding in the broadly interpreted field of HRM in the context of the Chinese military. The author argues that PLA has been adopting a very systematic, methodical and focussed approach towards identifying the key issues and addressing them in a time-bound manner to enhance the quality of its personnel to include the enlisted personnel, NCOs, officers, and higher leadership. However, success or failure of HR policies depends as much on several tangible factors(educational qualification, technological prowess, economic and social background), as on various intangible aspects (influence of culture, belief system, traditional practices, political and ideological factors impinging on the morale, motivation and value system). The book would enable interested readers to comprehend and grasp the nuances of the development of human potential in the military in general and PLA in specific. Various HRD themes like organizational culture, leadership, efficient decision making, etc. analyzed in the book can find application in general context as well.

CHAPTER - 1

EVOLUTION OF PLA MEN:
SAGA OF CHINESE CIVILISATION, WARFARE,
MILITARY HISTORY AND SOLDIERY

“War is a universal phenomenon whose form and scope is defined by the society that wages it”

– John Keegan in “History of warfare”

Of the eight largest warfare in the history of mankind (in terms of casualty figure), six have been prosecuted on the Chinese soil; the other two being World War (WW)-II and WW-I. An Shi rebellion (755AD-763AD) with 36 million casualties ranks second after the WW-II followed by Mongol conquest (13^th century AD) with 30-60 million casualties, Qing dynasty conquest of Ming (1616AD-1662AD) with a casualty figure of 25 million, Taiping rebellion (1850-1864AD) with 20 million casualties, Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945AD) with 20 million casualties and Dungan revolt (1862-1877) with a casualty figure of 8-12 million, with WW-I coming at 5^th position.¹ The Civil war between Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party of China (1934-1949), and the Korean War (1951) are not far behind.

The history of warfare is closely linked to the civilisation, culture, tradition, growth of societal and community living of human development, with the nature of warfare and the human society contributing to growth and development of each other. “Quite often, the same people have created fabulous empires based on centuries of military brilliance, only to lapse into closed inward-looking societies, whose only claims to glory is the past. At other times, apparently peaceful people with no collective reputation as soldiers have been welded together by a messianic figure that inspired them to raise large armies, sacrifice thousands of young lives for some dubious purpose and bathe in the glory of empire and colony”.² War is intricately inter-woven in the fabric of a nation’s economy, politics, diplomacy, security as well as geography.

However, the warriors, the commanders and the soldiers, need to have a different set of skills and values and are a distinct species altogether. “They are those of a world apart, a very ancient world, which exists in parallel with the everyday world but does not belong to it. Both worlds change over time and the warrior’s world adapts in the step to the civilian. It follows it, however, at a distance. The distance can never be closed, for the culture of the warrior can never be that of a civilisation itself. All civilisations owe their origins to the warrior; their cultures nurture the warriors, who defend them, and the differences between them will make those of one very different in externals from those of another.”³ The strategy of warfare, the tradition and culture of a soldiery, the organization and structure of the military of a modern state thus evolves from the civilisational and concurrent military history of the Nation- state. The civilisational history of China is steeped in bloodbath. China is at war since its prehistoric days with a history of wars, rebellions, uprisings, civil wars, and military campaigns, with peace intervals few and far between.

The story of Chinese civilisation is the saga of Chinese military and warfare. In this backdrop, it is essential to gain insight into the Chinese experience in warfare and soldiering in the history, in order to appreciate and analyse the evolution of PLA from the “People’s War” era to “Local War under Informatised Condition with Chinese characteristics”.

Accordingly the chapter is divided into four sections in order to obtain a holistic perspective on evolution of PLA men, i.e. “History of Chinese Civilisation”, “Evolution of Chinese Warfare”, “Evolution of PLA in People’s Republic of China (PRC)” and “Shaping of PLA Soldiery”.

History of Chinese Civilisation

Eras of Chinese Civilisation

Prior to delving into evolution of Chinese military traditions, warfare and soldiering it is pertinent to get a grasp of the chronology of landmark events which shaped the course of Chinese civilisation. A thematic timeline of ‘Chinese Dynasties and Other Key Events’ and “Annotated Chronological Outline of Chinese History” prepared by Michael Tsin, previously assistant professor of Chinese history, Columbia University is placed as Annexure I and II.⁴ The ancient Chinese civilisation arguably⁵ commenced in 1600 BC with the era of Shang dynasty, almost a millennium post Harappan/Indus civilisation (2500- 1750 BC) flourished in India, two millennium post Egyptian civilisation (3400 BC – 1000 BC) and two and half millennium past the Bronze age Mesopotamian civilisation (400 BC- 6^TH century BC), but almost a millennium prior to Greek and Iranian civilisation. Arguably, and as per various unconfirmed sources, rice cultivation began in the Yangtze River valley in China in 6500 BC; villages were formed and terrace farming originated in 5000 BC, Yanghao culture thrived in Yellow River from 5000 BC to 3000BC ; a Neolithic village Bampo was built in 4800 BC ; the earliest depiction of dragon produced during the Hongshan culture during the period 4500 BC to 3000 BC, the Langshan culture flourished in North-East China in 3000 BC- 1700 BC, the Five Emperor period (wudi) (2600-2200 BC) marked the beginning of the Chinese military history and the Xia dynasty ruled in China from 2070 BC to 1800 BC.

There were a large number of dynasties which ruled various parts of China commencing with Shang dynasty till China turning into a republic in 1912 after the end of Qing dynasty. Noteworthy imperial dynasties with cross reference to civilisations in India and elsewhere are given below⁶ :-

Expansion of Chinese Empires and Rise and Fall of Dynasties

“The establishment of a dynasty, where rulers would reign by right of birth, would care for the tombs and reputation of their founder and his successors, was the ambition of every would-be sovereign, whether pretender, usurper or invader. Even rebellious peasant leaders often assumed imperial ranks.”⁷ The history of China is that of a succession of dynasties. The fall of each dynasty on the stage of China has been followed by the rise of another. “Over the course of Chinese history the number of self-declared dynasties must exceed a hundred. But only a dozen actually, partly or temporarily realized this ambition; and of these, only a few were favoured by historians with recognition as part of China’s legitimate dynastic succession”.⁸ There have been tens of thousands of colourful protagonists who have graced the stage and millions of Chinese people who have endured so much suffering. During these events, natural calamities that often lasted for years seem to have had major roles in the play. Each calamity warned that retribution would follow those who had violated the principles of Heaven. Each calamity seemed to direct the decline and fall of a dynasty, and the rise of a new dynasty led by a moral monarch.⁹ Chinese historians and intellectuals take pride in attributing China’s rise to it being a civilisational state, “which has exceedingly strong historical and cultural traditions” and “which has amalgamated the world’s longest continuous civilisation with a super-vast modern state”.¹⁰

Ancient China

The Chinese civilisation commencing with Shang rule astride Yellow River (arguably)¹¹, was expanded south towards Yangzi delta as well as westward. (Figure-1 depicts area under Shang rule and its expansion during Zhou dynasty).¹² Though Shang dynasty is widely accepted as the commencement of Chinese civilisation, there are numerous stories of pre-historic China and tales of Xia dynasty recorded in Bamboo Slats Annals¹³. Emperor Gui was the last emperor of the Xia dynasty. The feudal lord Cheng Tang, in compliance to heaven’s will, established the Shang dynasty by leading a crusade against Emperor Gui who was corrupt beyond redemption and lost all the support of his people and has lost moral right to rule, signified by an earthquake, the drying up of Yi and Luo Rivers¹⁴, collapse of Mount Qu and shower of meteors (From Bamboo Slats Annals). The prosperous Shang dynasty saw its rule filled with many outstanding accomplishments. Notably, the dynasty lasted for a considerable time during which 31 kings ruled over an extended period of 17 generations.

Figure 1: Expansion of Ancient Chinese Civilisation (Maps taken from Times map available at URL: https://www.timemaps.com/history/china-1500bc/)

During this period, the dynasty enjoyed a period of peace and tranquillity in which citizens could make a good living. The government was originally able to control most of its internal affairs due to the firm support provided by the people. As time went on, however, the rulers’ abuse of the other social classes led to social unrest and instability. The corruption in this dynasty created the conditions necessary for a new ruling house to rise —the Zhou dynasty. Rebellion against the Shang was led by Zhou Wu. They created the Mandate of Heaven to explain their right to assume rule and presumed that the only way to hold the mandate was to rule well in the eyes of Heaven. They believed that the Shang ruling house had become morally corrupt, and that the Shang leaders’ loss of virtue entitled their own house to take over. The overthrow of the Shang Dynasty, they said, was in accordance with the mandate given by Heaven.¹⁵ Zhou (Chou), one of the Shang’s subordinate states in the west (modern Shaanxi province), defeated Shang in the Battle of Muye in 1027BC, and rose rapidly in terms of economy, military and population. A system of fief, whereby Land and People were awarded to various dukes or princes even though all land technically belongs to the emperor. There were about 71 city-states created in this manner.¹⁶ In 771 BC, Western Zhou regime (771-206BC) ran out of land and collapsed & Eastern Zhou regime was established with its capital at Luoys. The Spring and Autumn period (475-221 BC) and the Warring State period (475-221 BC) forms the Eastern Zhou period.

There were seven states including Qin during the Warring State periods. The ruler of Qin was awarded the title of Hegemon (364 BC) and royal status by the Zhou state. Qin state subsequently captured Ying (278 BC) and in the Battle of Changping captured other kingdoms of Zhou, defeated Han (in 230 BC), defeated Wei state (125 BC), absorbed Chu state (223 BC), defeated Yan and Qi (221 BC), claimed Mandate of Heaven and established Qin dynasty in 221 BC.

Beginning of Chinese Imperialism

King Ying Zheng assumed the title of Shi Huangdi (‘First Emperor’)¹⁷ and considered to be the first emperor of China, since China was unified under him and the era of imperial China began. The nomenclature China originated from Qin (or Chin)¹⁸. Empire, a product of surplus resources, new technologies (metallurgical, agricultural and military) and individual initiative had already swept through other parts of Asia. In this period, while Qin was flexing his muscle in Sichuan prior to China’s first unification, the Maurya Dynasty of Pataliputra was effected a first unification of India. Ashoka, the third of the Mauryan emperor is a near contemporary of Qin Shi Huangdi.¹⁹

In 202 BC, with the death of the Second Emperor, who was burned with army of 8,000 terracotta warriors in palace tomb, civil war broke out. A peasant revolution was raised by 900 Chinese peasants, who were drafted by the Qin government and sent to Yuyang (today’s Beijing) to perform military duties. When they passed through Daze, there was a sudden downpour, and they could not arrive in time. Since according to Qin law, late arrival for military duties was punishable by death, they decided that they might as well start a rebellion. They staged an armed uprising, occupied Chenxian in Henan Province and called on all peasantry in China to revolt against the Qin regime. This battle spearheaded by peasants with hoes & clubs as weapons, with ploughman Chen She as their leader toppled the Qin regime.²⁰

Consolidation by Hans, Origin of Central Kingdom and ‘Mandate of Heaven’ Theory

The Han dynasty ruled China, with Gaozu (Liu Bang), one of the peasant leaders proclaimed emperor of China after defeating the rebel Xiang Yu of China in the battle...