Ancient "Military Division Brigade Camp" in China: Military History You Don't Know

Xinhuanet? 12- 17 1 1:29? big

Shang Zhouwang Wu Ding, who is famous for his campaign, was the first to set up a division in the army. 1/2

The picture shows three "division" formations: left, middle and right. 2/2

Speaking of the establishment of the army, you military fans will naturally be familiar with it. Even people who have little interest in military affairs will know something about the naming rules of officers in military units as long as they have played military chess. But if someone asks about the origin of the names of units such as "army", "division" and "brigade", I'm afraid it's hard to answer. Here, the author will explain some little knowledge in this respect.

Brigade: the oldest organizational unit

"Brigade" is the oldest military establishment unit in China. Xia dynasty, about 2 1 century BC, was the earliest time when state machines and military organizations appeared. The Xia Dynasty did not have a professional standing army, but adopted the mode of combining soldiers with farmers, and selected soldiers from the freemen who lived on cultivated land. According to historical records such as Zuo Zhuan, the farmland system at that time was divided into 64 wells with a length of ten miles and planted by 576 tillers. In the event of war, 500 of these 576 people will be selected to form a "brigade" unit to fight, forming a relationship of "10%" land to maintain a "brigade". After the Qi Dynasty, there was a long-term civil strife in Xia Dynasty, and the ruling power was once taken away by local forces such as Hou Yi and Han Zhuo. Shao Kang, the successor of Wang Xia, tried to run his own power in the field for revenge. He gradually expanded his power and finally regained the central government based on the principle of "10% land and a group of people".

The brigade has been used since its appearance, but its status has been declining. After the Song Dynasty, it basically disappeared from the sequence of China's army, but its influence did not stop there. In the old saying, "a brigade" refers to an army of 500 people, and "an army" also refers to the military field.