Re-examining Two Military Reforms in the Chunqiu Zhanguo Period: the Wei Shu Phalanx and Hufu Qishe

Abstract Some scholars believe that two important military reforms occurred in the Chunqiu Zhanguo period: the Wei Shu 魏舒 phalanx developed by Jin 晉 and the hufu qishe 胡服騎射 reform implemented by Zhao 趙 . They claim that the two reforms greatly promoted military development in ancient China by replacing the chariots with infantry and cavalry respectively. However, this article argues that the so-called Wei Shu phalanx did not exist and hufu qishe was not a military reform. The former was a quanbian 權變 (temporarily adopting extraordinary means to adapt to special circumstances) applied in a particular battle and it was not a phalanx at all. The latter was about recruiting Hu mercenaries to fight for Zhao in the war against Zhongshan 中山 rather than performing a military reform inside the Zhao army.