The Tactical Role of Rivers in Early Chinese Warfare

What is it about?

Rivers have always played a role in the history of early China, but less has been said about its critical importance on military operations. This article aims to study the tactical role of rivers in early Chinese warfare. Rivers or, broadly speaking, waterways served not only as defensive facility and offensive weapon but also for logistical purposes, which was particularly crucial for military campaigns in Central and South China with abundant river network. Furthermore, this article also analyzes a few early Chinese cases of shore-based river-crossing campaigns, in which rivers functioned as barriers in land warfare. Some tactics were thus developed to overcome and even make use of the landscape to achieve victory in battles.

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