Editing Army (section)

===China===
[[File:Warring States or Western Han crossbow.jpg|thumb|A bronze crossbow trigger mechanism and butt plate that were mass-produced in the [[Warring States period]] (475-221 BCE)]]
The states of China raised armies for at least 1000 years before the [[Spring and Autumn Annals]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia Buckley |title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History |last2=Walthall |first2=Anne |last3=Palais |first3=James |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |year=2006 |isbn=0-618-13384-4 |location=Boston |pages=10}}</ref> By the [[Warring States period]], the crossbow had been perfected enough to become a military secret, with bronze bolts that could pierce any armor. Thus any political power of a state rested on the armies and their organization. China underwent political consolidation of the states of [[Han (Warring States)|Han (韓)]], [[Wei (state)|Wei (魏)]], [[Chu (state)|Chu (楚)]], [[Yan (state)|Yan (燕)]], [[Zhao (state)|Zhao (趙)]] and [[Qi (Shandong)|Qi (齊)]], until by 221 BCE, [[Qin Shi Huang]] (秦始皇帝), the first emperor of the [[Qin dynasty]], attained absolute power. This first emperor of China could command the creation of a [[Terracotta Army]] to guard his tomb in the city of [[Xi'an]] (西安). in addition to a realignment of the [[Great Wall of China]] to strengthen his empire against insurrection, invasion and incursion.

[[Sun Tzu]]'s ''[[The Art of War]]'' remains one of China's [[Seven Military Classics]], even though it is two thousand years old.<ref>In the twentieth c., [[Mao Zedong]] (People's Republic of China), General [[Võ Nguyên Giáp]] (Viet Nam), General [[Douglas MacArthur]] (United States),  and in medieval Japan, [[Takeda Shingen]] (1521–1573) have drawn inspiration from the work</ref> Since no political figure could exist without an army, measures were taken to ensure only the most capable leaders could control the armies.<ref>"who wishes to fight must first count the cost" —[[Sun Tzu]], ''[[The Art of War]]''</ref> [[Scholar-bureaucrat|Civil bureaucracies (士大夫)]] arose to control the productive power of the states, and their military power.<ref>"You conquered the empire on horseback, but from horseback, you will never succeed in ruling it." —Lu Chia, as quoted by [[Joseph Needham]], ''[[Science and Civilisation in China]]''. vol 7, part II.</ref>