ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce three ergonomic standards of the Song dynasty: the height standard for the organization and remuneration of soldiers, the body size standard for soldier selection, and the weight standard for the Song infantry armor. Since 960, all military volunteers had a height requirement for soldiers of the Song imperial army. In 1057, the remuneration system was linked to the anthropometric results and all recruited soldiers were grouped into five levels according to their height. The records in or after 1127 indicated that the height of the soldiers was used as the standard for organizing new troops. Based on the number of troops, the height distribution of soldiers that were adult Chinese males in the 12th century could be estimated. The Song dynasty measured the body size of soldiers for armor. It was recorded that soldiers who could not fit into the armor were retired in 1062. In 1134, the 10th emperor (Gao Zong) issued an order to regulate the upper limit for a Song infantry soldier’s weight.
