ABSTRACT
The Song dynasty (960-1279) in Chinese history has been considered successful in the development of military technology. To defend attacks from its Northern enemies, such as the Liao dynasty (916-1125), the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), and the Yuan dynasty (1206-1368), the central government of the Song dynasty established an army with millions of soldiers equipped with various kinds of weapons. The majority of the Song army was infantry because the Song, as an agricultural society, could recruit many infantry soldiers quickly and easily. The Song’s enemies were mainly nomadic people with strong cavalry. For example, the Jin dynasty, the ancestor of the Manchurians, wiped out the first Song central government (Northern Song) and forced the Song to move their capital to the South. The Manchurians that established the last dynasty in China, the Ching dynasty, were famous for their cavalry skill. Another Song enemy, the Mongolian descendants of Genjis Khan who were victorious in the 13th century on the Euro-Asian continent, were also famous for Mongolian cavalry.
