Horses in East Asian warfare are inextricably linked with the strategic and tactical evolution of armed conflict throughout the course of East Asian military history. A warrior on horseback or horse-drawn chariot changed the balance of power between the warring civilizations throughout the arc of East Asian military history. When warring East Asian civilizations were at odds, as the civilization with horses clashed with those without, horses provided a huge advantage to overcome, prevail, and subdue their adversaries. When both contending sides had horses, the decisive outcomes from battles hinged on the strength and strategy of their mounted horsemen. Throughout the arc of East Asian military history, strategies, and tactics were refined in terms of the use of horses.
As in most cultures around the globe, a war horse in East Asia was trained to be controlled with limited use of reins, responding primarily to the rider's legs and weight. Horses were significant factors in the Han-Xiongnu Wars and Wuhu incursions against past kingdoms of China, and the Mongol conquest of much of Eurasia and into Europe. They played a part in military conflicts on a smaller, more localized scale.
History
Horse warfare in national contexts
China
There were horse-driven chariots of the Shang (c. 1600 – c. 1050 BCE) and Zhou (c. 1050 – 256 BCE) periods, but horseback riding in China, according to David Andrew Graff, was not seen in warfare prior to the 4th century BC. King Wuling of Zhao (340 BCE-295 BCE), after realizing the advantages of light cavalry warfare over that of the heavy and cumbersome chariots, instituted reforms generally known as "胡服骑射" (wearing of the Hu-nomadic people's attire, and shooting arrows from horseback), which greatly increased the combat-effectiveness of the army of Zhao. Although mounted archers represented an initial tactical advantage over Chinese armies, the Chinese learned to adapt. Conservative forces opposed change, which affected the proportional balance amongst cavalrymen, horse-drawn chariots and infantrymen in Chinese armies. The benefits of using horses as light cavalry against chariots in warfare was understood when the Chinese confronted incursions from nomadic tribes of the steppes. Feeding horses was a significant problem; and many people were driven from their land so that the Imperial horses would have adequate pastures. Climate and fodder south of the Yangtze River were unfit for horses raised on the grasslands of the western steppes. The Chinese army lacked a sufficient number of good quality horses. Importation was the only remedy but the only potential suppliers were the steppe-nomads. The strategic factor considered most essential in warfare was controlled exclusively by the merchant-traders of the most likely enemies. The Chinese used chariots for horse-based warfare until light cavalry forces became common during the Warring States era (402–221 BCE); and speedy cavalry accounted in part for the success of the Qin dynasty (221 BCE–206 BCE). The Chinese warhorses were cultivated from the vast herds roaming free on the grassy plains of northeastern China and the Mongolian plateau. The hardy Central Asian horses were generally short-legged with barrel chests. Speed was not anticipated from this configuration, but strength and endurance are characteristic features. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), records tell of a Chinese expedition to Fergana (in present-day Uzbekistan) and the superior horses which were acquired. The horses were acquired for military use and for breeding.
"Horses are the foundation of military power, the great resources of the state but, should this falter, the state will fall." – Ma Yuan (14 BCE – 49 CE), a Han dynasty military general and horse expert. During the Jin dynasty (265–420), records of thousands of "armored horses" illustrate the development of warfare in this period.
Horses and skilled horsemen were often in short supply in agrarian China, and cavalry were a distinct minority in most Sui dynasty (581–618) and Tang dynasty (618–907) armies. The Imperial herds numbered 325,700 horses in 794. Throughout the Song (960–1279) all the way to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Chinese armies relied on an officially supervised tea-for-horse trading systems which evolved over centuries. Tea and horses were so inextricably related that officials repeatedly requested that the tea laws and the horse administration be supervised by the same man. From the perspective of the Chinese court, government control of tea was the first step in the creation of a rational and effective policy aimed at improving the quality of horses in the army. During the military decline of the late Ming dynasty, the marked inferiority of the training & conditioning of Chinese horses was noted by the Italian Jesuit missionary and ambassador Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), who observed:
"[The Chinese] have countless horses in the service of the army, but these are so degenerate and lacking in martial spirit that they are put to rout even by the neighing of the Tartars' steed and so they are practically useless in battle."
Japan Most Japanese horses are descended from Chinese and Korean imports, and there was some cross-breeding with indigenous horses which had existed in Japan since the Stone Age. Although records of horses in Japan are found as far back as the Jōmon period, they played little or no role in early Japanese agriculture or military conflicts until horses from the continent were introduced in the 4th century. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki mention horses in battle. Amongst the Imperial aristocracy, some were especially renowned for their horsemanship. It was cavalry, not infantry, which proved to be decisive in the Jinshin War of 672–673, in Fujiwara no Hirotsugu's rebellion in 740, and in the revolt of Fujiwara no Nakamaro in 756. Samurai fought as cavalry for many centuries, and horses were used both as draft animals and for war. The increasingly elaborate decorations on harnesses and saddles of the samurai suggests the value accorded to these war horses.
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