I N V I C T V S
EARLY IMPERIAL CHINESE GLOSSARY AND MIDDLE CHINESE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
For native English speakers, Chinese is one of the most challenging languages to learn. I hasten to point out that I do not speak, read, or write any Chinese dialect, but linguistics is one of my interests, and I have striven throughout this website to present the closest Latin-alphabet transliterations (i.e., how a language is transposed from one language to another, even when the two languages use different alphabets), as well as translations (i.e., the meaning of a word), because I think it is important to at least try to conceptualize the idea behind certain words by adhering as close as possible to how a native speaker would see it (so that meaning is not lost in translation), and to be able to at least approximate a native speaker's pronunciation of certain words, both for the sake of accuracy and showing respect to a different culture than my own (language being one of the pillars of cultural expression). This pronunciation guide is keyed toward Middle Chinese (a.k.a., Ancient Chinese)—the form of the Chinese language as it had evolved by the time of the Northern & Southern Dynasties Period (386-587 CE). The reason for this is that the language of the Chinese during the Qin, Han, Xin, and Jin dynasties was a transitional language between Old Chinese (i.e., the language as used from the ninth century BCE until about the third century BCE) and Middle Chinese (i.e., the language as used from the fourth century CE until the thirteenth century CE), and we do not have a complete lexicon of the language as it was used during the transitional period (indeed, the formation of a common language was part of the processes of ethnogenesis that were occurring during that time period). Therefore, for ease of reference for those of us that are not professional linguists, Middle Chinese provides a coherent close equivalent to the terms that likely predominated during the transitional period. In addition, I have tried to use a basic phonetic system to aid in pronunciation. Keep in mind that, because Chinese is a language that includes many intonations and tones not present in the English language, the phonetic guides I have presented here are approximations that should at least get an English speaker with no experience of linguistics close enough to a native speaker's pronunciation that you won't sound too ignorant.
beijun = "northern army"; pronounced, bay-choon; Term used during the Eastern Han period that referred to troops stationed in the provinces. In Middle Chinese parlance, "northern" meant "furthest from the emperor."
bing = "side-by-side"; pronounced, bee-ung; Term for close-combat infantrymen armed with close combat weapons like the sword, spear, dagger-axe, and swordstaff. As name implies, these men were normally deployed in a phalanx-like formation in which they stood side-by-side. Elite picked units called yuebing.
bu = "regiment"; pronounced, boo; The basic building block of most early imperial armies. Had between 384 and 1008 men. Close-combat infantry, close-combat cavalry, crossbowmen (infantry), and horse archers are known to have been organized into bu.
buqu = "hereditary soldier"; pronounced, boo-choo; a type of quasi-feudal soldier that evolved out of the Western Han practice of using military colonists (tun-tian) to man permanent outposts.
changmao = "spearman"; pronounced, kung-mow (as in town); term for a soldier armed primarily with a spear.
changzu = "wielder of a polearm"; pronounced, kung-soo; term for a soldier armed primarily with a dagger-axe or swordstaff.
chi xing = "penal conscript"; pronounced, kee chee-ung; convicts were sometimes given the opportunity to commute their sentence for a stint as a conscript in the army. Like all conscripts, they were not usually formed into distinct regiments, but were instead attached to existing regular regiments. It is believed that they were intended to perform garrison duty, freeing up the regulars to take the field, although it is also believed that the range of numbers given for the size of various units in the early imperial army might be accounted for by the presence of conscripts.
Dàjiāng = "Great River"; pronounced, dah-chee-ang; Middle Chinese term for the Yangzi/Yangtze river, the longest river in China, that flows from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea through central China.
dao = "single-edged"; pronounced, dow (as in crown); used for a range of single-edged weapons that included small cleaver-like knives, sabers, two-handed swords (like a Japanese katana), and both single-handed and two-handed swords similar in profile to a machete.
dun = "carved"; pronounced, doo-un; a Middle Chinese term for a shield, usually used for a large rectangular shield that had a sharply tapered upper edge. The name likely refers to the fact that such shields were carved from wood planks (they were often slightly convex), or alternatively because they often had a carved image/totem on the outer surface.
fengian = "establishment"; pronounced, fung-gee-en; The bureaucratic-military state of Early Imperial China.
gao rang = "parrying buckler"; pronounced, gow jong; a small bronze or iron rectangular shield, usually not much bigger than a man's fist, that usually had a prominent spike on the face for punching and that usually had two long rods ending in hooks that extended from the two short edges of the buckler. The hooks were used to snag and trap the blade of an opponent. A twist of the wrist could then potentially snap the blade.
gun = "swordstaff"; pronounced, goo-wan (as in wand); a Chinese polearm that was basically a sword blade attached to a spear-shaft. The blade could be either single-edged (dao) or double-edged (jian), thus giving the alternatives dao-gun and jian-gun. I've seen this translated as pi or sha, but pi means "lance" (i.e., a type of spear) and sha means "having a shaft," which could refer to spears/lances, dagger-axes, staffs, and/or swordstaffs.
Hàncháo = "Han Dynasty"; pronounced, han (as in hand)-chow; the imperial dynasty that ruled China ca. 202 BCE-220 CE.
hou = "company"; pronounced, hoe; an army unit that had 48-84 men.
hou-kuan = "battalion"; pronounced, hoe-kwan (as in hand); an army unit that had 192-504 men.
Huang Ha = "Yellow River"; pronounced, hwong hah; The second-longest river in China. Flows from western China to the Bohai Sea (near Korea) through northern China. So named because it is heavily silted, which gives it a yellowish brown color.
ji = "dagger-axe"; pronounced, chee; a unique Chinese polearm, the ancestor of the Chinese halberd, that had a hooked blade (kind of like a small scythe blade called a ge) attached at a right angle to a spear-shaft below the spearhead. The spearhead was used for thrusting, the ge (pronounced, guh) for chopping down at an opponent or for hooking a shield or for trying to reach underneath an opponent's shield to hook his leg and hamstring him.
jia or kai = "armor"; pronounced chee-ah or kee-eye; general terms for armor intended to protect a wearer's torso.
jian = "double-edged"; pronounced, chee-en; used for a range of double-edged weapons from daggers to long swords.
jiangjun = "general"; pronounced, chee-en-choo-een; the commander of an army (jun).
Jìncháo = "Jin Dynasty"; pronounced, cheen-chow; the imperial dynasty that ruled China ca. 266-420 CE.
Jìn Gōngdi = "Emperor Gong of Jin"; pronounced, cheen gong-dee; regnal name of Sima Dewen, last emperor of the Jin Dynasty.
jisheshi = "bowman"; pronounced, chee-shuh-shee; usually used in reference to infantry bowmen (as opposed to crossbowmen).
jun = "army" or "commandery"; pronounced, chew-een; Both a general term for an "army," and a reference to an administrative division of the empire (i.e., a commandery) governed by a commandant (taishou).
jun de dache = "army strong cart"; pronounced, chew-een duh da-kuh; term for an oversized crossbow mounted on a wheeled conveyance that would allow it to be maneuvered.
junguo = "conscripts"; pronounced, choo-goo-oh; During the Qin and Western Han dynasties, the ranks of regular professional army units were supplemented with citizens that were called up to serve in the army for two years at a time. One year was for training, and then they spent the second year on active duty. Once their first two years were up, they could either sign up as a regular or return to civilian life. In times of need, they could be called up again until they reached age 56, and any subsequent term of service would usually be for the length of a given campaign.
junhou = "captain"; pronounced, choo-een-hoe; the commander of a company (hou).
liren = "wielder of a blade" or jianshi = "wielder of a double-edged weapon"; pronounced, lee-jun or chee-en-shee; terms for swordsmen, although the former term was more general and the latter term often referred only to a wielder of the double-edged weapon called a jian.
hun dun = "crouching tiger"; pronounced, hoo-un doo-un; term used for a catapult.
lian-nu = "repeating crossbow"; pronounced, lee-en-new; refers to the hand-held repeating crossbow, not the oversized cart-mounted version. The early imperial design of this weapon had a double magazine of bolts on top, a pistol grip on the bottom, and a sliding lever on the side. The lever was pumped forwards and backwards to catch and draw the bowstring into firing position, and it was this pumping action that would drop two bolts into position to be fired simultaneously. The trigger, which passed through the center of the stock, could be released with a finger from the hand gripping the pistol grip on the bottom. The early imperial version of this weapon was complicated to produce and lacked power, although it worked well enough that it continued to be used, the design evolving over time, until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE).
ling = "prefect"; pronounced, lee-ung; administrator of a county (xian).
mao = "spear"; pronounced, mow (as in town); a weapon with a sharpened metal head used primarily for thrusting.
mu = "governor"; pronounced, mow (as in, mow the lawn); administrator of a province (zhou).
nanjun = literally "southern-army"; pronounced, nan-choon; During the Western Han period, this term was usually used to refer to the bodyguards of the emperor, but during the Eastern Han period it came to refer to all of the regular units stationed in or near the capital (including both imperial bodyguards and the central field army), and during the Jin period it came once again to refer only to imperial guard units. In Middle Chinese parlance, "southern" meant "closest to the emperor."
nu = "crossbow"; pronounced, new
pao = "artillery" or "catapult" or "trebuchet"; pronounced, pow (as in powder); A general term for both tension and torsion artillery (and gunpowder artillery after the tenth century CE), although most often used specifically in reference to torsion artillery (i.e., catapults/trebuchets). During the Early Imperial Period, all catapults were "traction catapults"—catapults that used human muscle power (by pulling on ropes) to operate, as opposed to counterweight catapults/trebuchets, which use a counterweight to pull down on the arm and launch the shot. Gunpowder was not invented by the Chinese until the tenth century CE, but flaming pots containing a mixture of mineral oil and sulfur could be launched from catapults—these would smash on impact and spray a viscous flaming liquid over anyone standing near the point-of-impact.
pi = "lance"; pronounced, pee; term most often associated with a cavalryman's spear.
pian-jiangjun = "lieutenant-general"; pronounced, pee-en-chee-en-choo-een; the commander of a regiment (bu).
qiangnu = "crossbowmen"; pronounced, chee-ang-new
Qíncháo = "Qin/Ch'in Dynasty"; pronounced, cheen-chow; the imperial dynasty that ruled China ca. 221-206 BCE.
qingqi = "horse archers"; pronounced, ching-chee; Usually highly mobile, lightly equipped bowmen that fought in a skirmishing manner—with an irregular open formation whose purpose was to harass enemy formations with ranged weaponry rather than to engage them in close combat. Often used as scouts, flankers, and as a mobile screen to the main battle troops.
Qin Shi Huángdì = "First Emperor of Qin/China"; pronounced, cheen-shee hwang-dee; title of Ying Zheng (see below) after he had established Qin hegemony over the other warring states of ancient China and declared himself the first emperor of a unified Chinese imperial state. He coined the term, huángdì ("emperor").
sha = "shafted"; pronounced, shah; in a military context, usually a general term used to apply to any shafted weapon.
shuang hu = "double-arc" shield; pronounced, shoo-wang (as in hang) hoo; a tombstone-shaped shield with scalloped side edges.
sui = "squad"; pronounced, sway; an army unit with 8-12 soldiers. Probably not a unit of field maneuver, but rather a camp/marching unit that shared a common tent and mess.
taishou = "commandant"; pronounced, tye-show; the administrator of a military province (jun).
tóngxìng wáng = "sub-king" or "prince"; pronounced, tong-chee-ung wang (as in hang); During the Qin consolidation, this term was used to refer to the kings of the other Warring States that Qin had subdued, but during the Han Dynasty it came to mean "prince" due to the fact that the first Han emperor placed his sons at the head of each of these kingdoms. These kingdoms were eventually divided up into provinces, commanderies, and counties, although the term persisted as an honorific for members of the royal family.
toukui = "helmet"; pronounced, tow (as in so)-kway
tun-tian = "military colonist"; pronounced, too-un-tee-en; During the Han and Xin dynasties, this was a term that referred to professional soldiers that maintained plots of land near their posting that were intended to provide them with sustenance, making them farmer-soldiers, although many had serfs that worked their land for them.
tunzhang = "chief"; pronounced, too-ung-chang; the commander of a squad (sui).
tuqi = "charging-cavalry"; pronounced, too-chee; term for cavalrymen armed with close-combat weapons like the sword, spear/lance, dagger-axe, and swordstaff whose primary aim was to engage enemy forces in hand-to-hand combat. Elite units of tuqi were referred to as yueqi, "picked-cavalrymen," pronounced, yoo-way-chee.
wènmíng = "civilized"; pronounced, wan (as in hand)-mee-ung.
waichen = "vassal"; pronounced, why-kun; referred to vassals that were barbarians (yi).
xiang = "county"; pronounced, shung; an administrative division governed by a prefect (ling).
Xianbei = Pronounced, sheen-bay; believed to be the Chinese transliteration of the autonym of the steppe nomads that originated in Manchuria in the third century BCE and eventually spread out onto the Mongolian Plateau after the downfall of the Xiongnu (see below). Probably meant something like "horse-riders."
xiowei = "colonel"; the commander of a battalion (hou-kuan).
Xiongnu = Pronounced, shong-new; believed to be the Chinese transliteration of the autonym of the steppe nomads that lived on the Mongolian Plateau from about the third century BCE until the first century CE. Probably meant something like "those that follow the barbarian king (chanyu)."
yi = "barbarian"; pronounced, yee; The Chinese actually had a huge number of words that meant something akin to "barbarian," although I think this is probably the most general (i.e., not tied to a specific ethnic group), and thus could be used to apply to all peoples considered to be uncivilized.
zhànche = "war vehicle"; pronounced, chee-ung-kuh; a chariot
Zhào Zhèng = "King Zheng"; pronounced, choo-oh chung; title of Ying Zheng (prnounced, ying chung) before becoming the first emperor of a unified China.
Zhōngguó = "Central State"; pronounced, chong-goo-wah; The general Chinese term for the socio-political body of China. Sometimes used synonymously with Qin, the word from which the English word, "China," is derived, although that is considered to be an exonym (a name applied by outsiders).
zhou = "province"; pronounced, chow; an administrative division headed by a governor (mu).
zhuhou = "vassal"; pronounced, choo-hoe; Originally this term referred to the quasi-feudal system of government that prevailed in China prior to the unification of the empire under Qin Shi Huángdì, although after unification it was sometimes used to describe Sinicized subject states that had not been formally incorporated into the bureaucratic-military hierarchy (i.e., meaning "vassal-state"), and by the end of the Three Kingdoms period it was sometimes used in reference to provinces or commanderies that had devolved into quasi-feudal domains that in practice lay outside the official imperial bureaucratic apparatus (the governor/commandant essentially becoming a semi-independent warlord, tujun).
Zhujiang = "Pearl River"; pronounced, chew-chee-ang; Third longest river in China that flows from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the South China Sea through southern China. So named due to the prevalence of pearl-colored shells that can be found in the estuary.