Elite Unit of the Ming Dynasty — Biao Bing (標兵)

Armoured Ming cavalrymen, cropped from 'Ping Fan De Sheng Tu (平番得勝圖)'.

While Jia Ding (家丁) was perhaps the most famous Ming Dynasty elite unit, it was not the only one, nor were these semi-private soldiers the most numerous. In actuality, soldiers known as Biao Bing (標兵), an abbreviation of Biao Xia Zhi Bing (標下之兵, lit. 'Soldier under a marked banner'), vastly outnumbered the Jia Ding, and were the closest thing the Ming Dynasty had to a formal elite military formation.

Similar to Jia Ding, Biao Bing also had its root in the long-time practice of high-ranking commanders maintaining their own personal retinues, although it was primarily influenced by, and remained a part of, the Ying Bing System (營兵制). Biao Bing were soldiers that directly and exclusively answered to military overseers (and later Regional Commanders), which, given their high ranks, meant that Biao Bing were drawn from and maintained as the best and most elite soldiers.

Unlike Jia Ding, the founding of a Biao Bing regiment was subject to approval by the central government, and Biao Bing were answerable to the military overseer's position, rather than to the individual. Thus if a military overseer was transferred to another post, he did not take the Biao Bing with him; instead the soldiers answered to his replacement. For this reason, commanders that maintained their own Jia Ding generally avoided assigning their own Jia Ding into Biao Bing regiments.

The earliest Biao Bing regiments, respectively under the command of Supreme Commander of Military Affairs and Concurrently Director-general of Supplies in Xuanda and Shanxi (宣大總督) Weng Wan Da (翁萬達) and Supreme Commander of Military Affairs in the Three Frontiers of Shaanxi (三邊總督) Zeng Xian (曾銑), were founded in 1546, both as a response to the increasingly dire threat possessed by the dreaded Altan Khan necessitating military built-up and increase of battle-readiness along the Ming frontiers. After the establishment of Supreme Commander-led Biao Bing, various Grand Coordinators also followed suit, and later even Regional Commanders begun to raise their own Biao Bing regiments.

As the practice grew widespread, Biao Bing went from being an elite core to the backbone of the Ming army, prompting the need to distinguish various types of Biao Bing: regiments serving under Supreme Commanders or Overseers of the Armed Force were known as Du Biao Ying (督標營, "Overseer-marked regiment"), those led by Grand Coordinators were known as Xun Biao Ying (巡標營, . 'Coordinator-marked regiment"), while Biao Bing commanded by Regional Commanders were organised into Zhen Biao Ying (鎮標營, "Regional-marked regiment").

Recruitment

There were no standardised, codified criteria for recruiting Biao Bing, and they were recruited from a wide variety of sources—often with members of the same unit hailing from markedly different origins. Common sources included:

1. Exceptional soldiers handpicked from existing regiments

Because Biao Bing often served the highest-ranking military overseers of a given theatre—who naturally wanted the very best soldiers under their command—a common method of quickly raising a new Biao Bing regiment was to simply cream the best soldiers and leaders from existing units.

Occasionally, some Regional Commanders—who lacked the authority of military overseers—converted entire Zheng Bing Ying (正兵營) under their command into Biao Bing regiments.

2. Direct recruitment

Given that Biao Bing were more numerous than Jia Ding and organised as full regiments, continually skimming the best soldiers from existing units to raise yet more Biao Bing regiments quickly became impractical and self-defeating—especially once the practice became more common. As such, raising Biao Bing regiments from new recruits remained the preferred method.

3. Tong Shi (通事, lit. 'Translator/interpreter') and Ye Bu Shou (夜不收)

Specialist units such as Tong Shi and Ye Bu Shou were especially valued for their hardiness and their familiarity with local geography, customs, and cultures, making them excellent candidates for Biao Bing recruitment. However, their scarcity meant that Tong Shi and Ye Bu Shou could only supplement the Biao Bing, never constituting the bulk of the regiments’ numbers.

4. Jia Ding

Already elite-trained, Jia Ding naturally made excellent Biao Bing candidates, so attempts were made to recruit them as far back as the earliest conception of Biao Bing. This often came in the form of assigning disgraced commanders along with their Jia Ding into Biao Bing units. Nevertheless, due to conflicting loyalties and the fact that Jia Ding often refused to leave their liege's side for long, these attempts were met with varying success.

Equipment, organisation and tactics

Because Biao Bing were functionally the elite version of normal Ying Bing units, they were organized no differently from ordinary regiments. There was no limitation on arm of service, equipment, or origin of recruits, and no requirement that all members of the same Biao Bing regiment had to belong to the same troop type. They simply received better-quality training, superior equipment, higher status, and improved pay than their ordinary counterparts. Naturally, Biao Bing were more or less indistinguishable from regular Ming soldiers in appearance; only their chain of command sets them apart. 

Many powerful and famous military units in the history of the Ming Dynasty were in fact Biao Bing that exclusively answered to certain military overseers. Notable examples included the war cart regiment of Zeng Xian (曾銑) and the Biao Bing army of Sun Chuan Ting (孫傳庭) during the final years of the Ming Dynasty.

The Regiment's Finest

The Biao Bing served two primary functions, namely to act as an elite vanguard, as well as serving as exemplars to other soldiers. These functions often encompassed serving as military overseer's retinues and bodyguards, fighting in the thick of battle where enemy resistance was fiercest, demonstrating the highest standards of courage and discipline and leading by example, as well as reinforcing military overseer's authority and dominance in order to prevent and suppress potential insubordination and mutiny.

And Biao Bing's battlefield performance certainly lived up to to the elite quality demanded of soldiers entrusted with such functions. Soon after Biao Bing's inception, a contingent of roughly one hundred Biao Bing, who served under Wen Wang Da and were stationed at Bogegu (鵓鴿峪, lit. 'Rock dove valley'), came under attack by tens of thousands of Mongol cavalry . Outnumbered a hundred to one and losing one of their commanders early, these Biao Bing nevertheless fought a valiant last stand, killing nearly six times their own numbers before being overrun. Victory though it was, the Mongols were so shaken by the horrific casualties that they vented their anger by ripping open the bellies of all fallen Biao Bing and stuffing them with rocks—yet the reputation of these fearsome soldiers would still send shockwaves across the entire steppe.

The last stand at Bogegu was certainly not an isolated incident, and Biao Bing would continue to steadfastly serve as the backbone of the Ming military—sometimes even constituting the majority—until the dynasty’s downfall. In fact, even after Ming Dynasty fell into terminal decline, Biao Bing still retained much of their combat prowess. The Biao Bing of Sun Chuan Ting, for example, were instrumental in crushing the Shaanxi peasant rebellion and capturing rebel leader Gao Ying Xian (高迎祥) alive in a brilliantly executed ambush.