Famous Military Unit of the Ming Dynasty — Qi Jia Jun (戚家軍)

'Heng Yu Da Jie (《橫嶼大捷》)' painted by Ma Hong Dao (馬宏道) in 1988 to commemorate Qi Jia Jun's great victory at Battle of Heng Yu.

Perhaps the most famous, and the most elite military unit of Ming Dynasty, Qi Jia Jun (戚家軍, lit. 'Army of House Qi') was the army raised and trained by none other than general Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光) himself. Troops of Qi Jia Jun hailed from Zhejiang province, particularly Yiwu County, and numbered about three to four thousand initially, but became much larger later on.

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Xu Guang Qi's De Sheng Bing (得勝兵) — Part 1

Portrait of Xu Guang Qi currently kept at Guangqi Park, Shanghai.

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Ming Chinese arquebusier tactics

Even though matchlock gun did not completely replace the more primitive handgonne in China during Ming period, Chinese nevertheless held the weapon in high regard. They were also familiar enough with the weapon to be able to develop their own arquebusier tactics without outside reference.

The most common practise seems to be simply mix the arquebusiers together with artillerymen. Arquebusiers also fought behind the cover of fortifications or war wagons. Ming arquebusiers preferred to use countermarch and rotating ranks, whether they were mixed with artillerymen or fought in their own unit.

Fire discipline

Three rotating ranks

Ming arquebusiers firing in three ranks. This image is often misattributed to fourteenth century 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)',  but in fact comes from seventeenth century 'Jun Qi Tu Shuo (《軍器圖說》)'.

Perhaps the most common tactic used by Ming arquebusiers, this tactic had seen use as early as Song period. It was originally used with crossbows, then adapted to handgonnes and rockets by Mu Ying (沐英) during the fourteenth century, before being finally adapted to arquebuses. 

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Famous Military Unit of the Ming Dynasty — Lang Bing (狼兵)

Section of the Ming Dynasty scroll painting 'Kang Wo Tu Juan (《抗倭圖卷》)', depicting auxiliary troops armed with hook-like polearms. Other weapon such as Zhan Ma Dao (斬馬刀) can be seen in the illustration as well.

Lang Bing (狼兵, lit. 'Wolf troop') were a type of auxiliary infantry hailed from Guangxi region that were organised under the Tusi system. They were famous for their ferocity in battle, but also notorious for their lack of discipline and penchant for causing troubles.

The exact composition of Lang Bing was (and still is) a matter of debate, even during Ming period. Some considered only Tu Si troops from Nandan, Donglan, and Na Di (那地, near present-day Shanglin) to be "authentic" Lang Bing or Zhen Lang (真狼, lit. 'True wolf'), while others also counted Tu Si troops from Tianzhou and Gui Shun Zhou (歸順州, present-day Jingxi) among their ranks. The majority of Lang Bing consisted of Tong Ren (獞人, present-day Zhuang people) and Yao Ren (猺人, present-day Yao people). In fact, it is generally accepted that "Lang (狼, wolf)" in Lang Bing was derived from either Liang (俍) or Tong (峒), both archaic names of Zhuang people.

Lang Bing were frequently called to suppress ethnic minority conflicts and uprisings (even among their own people). By mid-Ming period, they also assisted Ming army to repel Wokou (倭寇) raids.

Equipment

Lang Bing were most famous for their skill in Yan Wei Pai (燕尾牌) and short sabres, although over the years they gruadually expanded their arsenal, adopting poisoned javelins, poisoned crossbows, spears as well as forks. By late-Ming period, they even had their own cavalry, arquebusiers, as well as specifically trained dogs to retrieve thrown javelins.

Lang Bing generally fought unarmoured.

Organisation and tactics

Under the Tu Si system, Lang Bing served as a reserve force that was only called upon in time of war. However, due to their high frequency of mobilisation, many Lang Bing were deployed to places far from their homeland and eventually settled there permanently. Some of these Lang Bing formed new communities and became new Tu Si, while others were either absorbed into regular army, or reorganised into semi-permanent garrisons that were more or less unofficial Wei-Suo (衛所).

Lang Bing had a very high qualification standard for their commanders. In theory, an officer qualified for commanding one thousand troops in other armies may only command one hundred Lang Bing, while an officer qualified for leading one hundred troops may only lead ten. This may be due to their indiscipline nature, requiring more experienced officers to handle them.

As lightly armoured swordsmen, Lang Bing relied on their ferocious charge to quickly close the distance and enter close combat as soon as possible, as they lacked the staying power of armoured troops.

Mixed reputation

Lang Bing often fought with such ferocity, it was said that twenty Lang Bing could easily overwhelm two hundred Wokou. However, due to their lack of discipline, Lang Bing were prone to break and flee if the battle went unfavourably for them. Their aggressiveness also made them more vulnerable to enemy ambush.

If left unchecked, Lang Bing often engaged in pillage, murder, rape, slavery and human trafficking at the place they were stationed.

Reference

Blog post updated with new and more accurate information taken from 明代的狼兵 on 逸佚居 (Traditional Chinese).

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