It didn't particularly bother me when the Nov./Dec. 1993 Issue of Saga arrived on 12 August 1994. I have long been convinced that "surface mail to Hong Kong really means "across the Silk Road by camel."

Given my association with the Chinese world through 21 years residence in the Far East (plus a bit of academic work in this area), I naturally opened my Saga from the back. The surprise came when the first thing I saw was a reference citation to Albert Dien's "A Study of Early Chinese Armor." ," Artibus Asiae XLIII 1/2 1982. This was a surprise because Prof. Al and I are fellow directors on the board of a research institute that has nothing whatsoever to do with military history, and I was unaware of his work in this particular area.

The article under which Prof. Al was cited was "Reverse Engineering on an Army List" by Neil Hammond (pp. 45-47). Naturally, this had to be read first. What struck me most in this article was the appeal for more basic information about East Asian armies.

About a year back. my buddy Oliver. a dedicated Napoleonic wargamer. told me he wanted to do something different and had come up with the WRG list for the Khitan Uao (907 - 1125 C.E.).

He was coming to me for some background information an the Liao because he knew I had a few books strewn about the place and there might possibly be a reference or two he could use to learn more about this army.

A bit of digging around my stuff came up with Karl A. Wittfogel & Feng Chia-sheng, History of Chinese Society Liao (907-1125) , Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. 1949. A modest tome only some 752 pages, it is sort of an "everything you wanted to know about the Liao in G-flat major."

Described as a "social history of the liao empire which for two hundred years controlled the regions of modern Manchuria. Mongolia, and the northeastern part of China Proper". it contains a rather large section an the Liao military organization and techniques. It is not my intention to summarize all the information provided in this important work, but rather to suggest it would be well worth the time for East Asia medieval wargamers to check it out for themselves. Among the many details regarding this particular military establishment, it contains interesting points such as the origin of the stirrup. the origin of the term "hordes". specificities about "regulars" vs "barbarians" army structure and size, and weapons.

Also useful for developing "sub-lists" is the section on the successor state of the Uao. i.e., the Oara-Khitai. or "Black Khitans". Preserving much of the traditions and organization of the Liao (i.e.. "machine-like organization plus high mobility). the army of this 12th-13th century central Asian state would provide a tough "historical" opponent for those guys who see Genghis Khan's mob as a "killer" army of this period.

Mr. Hammond's appeal sent me back to my piles of obscure information. One reference I found within the period of his stated interest was Michael C. Rogers (Trans.). The Chronicle of Fu Chien: A Case of Exemplar History, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.

Fu Chien founded a Tibetan state, the "Early Ch'in". in northwest China during a sub-period of the Six Dynasties period (222-589 C.E.) called the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304-439 C.E.). Fu Chien was noted for building up a highly Sinicized administration and a strong Chinese infantry to accompany his nomadic cavalry. Considering that he wiped out the Early Yen Kingdom in the northeast in 370, and the Early Liang Kingdom in 376 (thereby reunifying North China). and then embarked on the conquest of South China in 383 (which ended in disaster), you should not be surprised to find that his "Chronide~" contains much information about the warfare of this period.

If Mr. Hammond (or anyone else) is really serious about researching this period, he might want to wade through Hans H. Frankel (Comp.), Catalog of Translations from the Chinese Dynastic Histories for the period 220-960, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957. The annotations are somewhat brief, but are still useful for research purposes.

Another useful reference (one which I believe has been previously quoted in the pages of Saga) is Frank A. Kierman, Jr. (Ed.). Chinese Ways in Warfare, Boston: Harvard University. 1974. Among the eight articles In this collection, Herbert Franke's "Siege and Defense of Towns in Medieval China" is of particular interest for Information an manpower. weapons and tactics.

Oh yes. about Oliver ... He actually did build his 15 mm Khitan Liao army, and then went on to build the armies of Assyria and of the Arab Empire.... I find this most regrettable because whenever I field my Late Hebrews or my Khazars against Oliver. I usually get thoroughly slashed to pieces. These Napoleonic guys really understand "combined arms".