Hymn to the Fallen (Jiu Ge)
Included are references to arms and weapons, ancient states or areas, and the mixed use of chariots in warfare.
Thus "Hymn to the Fallen" refers to a battle (whether real or imaginary) involving Chu warriors, although the characteristic warfare described would similar to that of the early Han dynasty.
During the Warring States era, warfare developed in ways characteristic to what is depicted in "Hymn to the Fallen".
The Confucian philosopher Xun Zi (Shun Kuang) comments on this in his early Third Century BCE book known eponymously as the Xunzi or Works of Xun Zi: The soldiers of Chu were equipped with armour made of sharkskin and rhinoceros hide hard as metal or stone, and pikes of Nanyang steel that could sting a man like a wasp or scorpion.
[6] "Hymn to the Fallen" specifically mentions several types of weapon and other characteristics of early Chinese warfare and culture.
One weapon specifically-mentioned in "Hymn to the Fallen" is the variously-translated ge (Chinese: 戈; pinyin: gē; Wade–Giles: ko.
In either case, the relevance to the poem is the way in which these weapon is used in ancient Chinese warfare: shot by an archer from the ground or from chariots generally in large numbers, battles frequently began with massed archery as soon as the armies were in range of each other.
However, at close quarters the archer was no match for the wielder of the ge, so a typical battle would begin with volleys of arrows/bolts, followed by hand-to-hand fighting.
Both the longbow and crossbow were known to the author of "Hymn to the Fallen" and the only specification made is to "Qin bows (秦弓)".
Rhinoceroses were relatively common in southern China at the time of the composition of "Hymn to the Fallen", and Chu is noted for historical use of rhino skin armor for war.
"[t]he soldiers of Chu were equipped with armour made of sharkskin and rhinoceros hide as hard as metal or stone, and with pikes of Nanyang steel that could sting a man like a wasp or a scorpion".
[7] The lamellar armour favoured by Chu was generally constructed of many small pieces intricately sewn together, resulting in a type of armor providing a certain amount of defensive protection, while at the same time being reasonably light and flexible.
The short swords were in case an enemy jumped on the chariot or the personnel were forced into melee combat; however, yet of such construction as they be not so bulky that they might interfere with main duties onboard.
Military discipline was key component in the warfare depicted in "Hymn to the Fallen"; that is, the ordering of the army so as to be most effective in tactics and responsive to command.
Communications, including rallying points and identifying forces was often done through the use of banners, sometimes adorned with feathers (jīng, 旌), as is mentioned in "Hymn to the Fallen".
This includes belief in an after life, with survival of soul or spirit beyond the death of the body and the presence of various supernal or earthly powers, particularly a Heavenly Lord (Tian) and a Martial Deity (Wu).
There is some uncertainty in the beliefs around the time that the "Hymn to the Fallen" was written, in late Warring States/early Han dynasty.
Standard Chinese version (Traditional characters but written in the modern way, left-to-right and horizontally):
