Military of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234)

The military of the Jin dynasty (Chinese: 金朝; pinyin: Jīn cháo), officially known as the Great Jin (大金; Dà Jīn), was the military force of an imperial dynasty of China, founded by rulers of Jurchen origin, that ruled over northern China between 1115 and 1234.

In Empire of The Steppes, René Grousset reports that the Mongols were always amazed at the valour of the Jurchen warriors, who held out until seven years after the death of Genghis Khan.

[1] The Jin dynasty's standing forces numbered at approximately half a million, the largest in the world at the time, circa 1195.

[5] It was hence responsible for supplying a large portion of the troops that fought the Song in the seven years following the dynasty's creation.

[9] The Jin military was organised through the meng-an mou-k'o (meng'an mouke) system, seemingly similar to the later Eight Banners of the Qing dynasty.

Meng-an is from the Mongol word for thousand, mingghan (see Military of the Yuan dynasty) while mou-k'o means clan or tribe.

[10] The mouke included not only a mixture of households, but also their slaves and livestock, operating as a self-sufficient economic-military body, similar to a warband.

[11] Although mouke technically meant clan, their members were not necessarily related by blood; the word denoted a hunting or herding group, and was formed for administrative purposes.

[11] The mouke system represented the emperors' attempt to stretch the concept of the nomadic "warband" to incorporate all subject peoples without losing the close intimacy of ties within the group.

Prince Hailing abolished these autonomous positions, brutally suppressing potential threats, and thus established a more centralized Chinese-style model.

[17] Ethnic Bohai were an important element of not only civil but military administration in the Jin dynasty from its earliest stages.

"[18] Bohai likely had a system of organisation similar to the meng'an mouke as early as 926, when they fled the destruction of their state in groups of 100, 300 and 500 households.

[19] After the meng-an forces declined in effectiveness, ad hoc Chinese irregulars called Zhongxiao Jun (filial and loyal troops) were raised to fight the Mongols.

[20] The Zhongxiao Jun also included Uyghur, Tuyuhun, Qiang and Naiman troops, who were defectors and captives enlisting with the Jin forces.

The imperial court also defended their ill-disciplined behaviour and high crime rate by saying that foreign defectors were rare and needed to be "treated magnanimously".

[22] Contemporary Chinese writers ascribed Jurchen success in overwhelming the Liao and Northern Song dynasties mainly to their cavalry.

[26] The Jurchen cavalry all carried composite bows which they showed great skill in using; Wanyan Aguda was famed for hitting a target at 320 paces.

This arrangement was the reverse of the Khitans, who placed light horse archers in front as a screen for the heavy cavalry.

While they were dismissive of most Jin weapons, the Mongols feared the "flying" fire lance and the heaven-shaking thunder bomb.

[32] The heated tinder that ignited the weapon was stored in a small iron box toted by the Jin soldiers in battle.

One open end allowed the gas to escape and was attached to a long stick that acted as a guidance system for flight direction control.

[23] Prince Hailing was the first northern conquest dynasty leader to attempt to expand into naval technology, to attack the waterways leading to southern China.

[44] The Jurchen use of the warband, a group of loyal, semi-nomadic or nomadic warriors who follow their leader in building his empire, came to influence the military organisation of neighbouring Goryeo.

These warbands also upset the traditional hierarchical order of Goryeo society by granting its members immunity from the law and sharing personal space and items between the commander and his troops.

"[48] Mongol commanders such as Aju praised these Han Jun forces as the "only" troops suited for mountainous, water, or fortified battles.