Do You Fear Death?
Macedonian phalanx is an infantry combat formation which was one of the secrets of the Macedonian kingdom’s victory.
2,000 years ago, when the art of war was still unformed, Macedonian phalanxes used to be so powerful by the coordination of different types of soldiers. Each soldier held a spear about six or seven meters long, densely packed like a moving wall.
But the Macedonian phalanx had a fatal drawback — if one of them retreated and broke the formation, failure could easily follow.
You may wonder, what exactly was it that supported the soldiers inside the Macedonian phalanx to keep moving forward?
This question has also puzzled many experts, and there is still no accurate answer.
Interestingly, in almost the same period of ancient China, a large number of terracotta warriors made of clay were found in the tombs of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
These terracotta warriors actually held 6.3-meter-long spears in their hands. In a neat formation, they were buried in the tomb of the Qin emperor to guard him.
This special spear and Infantry tactical formation is highly similar to the Macedonian phalanx.
With other contemporaneous artifacts excavated from the other regions in China as supporting material, archaeologists seem to be able to figure out why no one would flinch in this infantry squad.
Shuihudi Qin bamboo texts were discovered by archaeologists in 1975 in an ancient tomb in Hubei Province, China, dating back to the Qin Dynasty. At that time there was no paper yet and ancient Chinese people used bamboo texts to record their messages.
The most amazing thing about these bamboo texts is that they record the laws of the Qin Dynasty. It is because of these relics bamboo sticks that we can better understand the specific laws 2,000 years ago.
The laws of the Qin Dynasty divided people into 20 ranks of titles. People of low social status could upgrade their titles for themselves and their families by earning war merits and gaining a better life.
Over 2000 years ago, China was not yet a unified country, with constant warfare, so the Qin Empire was almost a “farming and warfare” state — fighting on the front lines and farming at the background.
Although the front-line soldiers were on the battlefield, their hearts were filled with thoughts of their families. According to the laws of the Qin dynasty, the war merits could win a better life for their families, so each of them fought bravely and kept the formation. If a soldier fell down, the soldiers behind him would immediately take his place, keeping the formation unchanged and continuing to march forward.
They are not just warriors.
They are fathers, sons, brothers, husbands.
It was the positive expectation of a better life for their families, guaranteed by the laws of the Qin Dynasty, that supported them in the battlefield without fear of sacrificing their lives to ensure that the phalanx was not deformed.
Whether it is the Macedonian warriors in the Macedonian square or the Qin warriors in the Qin square, they are not cogs of war who are not afraid of death, yet they are all human beings whose hearts are filled with love and warmth for their families.
May this world be free of war forever.
