Chinese Military
China had a great need for a powerful military. Not only were armies needed to control the vast territories of China and to defeat internal rivals, but ancient China was also surrounded by potential enemies. Different Ethnic groups within ancient China such as the Qiang and Di vied for power. The settled nations around China resented the subordination, or outright annexation, that the Chinese attempted to thrust on them causing wars with groups like the Vietnamese and the Koreans. However it was the nomadic tribes to the West and North of China that caused the most problems.
First Major Conflict
In 2500 BC the first war in China was Battle of Banquan. This war in China was fought by Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor and Yandi, the Flame Emperor. The Shennong tribe was a group of the nomadic people (people who move according to season to get food) from the west entered the north china plain. Generations later, the tribe was in conflict with other tribes at the time. Such as the Jiuli tribe led by Chi You and Youxiong tribe led by the Yellow Emperor, who raised armies against Shennong. The armies of Youxiong and the armies of Shennong met in Banquan in the first large scale battle in Chinese history. After three major engagements, the Shennong lost the battle and made an alliance with the Yellow Emperor. The two tribes then formed a new tribe called Huaxia tribe, and unite small tribes around them.