44x16 - Chinese Chariot Revealed

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR:
It was a civilization
of extraordinary ingenuity

and inventiveness
in every field...

Including warfare

But in ancient China, one weapon
stood for power and prestige

like no other

The chariot

JEFFREY RIEGEL:
In order to be a superpower,

you needed to be able
to count your chariots

in the tens of thousands

NARRATOR:
Now a major new excavation is
helping to unlock the secrets

of this ancient w*r machine

[translated]:
We were excited beyond words

NARRATOR:
Clues hidden in the earth
for nearly 3,000 years

reveal the complexity
of its construction

Blimey!

That is a huge wheel!

NARRATOR:
The changing tactics that helped
it rule the b*ttlefield

MAN:
Got him!

NARRATOR:
And why it was so different
from chariots

in other parts of the world

Thousands thundered across
China's battlefields

But how was the chariot really
used in combat?

And how effective was it?

One way to find out is to bring
a Chinese chariot back to life

[rider yelling]

[blade whirring]

Now, expert craftsmen

HURFORD:
It's not without its dangers,
this game

NARRATOR:
engineers

[translated]:
We've finally made

a successful piece today

NARRATOR:
and military historians

MIKE LOADES:
Inhabiting that space

tells you how it should be used

[echoing thud]

NARRATOR:
combine to build
and battle-test

a replica of a Chinese chariot

HURFORD:
Perfect fit

NARRATOR:
They'll decode

engineering riddles hidden in
this ancient military machine

Investigate how it went
from a high-status symbol

to a weapon of all-out w*r

And discover its impact
on China's history

[men yelling]

ROBIN YATES:
Without a doubt,

chariots played a crucial role

in the unification of China

NARRATOR:
"Chinese Chariot Revealed,"
right now on NOVA.

NARRATOR:
The country we know
today as China

was once a mass of competing
states, frequently at w*r

The conflict between them
created an ancient arms race

as leaders battled
to reign supreme,

kingdoms rose and fell
on the b*ttlefield

At the heart
of this struggle was a weapon

that was prized
more than any other

the chariot

Yijie Zhuang
is a landscape archaeologist

who's been studying
ancient Chinese society

There are many, many
archaeological sites

all over China,

and one thing that appeared time
and time again were chariots

So chariots definitely were
a very crucial part

of ancient societies
thousands of years ago

NARRATOR:
Although we can gather clues
about chariots

in the texts
of ancient scholars,

as China historian Robin Yates
has discovered,

many mysteries remain

They tell us generalizations,
but they don't tell us

exactly how they were used
on the field of battle

NARRATOR:
Now, a new discovery in Hubei
Province, Central China,

in the town of Zaoyang,
may help to answer

some of these questions

In 2002, a vast ancient cemetery

about 200 times the size of a
football field was discovered

At the time, archaeologists
were only able to unearth

some of its treasures,
leaving the rest buried

But modern-day tomb robbers
have targeted the site,

so archaeologist Qin Fang
has been called in

for a rescue operation

[translated]:
What a great day

NARRATOR:
It's a chance for the team to
finish the work they'd started

He and his colleagues
have been slowly unearthing

the rest of the cemetery's
hidden treasures

They've discovered 29 tombs,

but one in particular stands out

[translated]:
After archaeological surveying,

we realized
this was a large mausoleum

NARRATOR:
This tomb is larger
than the others,

but its original
inhabitant is missing

The skeleton appears
to have been stolen

Who was he?

Qin Fang excavates the remaining
objects in the tomb

QIN FANG [translated]:
I think it's possibly
some kind of instrument,

a musical instrument?

[men conversing]

NARRATOR:
Besides a bronze bell,
there are more personal items,

including precious
pieces of jade

QIN FANG [translated]:
Look, the carvings
are really clear

NARRATOR:
Objects this valuable
can only mean one thing:

the person they were buried with

must have been
wealthy and powerful

[translated]:
The owner of the tomb was a
duke, a man of high status

We were excited beyond words

NARRATOR:
Among the many artifacts,

Qin Fang identifies a unique
piece of pottery

Its distinctive style and shape

allows him to date the burial
site to around 700 BC

In early Chinese history,
the first dynasties controlled

an area between the Yangtze
and the Yellow Rivers,

much smaller than today's China
and very divided

YATES:
At this time,

China was not the unified nation

that we know today

The dynasty in power
were the Zhou,

and when the Zhou came to power,
they divided the country

into smaller states
and ruled with relative peace

NARRATOR:
And the site also offers a clue

as to which of the Zhou's
many states the duke ruled

On a bronze pot an inscription,
"Zeng," so that suggests

he was a wealthy aristocrat
from the State of Zeng

Historians believe
it was a small,

rather insignificant state
surrounded by larger enemies

Even though the Zhou ruled,
over the centuries,

the individual states
would grow more powerful

and started vying for control,

constantly warring
with each other

The most important find
at the site

could also have played
a key part in those struggles

As they dig further, the
archaeologists begin to notice

subtle differences in the soil

In some places,
color changes suggest

the outlines
of mysterious objects

They realize these shapes are
the imprints left behind

by ancient wooden structures,
which have rotted away

over the 2,700 years
they've been buried

[translated]:
Excavating is very challenging

The wooden structure
has long gone

What's left is a hollow cavity,
filled with soil

So basically, we are tracing
the soil inside the cavity

NARRATOR:
As they study the shapes,
the site begins to make sense

They identify the outline of
what looks like a platform,

and in the center an axle
connected to two wheels

There can be no mistaking it

It's the ghostly remains
of a chariot

But the biggest surprise
is yet to come

There isn't just one chariot

QIN FANG [translated]:
We discovered a chariot
pit of 28 chariots

and a horse pit of 49 horses

This discovery
was beyond our imagination

NARRATOR:
Not one but a whole squadron
of chariots is unearthed

The layout of the tombs
suggests the chariots belonged

to the duke

The color and texture
of the soil indicates

they were all buried
at the same time

The elaborate bronze
wheel fittings

are all that survive intact

So many chariots must have cost
an enormous amount

Not to mention, the 49 horses
buried alongside them

QIN FANG [translated]:
These horses seem like a mess,
but actually they are not

Usually, you find
two horses together

These two are put together,

so it looks like this pair
horses pulled the same chariot

NARRATOR:
But why would he have buried
them alongside his tomb?

Were they going to live on
with their master?

YIJIE ZHUANG:
The ancient Chinese believed

that they can live a new life
after their death

So one of the things they often
take into their afterlife

were chariots

because they believed that
chariots can also guard them

in warfare and fighting
in the afterlife

NARRATOR:
Historian Jeffrey Riegel
is an expert

in ancient China

He believes the chariot was
a symbol of prestige

that the Chinese would want
to bring with them

into the afterlife

The chariots were so important
that even after they died,

they wanted to have their
chariots with them

so that the gods would recognize

that these were important people

The chariot was part
of their identity;

it represented their status;

it was expressive of their power
and their prestige

NARRATOR:
So the chariot was so important
that leaders

like the duke of Zeng
invested a fortune in them

But why?

Was it their performance
on the b*ttlefield?

Or were they simply elaborate
status symbols?

One way to find out
is to build a replica

and test its true capabilities

Two chariot experts have been
granted special permission

to visit the Zaoyang excavation

Their goal is to carry out
this experiment

by bringing one of these
chariots back to life

Within a week, this excavation
site will be covered over,

so this will be their
only chance to gather

detailed evidence for themselves

Military historian Mike Loades
has tested chariots

from across the world

But he's never before been able
to properly investigate

a Chinese chariot

All the ancient Chinese texts
talk about the importance

of the chariot, but they don't
tell us how you actually fought

in a chariot, and the only way
to really find that out

is to build one and do
some field-testing with it

NARRATOR:
Expert coachbuilder
Robert Hurford

has 15 years' experience
in building replicas,

but this will be
his first Chinese version

I've got to get down in there
and find measurements,

get what little bits of evidence
there are there

This has to be battle ready...

Can't wait to get on with it

clear delineations of lengths
of axle and all of that

NARRATOR:
Mike and Robert's first job
is to identify

the best preserved chariot
on which to base their replica

LOADES:
That wheel there is very clearly
this wheel here

and we can see from that

that you've got
the axle running across,

you've got the pole,

and that this square
with the rounded corners,

that's the platform

So, this is a chariot

NARRATOR:
First, they need to measure
each of the components

While incomplete, these outlines
will give them the basic plan

they need for the build

Exactly three feet

Exactly three feet

And now side to side

NARRATOR:
Mike and Robert start with the
box which encloses the platform

where the crew would have stood

I get 65 inches

I mean, that width is colossal

NARRATOR:
It's far larger than
most other ancient chariots

they've seen

Next, they turn their attention
to the wheels

The number of spokes immediately
catches Robert's eye

HURFORD:
It's got many more spokes

than we're used to having
in chariots



NARRATOR:
But it's not just the number
of spokes that's unusual

There's the matter of diameter
as well

HURFORD:
Blimey We've got 56 inches

Now, let's just
put that in context

Just stand that upright

That is a huge wheel

Yeah!

We've explored
Assyrian chariots,

Egyptian chariots,
Hittite chariots

All of them,
the wheels are down here

Straight away, the wheels
are completely different

to anything else

NARRATOR:
The Chinese chariot's wheels
are a third larger

than those
of Middle Eastern models

And there are
other differences too

Chariots from ancient Egypt are
much more compact and round

at the front,

with smaller, six-spoked wheels

on an axle positioned
at the rear

The Chinese chariot is large
and rectangular

and has a central axle
with giant, many-spoked wheels

At first glance, it seems
more like a cart

than an agile w*r machine

But why would the ancient
Chinese builders have used

this bigger design?

Mike and Robert think it might
have been a way to cope

with the tough landscapes
of northern China

The rough, grassy terrain
was more challenging

for a wheeled vehicle
than the flat, sandy deserts

of the Middle East

On rough ground,
small wheels fall further down

between bumps,
producing a jarring ride,

while the larger Chinese wheels
are able to resist the gaps,

stabilizing the vehicle

And the bigger wheels
have a second advantage

They act like a lever,
meaning less energy is needed

to pull the wheel over the bump,
so it's easier for the horses

The type of chariot discovered
at the site

played an important role in the
wars during the Zhou dynasty

With that in mind, Robert is
eager to start building

his own replica

In his workshop in England,
his first step is to create

the rim of the chariot wheel
using the ancient technique

of steam bending

HURFORD:
It gives you

a stronger result because
the grain follows

the shape that you want

NARRATOR:
The wood must be steamed
to a critical temperature

of 100 degrees centigrade
or 212 degrees Fahrenheit

The fibers become plastic
at that temperature and so,

you can bend it, and when it's
cooled down, it sets hard

so it retains the shape

We've got to go quickly here;
we don't want this to cool down

NARRATOR:
Once it's out of the steamer,
they must bend the wood

into shape within seconds
or it will split

and Robert will
have to start again

We're putting
big pressures on this

If it slips off, it'll fly back
and I mean it could

knock somebody's teeth out

It's not without its dangers,
this game

[metal clangs]

NARRATOR:
Finally, danger averted,
the rim takes shape

The chariots
at the Zaoyang excavation

date to a turning point in
Chinese history, around 700 BC

When the Zhou dynasty had come
to power in 1046 BC,

they divided the land
into regional states

that remained
under their control

But these states grew strong
and rebelled

As the Zhou clung
precariously to power,

w*r spread
throughout ancient China

as rival states attempted
to conquer each other

YATES:
It's this time when chariots
came into their own

and we see larger and larger
numbers of chariots

on the field of battle

The main text that tells us
about how battles were fought

is the Zuozhuan,

and it describes the numbers
of chariots that you find

For example, here is one

where the army has
[reading classical Chinese],


essential for success

Here is another example

where the general has gathered
together 800 chariots

and this is why this time period

is called the golden age
of the chariot

[horses whinnying]

NARRATOR:
But did chariots always play

this leading role
in ancient Chinese battles?

How did they become

such a prestigious
and prominent weapon?

Clues can be found by looking
in the ancient city of Anyang

where the oldest chariots
in China were discovered

They date back 500 years
before the Zaoyang chariots

YATES:
At that time,
Anyang was the capital

of the first recorded dynasty
in Chinese history,

the people known as the Shang

And they had a glittering
Bronze Age culture

NARRATOR:
These Shang dynasty chariots
in Anyang date back to 1200 BC

China historian
Jonathan Clements

and chariot expert Hsiao-yun Wu
have come to examine

these early chariots,
starting with the wheels

[translated]:
The Shang dynasty wheel
that we can see here

is very typical

We can count the spokes,
and there are 18

Okay, so this is normal
for the Shang dynasty

NARRATOR:
But the wheel was
such a key component

that designers kept improving it
as the centuries passed

[translated]:
The wheel technology
gets better and better

Once we move into
the Zhou dynasty,

the number of spokes
increased from 18 to 28,



NARRATOR:
So the early wheel containing


would transform over 500 years
into a wheel with 28 spokes,

just like the ones
at the excavation site

But why would Chinese builders
have added these extra spokes?

[translated]:
This has a couple of benefits

The first is that the materials
became lighter,

which allowed the chariot
to move faster

Also, more spokes increases
the stability of the wheel

CLEMENTS:
It's like a kind of built-in
redundancy

that if you have more spokes,

if you lose, one then you still
have a full complement of spokes

that keeps you rolling

[shouting, horses whinnying]

NARRATOR:
So the engineering of the wheels
evolved to make the machine

perform better
on the b*ttlefield

Did that mean the way
the chariot was deployed

changed as well?

Stored in the archives
at Anyang Yinxu Museum

is a curious artifact
from the Shang dynasty

Inscribed on an ancient
tortoise shell,

carved symbols provide evidence
of the chariot's place

in early Chinese history

Jonathan Clements has come
to meet expert Yuling He

to see what the bones reveal

So this is an oracle bone

It is actually the scapula,
the front of a tortoise's shell,

and, in fact, what we have here

is the earliest form of writing
in China

NARRATOR:
The Shang kings heated shells
or bones until they cracked

and then interpreted
these fracture lines

to predict the future,

which they carved on the shell
as symbols

And one symbol in particular
is very familiar

CLEMENTS:
You can actually see

the word for chariot,
it's a picture of what it is,

it's a horse drawing
a wheeled vehicle

YULING HE [translated]:
On this day he asked the priest

if he could order two people
to fetch the right chariot

NARRATOR:
But there is something unusual

about the way the chariot
is depicted on the bones

CLEMENTS:
The strange thing with a lot of
the oracle bones

is when the word "chariot"
turns up,

it's slightly different
every time

It's like they're not sure
how to spell it,

because it's like a new word
they don't use very often

YATES:
The chariot was a new invention
and the Shang didn't really know

how to use it effectively,

so we don't really know whether
it was used

on the field of battle,

or whether it was just
a mobile command platform

It wasn't as dominant
a machine as it later became

NARRATOR:
So at first, under the Shang,

it seems the chariot played
a minor role in combat

But over the centuries

after their successors,
the Zhou, came to power,

the nature of warfare
would change

and the chariot would become
more important in battle

So the Zhou began to introduce
technical innovations,

which pose headaches for Robert

In particular, making a wheel
with 28 spokes

causes a major problem

The earliest Chinese chariots
had only 18 spokes,

which would have fit
around the hub

HURFORD:
The earlier chariots

used round spokes

If you try to put 28 of these
around this hub,

you immediately find that
there's no room for them

So there must have been
some sort

of development in the design

NARRATOR:
The chariots at the Zaoyang
excavation site

were little more
than imprints in the dirt,

so details of how the pieces
were put together

were not preserved

[car horn honking]

The answer may lie with an
extraordinary discovery

from 2004... a perfectly
preserved Chinese chariot

from close to the same
time period,

found during
the widening of a canal

[translated]:
The chariot was buried deeply

and submerged in water,

which created an environment
without oxygen,

meaning the wooden structure
was fully preserved

NARRATOR:
Examining the intact wheel
gives Robert the solution

for adding more spokes

In this chariot the spokes are
flat, rather than round,

meaning more can be fitted
into the wheel hub

And this chariot also reveals
other secrets

about how the ancient Chinese
builders constructed the wheel

[translated]:
The wheel was largely in one
piece when we unearthed it,

but when it dried out, many of
the wooden pieces fell apart

That's very handy
because I need to find out

how all these joints
fitted together

And if you've got pieces
which have come apart,

it's so much easier to see how
they were put together

in the first place

NARRATOR:
During the preservation process,

detailed photos were taken
of the entire chariot

They reveal that the wheels
were constructed

using a mortise and tenon joint,

where a protrusion at the end
of the spoke called a tenon

fits into a slot in the wheel
rim called a mortise

This ancient joinery technique
is used across the world,

but there's something very
distinctive about the way

the Chinese chariot builders
made this joint

[translated]:
These are the original spokes
from the chariot

These are the tenons which are
going into the rim of the wheel

Two different lengths I see

[translated]:
Yes

Some of the tenons go all the
way to the outer rim,

and some only go halfway

NARRATOR:
Robert will need to work out
the purpose

of these two differently sized
tenons

HURFORD:
This one will have to be marked
out with great precision;

and we still don't really know
if it will work

NARRATOR:
As he builds, the reason
for the different lengths

of tenons becomes clear

I think that is a way of making
it easier to assemble the wheel

I've got to draw these spokes
round to line up with the holes

You see how far out these are

At least I don't have to worry
about these two

with short tenons
for the time being

It means that
we're only wrestling

half the number of spokes
at any given time

NARRATOR:
If all the spokes had
long tenons,

it would be impossible
to fit them into the rim

HURFORD:
Got it

NARRATOR:
With the long tenons in place,

the short ones
can easily slide in

It's quite ingenious, really

NARRATOR:
With the wheel complete, Robert
can now focus on other details

In the chariot pit
at the Zaoyang excavation,

the wheels were accompanied by
a series of bronze hub fittings

They tell us precisely
what the wheel hub was like,

and it's extremely long

NARRATOR:
The length of the wheel hub
was critical

to the design of the chariot

The hub is hollow
and fits over the axle

To reduce friction, there are
a few millimeters of clearance

between the axle and the hub

If the hub were short,

this clearance would cause
the wheel to oscillate

But by having a long wheel hub,

the unwanted movement is reduced

The wheel hub also bears
the weight of the chariot,

so adding bronze rings
further stabilizes the wheels

That's the one against
the chariot body

NARRATOR:
Laying the bronzes out,

a clue as to how they might have
been produced is hidden

in the smallest of the fittings

And, finally, the axle cap
with its lynchpin

It stops the wheel falling off

HURFORD:
The lynchpin

It's a small thing,

yet it's so intricate

Do you see along the middle
there there's a little seam?

There is

And in there another little seam

It's been several pieces,
this, in a mold

NARRATOR:
The seams reveal that the bronze
pieces were made in a mold

A foundry in Tianjin
near Beijing

is recreating the bronze
fittings for the replica

The first item to be cast
is the axle cap,

which would have sat at the end
of the axle with the lynchpin

and held the wheel in place

Jinchao Wang from Nanjing Museum
is an expert

in historical crafts

and has studied the way ancient
Chinese metallurgists

cast bronze

He shows how they
used clay molds

made in several different pieces

[translated]:
We put the inner mold
together with the outer mold

Once they are together there
is a space between the two,

through which
the molten metal can flow

NARRATOR:
The molds are joined together
and encased in clay,

ready to receive
the molten metal

This method hasn't been
practiced for hundreds of years,

so for Professor Wang,
this is a critical moment

This step is the most
important...

Pouring the molten metal inside

[sizzling]

NARRATOR:
It's immediately clear
that there's a problem

JINCHAO WANG [translated]:
The surface is rough

LUO BAOQI [translated]:
Yes, because of the steam

NARRATOR:
The high moisture levels
in the clay

produced so much steam that
bubbles formed in the metal

[translated]:
The steam should have escaped,
but it just remained inside

NARRATOR:
With a limited number of molds,

they can't make
the same mistake again

The clay is dried
to reduce the moisture

and they go for a second attempt

This time it works

JINCHAO WANG [translated]:
After several tries,

we've finally made
a successful piece today

NARRATOR:
And they are also successful
when they make the pin

These bronzes also include the
seam that Robert first noticed

on the ancient bronzes
from the excavation,

created where the molds
were joined together

[translated]:
This line is the seam
between the molds

This is the key evidence that
shows this bronze was cast

using the clay technique

Because of the high value
of bronze back then,

people would use as much
bronze as possible

to decorate their chariots

That's the reason why we find

so many bronze decorations
in these excavations

NARRATOR:
Now that the bronze pieces
from the Zaoyang site

have been successfully
recreated,

Robert returns to the preserved
wooden chariot

for crucial details
about the main frame of the box

HURFORD:
It's fascinating

So we've got one piece of wood
very tightly bent on this corner

and that's our framework

NARRATOR:
If the corners were built
from two pieces of wood

joined together, they would
cause weakness to the structure

So the ancient Chinese builders
used solid pieces

of curved or bent wood
at the corners

to create the final shape

Steam bending couldn't achieve
such a tight bend

Instead Robert thinks
the solution may lie

in the natural landscape

This is a naturally bent branch

There's a lot of natural
strength in that shape

It's what you call a grown bend

And I'm sure that's how the
ancients would have done it

NARRATOR:
Robert is replicating
the techniques

of the Chinese chariot builders

by using a naturally bent piece
of wood to form the corner

of the railing for the box

You can see the grain following

around the shape
of the timber here

So that's as strong
a piece of timber

in that shape as we can find

NARRATOR:
He glues the pieces together
on the straight section

to make as strong
a joint as he can

Something which was impossible
to bend in the flat

we've made into an item that
we can use in this chariot

NARRATOR:
Robert is starting to assemble
the major components

of the chariot... the wheels,

the pole which connects
to the horses,

and the box

The positioning of the box
centrally over the axle

is one of the defining
characteristics

of the Chinese chariot

Robert is more accustomed to
making Middle Eastern chariots,

such as those used
by the pharaohs of Egypt,

where the axle was positioned
at the rear

In that design,
the center of gravity of the box

is suspended between
the axle and the horses

This made the structure springy,
adding an element of suspension

That system improves the
smoothness of the ride

So why didn't
the Chinese chariot

adopt this technique as well?

It turns out that the
Middle Eastern configuration

has a drawback... it puts more
weight on the horses' necks

By putting the load
right over the axle,

the Chinese chariot and its load
can be heavier,

and the reason it needed to be
able to carry more weight

is revealed in ancient texts

The Chinese w*r chariot was
unlike w*r chariots in the West

It was designed for a crew
of three, not of two

And we can see this
in the writing

of the military expert Sun Bin

[reading Chinese text]

"The one who is good at archery
is on the left

"A good driver is the one
in the middle

And one who has no particular
ability is on the right"

NARRATOR:
But just how effectively could
they fight

in such cramped quarters?

And what was the role
of the third person

on the right of the driver
and archer?

It's one of the key questions
that testing the replica chariot

will help to settle

Robert is pushing to get
the chariot finished

so testing can begin

The base of the floor
will be woven rattan,

a lightweight and flexible
traditional material

There's a fair bit of give
in this,

but I think that may give

a nice little bit of bounce
to the floor,

so the floor, in fact, is more
comfortable to stand on

NARRATOR:
Flakes of red paint found
at the Zaoyang excavation

were used to recreate the way
an ancient chariot appeared

HURFORD:
The color is very important
in our chariot here

because this chariot is a big
statement of visual effect,

so it's not just a decoration

NARRATOR:
And the polished bronze
wheel fittings

have arrived from China

HURFORD:
Doesn't it just make
a huge impact?

It also does a job

It's stopping the end of the hub
from splitting

There we are, perfect fit

NARRATOR:
The replica chariot is almost
ready for testing,

a process that could provide
an insight

into the chariot's role
in battle

There's still a big debate about
how effective the chariot was

Some scholars argue
that it was like a tank,

it was very effective

And others argue
that it was very fragile

It could be easily broken

YIJIE ZHUANG:
There were different ideas

about how the chariot
was used in battle

For some scholars,
chariots were used

in the middle
of very brutal battles,

whereas other scholars think

the chariot was more
a command post

situated at the outskirts
of the battle

But actually
no one really is sure

how exactly the chariot
was used in battle

NARRATOR:
And even the ancient military
texts give conflicting accounts

of the chariots' effectiveness

The military strategist Sun Bin,
who lived around 300 BC,

describes their strengths
and weaknesses

YATES:
This is Sun Bin's Art of w*r.

"Where the terrain is flat,

the advantage belongs
to the chariots"

[reading the text]

"On difficult ground, that's
advantageous for infantry"

You can see that sometimes
the chariots had the advantage

and sometimes the infantry,

so it's very difficult to decide
whether or not

chariots really had a tactical
advantage in a large battle

NARRATOR:
Now, some of these questions
can be tested

After more than 200 hours
under construction,

a Chinese chariot from 700 BC,
their golden age,

rolls into action

Using measurements taken from
the ancient skeletons,

the team has chosen a powerful
pair of horses,

similar in stature to the horses
that would have pulled

the original chariots

And the most important feature...

Its giant, multi-spoked wheels...
Are ready for testing

By the time the chariots
at the Zaoyang excavation site

were buried, in 700 BC, the Zhou
dynasty was losing control

of their regional states

Smaller, weaker states were
being conquered and absorbed

by richer and more powerful
neighbors

Many had succumbed
on the b*ttlefield,

where the chariot
was more prolific than ever

But exactly what role did the
chariot play in these battles?

The first step is to discover

how well a crew could function
in a chariot box

Mike's first test is to explore
the role of the archer,

positioned on the left
of the box

He sets up some targets
to represent enemy troops

LOADES:
It's the driver's job

to position the chariot so the
archer can get off his shots

But I want to find out how well
can an archer operate,

because if the archer can't
operate,

then it's just a parade vehicle

We have to see how it works
as a weaponized vehicle

NARRATOR:
The Chinese chariot would have
normally carried three warriors,

but to get accustomed to
sh**ting from this platform,

Mike is accompanied
by only a driver

The box's low sides would
have offered little support

to the men if they stood upright

So Mike explores another
possibility:

that the archer
could have operated

in a crouching position

Inhabiting that space almost
tells you how it should be used

NARRATOR:
The design makes
practical sense

On a bumpy b*ttlefield, staying
low would have kept the archer

safely on board,

keeping his shot steady

while reducing his profile
as a target

Ancient military writer
T'ai-kung,

looking back on this time,

described how chariots
were also accompanied

by a team of foot soldiers

Staying in formation
was important,

so the chariot needed to travel
quickly enough

to maximize the impact
of the archer

without leaving behind
the men on foot

Each chariot is supported
by infantry

Infantry squadrons ran
with the chariots

I think that alone tells us

the chariot probably operated
at the trot

Okay, bring them back
to the trot

NARRATOR:
Trotting allowed the foot
soldiers to keep up

but also helped the archer

That steady trot enables the
archer to get off more arrows

There's no point in galloping
around there

and sh**ting one arrow

That steady trot,
we're decimating these men

NARRATOR:
But why did the Chinese choose
to add a third man to the crew,

especially given that the added
weight made it necessary

to build a larger machine?

The answer is because the third
team member also carried

an important weapon

A combination of a dagger axe
and a spear, known as a ji

Among the bronze arrowheads

found at the Zaoyang
excavation site,

spearheads were also discovered

The team adds a third man,

who attempts to use a ji
from the chariot

LOADES:
And we'll build up the speed,
see what we can do a little bit

It's not a natural weapon
for the chariot, is it?

GORDON SUMMERS:
It certainly had the reach,

but it's a tight space
to be operating

a relatively cumbersome weapon

NARRATOR:
The spear seems just
too long to use

from such a confined space,

so perhaps it had
another function... defense

What about if we're stuck
like we are now

and we've got infantry
coming from behind us?

Yeah, if we are stuck in a
melee, then I can use its length

and I have a fairly good reach
in all planes

Because that's what you are,
really,

on the chariot team

Your primary job is to defend us

NARRATOR:
But how were chariots deployed
on the b*ttlefield?

At first, chariot fighting was
a highly ritualized activity

YATES:
Chariot warfare was conducted
by nobles and fighting was done

according to a code of chivalry,

something similar to the knights
of the Middle Ages

It really was a platform for
the nobles to show their ability

to behave and fight
in the correct ritual way

NARRATOR:
Early battles took place at
designated times and locations,

and generals complied with
strict laws of combat,

including a rule which forbade
a warrior to k*ll an enemy

of higher rank

But eventually chivalry gave way
to all-out w*r

The pivotal Battle of Chengpu,
fought in 632 BC

between the state of Chu
and the state of Jin,

featured the first
well-organized

and highly professional armies

Described in the Zuozhuan,

an ancient text which charts
the history of this period,

the two armies fielded around


Using these chariots,
the Jin army demolished

part of the Chu army,
scattering their troops

The Jin then faked a retreat

and, cleverly, using their
chariots to create a dust cloud,

obscured the view
of the pursuing Chu forces

At that point the Jin army,
joined by their chariots,

sealed their victory
over the Chu

And although the numbers
of chariots involved at Chengpu

was relatively modest,

this would not be the case
for much longer

As fighting intensified,

what mattered was victory
at all costs

It didn't matter how you fought

What mattered was that you
defeated the enemy

NARRATOR:
Just a century later,
ancient texts reveal

that the states of Jin and Chu
each fielded

at least 4,000 chariots,
five times more than before

And that was just the beginning

RIEGEL:
There emerged a kind of
hierarchy

that was determined by how
many chariots you possessed

In order to be a superpower,
in order to guarantee victory,

you needed to be able to count
your chariots

in the tens of thousands

NARRATOR:
The growing size
of the chariot forces

made the choice
of where to fight crucial

YIJIE ZHUANG:
One of the most important things
for the commanders

who wanted to use chariots
in their battles

is to consider the condition
of the terrains, which includes

a wide range of different,
sometimes difficult terrains

NARRATOR:
Yijie Zhuang is visiting
a landscape

in modern Tianzhen county
in northern China

This region was much fought over
in ancient China

So look at this very unique
landscape

At the far end were
the mountains

linking the central plains
with the Eurasian Steppes,

whereas in the middle are flat,
very wide and open plains

This would have been the perfect
place for a chariot battle

NARRATOR:
Although this land is now
covered in crops, hedges,

and trees,
the land underneath is flat

and would have been similar
to the test field in England

To assess how steady the ride
would be,

Mike tests the chariot
under ideal conditions

on the flat field

LOADES:
There's no doubt about it,
it is a bone shaker

The wheels may be big,
but they're still solid

and they're on a solid axle,
so it's a very jarring ride

But the ponies are pulling this
along at a fair lick

and with tremendous
maneuverability

This thing is spinning
on its own axis

NARRATOR:
But the maneuverability of
the chariot couldn't get it

past every obstacle

Ancient writers specified
the terrains

chariots should not be used on,
including ravines and ditches,

high mounds and sharp hills

And this advice became
ever more important

as the scale of the battles grew

and the regional states
conquered each other

Now, after eight centuries
of struggle,

just seven states remained,
growing ever larger, richer,

and more territorial

It meant leaders were forced

to take their chariots
further afield

and face more difficult terrain,

limiting their ability
to use them

And blocking enemy chariots
became a defensive tactic

YIJIE ZHUANG:
The regional leaders, they were
building a lot of walls

like this one, which created
barriers for the chariot

to move around

So this divided territorial
landscape has become

incredibly difficult
for chariots

NARRATOR:
The chariot was being stretched
to its limits

And by the time the Zhou
dynasty finally collapsed,

a more versatile military unit
had begun to make itself felt...

The cavalry

Traditionally, w*r horses
in China had only been used

for pulling vehicles,
not widely for riding

This changed from around 500 BC,
when states battling with tribes

from Mongolia began adopting
their enemy's tactics

of riding horses

The rise of cavalry
and horse-mounted archers

soon challenged
the chariot's dominance

To see just how much more agile
the ridden horse is,

Mike tests how a mounted archer
would fare against a chariot

The chariot is capable of
impressively swift, tight turns

[horse whinnying]

But can it survive an as*ault by
a well-trained horse and rider?

Riding as a horse archer
against the chariot,

I felt I had the
complete advantage

I was more nimble, more agile,
I was faster

Once the horse archer
is present,

the chariot just cannot compete

NARRATOR:
More flexible over tough
terrain, cheaper,

and easier to deploy
in great numbers,

the new cavalry forces would
soon eclipse the chariot

on the b*ttlefield

Another factor was the sheer
size of the contending armies

From around
the fifth century BC,

the land we know as China
entered the Iron Age

Farmers now had iron tools,

leading to a population
expl*si*n

Iron technology was abundantly
used in agricultural production,

and together with the
construction of very large scale

irrigation projects,
they can grow more food

and therefore they were able
to support more population

NARRATOR:
A larger population meant more
people could be drafted

onto the battlefields

RIEGEL:
Being able to put

a large army into the field,

an army not simply
of tens of thousands,

but literally of hundreds
of thousands was crucial

NARRATOR:
And one state would become
particularly famous

for its massive armies...
The state of Chin

It was Chin that would
eventually defeat

all other surviving states,

finally unifying China
under one emperor and one name

The Chin still used chariots,

but they also mixed in cavalry
with them as well as infantry

So by the time of the Chin,
the era of the chariot was over

NARRATOR:
Although the golden age
of the chariot was past,

its role in the centuries
of battle,

which saw the many states
struggle for dominance,

meant this machine had
played its part

in creating the nation of China

YATES:
It's clear that the chariot
played an important role

in the warfare that led
to the unification of China

Without the chariot,

I think that China
could not have been unified

NARRATOR:
The chariot was
no longer dominant

on the frontline of battle, but
it remained a powerful symbol

The glory and prestige
of centuries of warfare

had ensured its place at the
heart of Chinese civilization

And a fitting tribute
can be seen in the tomb

of China's first emperor,
Qin Shi Huang

Along with the famous
Terra Cotta Warriors,

he was buried with a pair of
breathtaking bronze chariots

YIJIE ZHUANG:
Many cultures in the world
have chariots,

but for the ancient Chinese,
chariots were very special

They used chariots to showcase
their power and prestige

NARRATOR:
Through building and testing
the chariot,

the team has gained
a telling insight

into why it was so highly
revered by the ancient Chinese

LOADES:
You imagine them in their
hundreds, in their thousands,

that noise, that clatter

It was the state-of-the-art
technology of its day

Its day passed,

but in its time, this was the
best military vehicle possible

RIEGEL:
Their chariots had become part
of their culture,

part of their heritage,
part of their identity,

to the extent that even given
the limitations of the machine,

they couldn't imagine going
anywhere without them