The Guăi Zĭ Mă was at one time believed to involve the linking together of three cavalrymen with a hide rope to enhance their fighting capabilities. Allegedly used by the Jin army when they invaded Southern China during the Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 Period of Chinese history (960-1279 CE), later scholars believe that the Guăi Zĭ Mă was in fact a Song military cavalry tactic or the name of a particular unit of the Song army.

Song Dynasty records

Also known as the Guăi Zĭ Zhèn (拐子阵) or Guăi Zĭ Mache(拐子马阵), the Guăi Zĭ Mă was a troop deployment that involved left and right cavalry wings. There are also contemporary references to the tactic which use the terms Dōngxī Guăi Zĭ Zhèn (东西拐子阵) and Guăi Zĭ Chéng (拐子城) as well as Liăng Guăi Zĭ (两拐子). The first reference to the Guăi Zĭ Mă appears in Yue Ke’s (岳珂) E Wang Xingshi Biannian (鄂王行实编年) or Account of the Lord of E’s life published in the final years of the Southern Song Dynasty. The book follows Wang Ruohai’s (汪若海) established principle that “three soldiers become five when roped together with a leather thong”, believing this to be the reason that the Jin army was able to triumph in every encounter with their enemies. Yue Ke’s book states that in 1140, the tenth year of Emperor Gaozong of Song’s Shoxing era

Chinese era name

A Chinese era name is the regnal year, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperor's reign and naming certain Chinese rulers . Some emperors have several era names, one after another, where each beginning of a new era resets the numbering of the year back...

 (绍兴): “During the Battle of Yancheng

Battle of Yancheng

The Battle of Yancheng took place in 1139 CE near modern day Luohe City in Henan Province, China between the main armies of the ruling Song Dynasty and Jurchen or Jin invaders from the north...

 General Yue Fei

Yue Fei

Yue Fei , style name Pengju, was a military general of the Southern Song Dynasty. His ancestral home was in Xiaoti, Yonghe Village, Tangyin, Xiangzhou, Henan...

 was able to break through a weak point in the Jin line” whilst the History of Song

History of Song

The History of Song or Song Shi is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the Twenty-Four Histories of China that records the history of the Song Dynasty...

 records: “Wu Shu’s army were strong and heavily armored with three men roped together by a leather thong.” This view of the Guai Zi Ma persisted until the time of the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 (1644–1911), yet no mention of the tactic is made in either the Military records or Biography Sections (including that of Wu Shu) in the History of Jin.

Later analysis

A work written during the early years of the Qing Dynasty refutes the above description on the grounds that there is no logic in the Guăi Zĭ Mă as previously described. The book records: “For northern horsemen the head on charge was their primary tactic. If three horses were roped together in this way their strength would be uneven and result in erratic movement, as would be the bravery of the three cavalrymen involved with some brave and others timid. The soldiers differing levels of fatigue would also affect their performance. Moreover, why would Wu Shu’s army, skilled as they were as individual horsemen, agree to be restricted in such a way? On many occasions it is known that the Jin armies were able to advance in even formation sweeping all before them and leaving the Song armies unable to put up any resistance. Finally the name itself is clearly absurd for such a tactic.”

The Wujing Zongyao

Wujing Zongyao

The Wujing Zongyao was a Chinese military compendium written in 1044 AD, during the Northern Song Dynasty. Its authors were the prominent scholars Zeng Gongliang , Ding Du , and Yang Weide , whose writing influenced many later Chinese military writers. The book covered a wide range of subjects,...

  or Collection of the Most Important Military Strategies calls the Guăi Zĭ Mă a “South Eastern (i.e. Song) Guăi Zĭ Mă disposition of troops” and a large scale formation with left and right flanks of cavalry. Based on these sources, the Guăi Zĭ Mă was actually a Song cavalry formation and to say that it was a tactic of Wu Shu is mistaken. Historian Deng Guangming

Deng Guangming

Dèng Guăngmíng was a leading Chinese historian and historiographer who specialized in the 10th to 13th century Song, Jin and Liao Dynasty Dynasties remembered for his meticulous attention to detail....

 (邓广铭) goes on to point out: “The name Guăi Zĭ Mă was used for one of the Song army’s operational units, the Hebei Qian Army (河北签军) and the so-called “Victory at Zhuzhian Town” which smashed Wu Shu’s army did not actually happen. Yue Fei’s most northern victory was at Xiaoshang Bridge （小商桥, 12 kilometers south of Linying County

Linying County

Linying County is a county of Henan, China. It is under the administration of Luohe city....

, Hebei Province） where Yang Zaixing (杨再兴/楊再興) died in battle.”

Liang Dingming's(梁鼎铭/梁鼎銘) 1956 painting Yue Fei’s Major Victory (岳飞大破拐子马图/岳飛大破拐子馬圖) shows Song infantry hacking at the feet of Jin cavalry horses with long handled pikes.

This article is based on a translation of 拐子吗 in Chinese Wikipedia.