Chinese (Age of Empires II)

The Chinese are an East Asian civilization in Age of Empires II. They are based on the Tang and Song dynasties of medieval China, and they focus on archers.

The aforementioned dynasties were best known for their unprecedented technological innovations and highly populated cities accommodating millions of people by the 1200s. To reflect this achievement and for being one of the civilizations that suffered the least during the Dark Ages, they start with extra Villagers and their Town Centers support a higher population. Although they have fewer resources to compensate, allied Farms produce extra food (which reflects on the importance of rice agriculture in China). The unique unit of the Chinese is the Chu Ko Nu, a foot archer wielding the eponymous semi-automatic crossbow invented by the Chinese that would load a new bolt simultaneously as soon as the last one was fired. Chu Ko Nu fire multiple arrows at once and, if employed en masse, they can wreak havoc on infantry and even cavalry.

Due to game balance reasons, the Chinese lack access to many of the technologies they invented, such as the Hand Cannoneer, Bombard Cannon, and Block Printing (the earliest record of a written formula for gunpowder appears in the 11th century Song dynasty text, Wujing Zongyao, the Heilongjiang Hand Cannon is widely considered the earlier surviving firearm, and the Block Printing technology in Age of Empires II even tributes the Chinese by name). Their unique technology, Rocketry, reflects their advanced gunpowder technology and boosts their Chu Ko Nu and Scorpions (by adding +2 and +4 attack respectively) to offer some limited compensation. The Chinese have a long history of using Demolition Ships in naval battles, and as such their Demolition Ships have 50% more hit points which allows them to reach their targets easier. Finally, the Chinese research all technologies more cheaply than any other civilization due to being one of the most advanced civilizations during the time frame of Age of Empires II.

Overview
The Chinese have strong economic bonuses. Chinese players on random maps start with six Villagers instead of the usual three at the cost of having less starting resources, and their Town Centers supports ten population space, which enables faster expansion. Their Town Centers also have a greater Line of Sight, making them more likely to locate their Sheep from the start (which is crucial since the Chinese start with no food in a random map game). They also have cheaper technologies - all technologies decrease in cost with every Age advance. The Chinese unique unit is the Chu Ko Nu, which is a Crossbowman that fires multiple arrows in succession, but at a shorter range in comparison to normal archers.

Unique unit

 * : Foot archer that fires multiple arrows

Unique technologies

 * : Increases the hit points of walls and towers by +30%.
 * : Increases the attack of Chu Ko Nu by +2, and the attack of Scorpions by +4.

Civilization bonuses

 * Start game with three extra Villagers, but with and.
 * Town Center supports ten population (instead of five).
 * Technologies are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Demolition Ships have +50% HP.

Team bonus

 * Farms start with.

The Age of Kings

 * Start the game with.
 * Non-Elite Chu Ko Nu train in 19 seconds.

The Conquerors

 * Now start the game with and.
 * Rocketry introduced.
 * Chu Ko Nu gain a +2 attack bonus against Spearmen.

The Forgotten

 * Town Centers gain +5 LOS.
 * Great Wall introduced.
 * Non-Elite Chu Ko Nu now train in 16 seconds.

In-game dialogue language
In-game, Chinese units speak Mandarin.


 * Shénme? 什么?/什麼? - What?
 * Hǎo. 好. - Good
 * Xíng. 行. - Yes
 * Zūnmìng. 遵命. - Affirmative
 * Zhèngquè. 正确./正確. - Correct
 * Wéi 喂? - What?
 * Fúcóng mìnglìng. 服从命令./服從命令. - I'll follow your order.
 * Hézhǒng mìnglìng? 何种命令? - What order?
 * Zhǔnbèi jiùxù. 准备就绪./準備就緒. - Ready
 * Fámù gōng 伐木工 - Lumberjack
 * Liángcǎo zhēngshōu rén 粮草征收人/糧草徵收人 - Gatherer
 * Lièrén 猎人/獵人 - Hunter
 * Yúfū 渔夫/漁夫 - Fisherman
 * Nóngfū 农夫/農夫 - Farmer
 * Kuànggōng 矿工/礦工 - Miner
 * Jiànzhú gōng 建筑工/建築工 - Builder
 * Xiūlǐgōng 修理工 - Repairer
 * Zuòzhàn! 作战!/作戰! - Fight!
 * Shì. 是. - Yes
 * Jìngōng! 进攻!/進攻! - Charge!
 * Gōngjí! 攻击!/攻擊! - Attack!

AI player names
When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Chinese AI characters:


 * Li Shi-min (李世民): Personal name of Emperor Taizong, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty; lived 598–649.
 * Li zi-cheng (李自成): Born Li Hongji (李鸿基/李鴻基), leader of the rebels who overthrow the Ming dynasty and the emperor of the short-lived Shun dynasty; lived 1606–1645.
 * Lin Chong (林冲): A fictional character on the Water Margin novel.
 * Mu Gui-ying (穆桂英): A legendary heroine from the Northern Song dynasty.
 * Wen Tian-xiang (文天祥): A scholar-general from the Southern Song dynasty known for resisting Kublai Khan's invasion and refusal to submit before the Yuan dynasty; lived 1236–1283.
 * Wu Xe-tian (武则天/武則天): Alternative spelling of Wu Zetian, the empress-consort of the Zhou dynasty and the only female sovereign of China; lived 624–705.
 * Yang Jian (杨坚/楊堅): Personal name of Emperor Wen of Sui, the first emperor of the Sui dynasty; lived 541–604.
 * Yue Fei (岳飞/岳飛): A general from the Southern Song dynasty known for leading the Song in the wars against the Jin dynasty in the 12th century; lived 1103–1142.
 * Zhao Kuang-yin (赵匡胤/趙匡胤): Personal name of Emperor Taizu of Song, the founder and the first emperor of the Song dynasty; lived 927–976.
 * Zheng He (郑和/鄭和): A Ming dynasty admiral notable for his expeditionary voyages to the rest of Asia and Africa; lived 1371–1433/1435.
 * Zhu Di (朱棣): Personal name of Yongle Emperor, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty; lived 1360–1424.
 * Zhu Yuan-zhang (朱元璋): Personal name of Hongwu Emperor, the founder and the first emperor of the Ming dynasty; lived 1328–1398.

Trivia

 * Counting the Shang, the Chinese are the only culture to appear in all four titles of the Age of Empires series, including their respective expansion packs.
 * The Chinese were most famous for their advanced fortification techniques, heavily walled cities (which aided Chinese defenders as late as World War II), and excellent siege engineers. Chinese siege engineers were instrumental to the rapid Mongol conquest of Persia and Russia, yet ironically the Mongols have a better siege line than the Chinese, who do not even receive Siege Engineers.