The battle array of soldiers with rattan shields is a kind of fighting art in actual combat of ancient China. It is only kept alive in Shilipu Village of Shahe city in China's Hebei Province, where it's called "rattan shield array".

In the deployment of such a battle array, each team of either the offense or defense must be made up of at least four people. Holding a rattan shield in the left hand and a dagger in the right, the soldiers with rattan shields fight with four others in turn, each of whom wielding a trident, a broadsword, a long spear or a wooden club. In an actual battle, the rattan shield array may be deployed in a variety of ways. Common ways include: the snakey battle array, the eight-diagram interlinking array, the pentagonal array in the shape of a plum blossom, the four-sided bewildering array and the eight-sided heart piercing array etc. The battle array may be expanded to thousands of people to meet the need of an actual combat.

For more than 300 years, the Shahe battle array of soldiers with rattan shields has played an active role in both defending against the enemy and enriching the cultural life of local people. The unpredictable battle array is ideal for both offense and defense. Further research into the array will bring more insights into battle strategies of ancient China. In addition, the array combining music and dance is perfect for jazzing up people's cultural life