The Chinese military anciently? Well, except when they were between Dynasties or toward the end of one, China was very often very quietly the most powerful military on earth. The Ming or the Yuan Dynasties could certainly claim this (though the Yuan is not exactly a "Chinese" Dynasty.)
The problem with this all is perception. China was not terribly interested in interacting with anyone outside of it's immediate neighborhood, so nobody knew how powerful they really were. They also did not go on the road of conquest. Truth be told, the Ming was about as aggressive as they ever got. It was the non-China originating Dynasties that everyone ends up remembering.