Chinese archery
[5] However, at the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a revival in interest among craftsmen looking to construct bows and arrows, as well as a practice technique in the traditional Chinese style.
Prior to the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), shooting from chariot was the primary form of battlefield archery.
The earliest recorded use of mounted archery by Han Chinese occurred with the reforms of King Wuling of Zhao in 307 BCE.
Despite opposition from his nobles, Zhao Wuling's military reforms included the adoption of archery tactics of the bordering Xiongnu tribes, which meant shooting from horseback and eschewing Han robes in favor of nomadic-style jodhpurs.
As early as 600 BC,[11] Chinese crossbows employed sophisticated bronze trigger mechanisms, which allowed for very high draw weights.
[12] However, crossbow trigger mechanisms reverted to simpler designs during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE), presumably because the skill of constructing bronze trigger mechanisms was lost during the Mongolian Yuan dynasty (1271–1368 CE), or due to the increasing prominence of hand cannons in late Medieval Chinese warfare.
[11] Nonetheless, infantry archery using the bow and arrow still served important functions in training as well as naval battles.
[13] In the Zhou dynasty (1146–256 BCE), nobles regularly held archery rituals[14] which symbolized and reinforced order within the aristocratic hierarchy.
The typical arrangement involved pairs of archers shooting at a target in a pavilion, accompanied by ceremonial music and wine.
[29] At the Guozijian, law, math, calligraphy, equestrianism, and archery were emphasized by the Ming Hongwu Emperor in addition to Confucian classics and also required in the Imperial Examinations.
[45] Tibetan Buddhist monks, Muslim women and musicians were obtained and provided to Zhengde by his guard Ch'ien Ning, who acquainted him with the ambidextrous archer and military officer Chiang Pin.
[46] An accomplished military commander and archer was demoted to commoner status on a wrongful charge of treason was the Prince of Lu's grandson in 1514.
By contrast, hunting with a tethered arrow (which was meant to ensnare rather than pierce the target) was featured in early paintings, but seemed to have died out before the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE).
Despite this adoption, bows and crossbows had remained an integral part of the military arsenal because of the slow firing rate and lack of reliability in early firearms.
This situation changed near the end of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911 CE), when the availability of reliable firearms made archery less effective as a military weapon.
[13] Between the collapse of Imperial China in 1911 and beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), there was a short-lived effort to revive traditional archery practice.
[5][54] However, with the dedicated efforts of craftsmen, researchers, promoters and enthusiasts, the practice of traditional Chinese archery has been experiencing a revival in the 21st century.
Archaeologists have excavated examples of Scythian-style bows dating to the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BCE) from the Subeixi and Yanghai sites.
Based on excavated bows from the Spring and Autumn period through the Han dynasty (770 BCE–220 CE), the typical construction of a Chinese wood laminate was a reflex bow made from multiple layers of wood (such as bamboo or mulberry), wrapped in silk and lacquered.
However, during the Yuan period, long-siyah bows tended to have heavier siyahs and narrower working limbs than their Han/Jin-era predecessors.
[79] The small-siyah bow (小稍弓) differed from earlier Chinese designs in that its siyahs were short and set at an angle forward of the string when at rest.
[79] Wu Bei Yao Lue (Chapter 4), another classic Ming dynasty military manual, depicts a set of bows that is distinct from those discussed in Wubei Zhi.
[86][87][88] The earliest excavated Chinese thumb ring came from the Shang dynasty tomb of Fu Hao (who died circa 1200 BCE).
The ring was a slanted cylinder where the front, which contained a groove for holding the bow string, was higher than the back.
However, Xin Ding San Li Tu (a Song dynasty illustrated guide to the Zhou dynasty archery rituals) depicts a tab made of red reed (called Zhu Ji San, 朱极三) for protecting the index, middle and ring fingers while pulling the string.
An early tale discusses how the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people, invented the bow and arrow: Once upon a time, Huangdi went out hunting armed with a stone knife.
[93] Other myths also feature Hou Yi battling an assortment of monsters (which were metaphors for natural disasters) using his cinnabar-red bow.
