Chinese Archery-lost martial art

[YangLiCheng]

For the Unitiated, read Chinese Archery by Stephen Selby

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

basic facts about the history of Chinese archery listed by eras

late neolithic/early bronze age (Xia, Shang dynsaties)

1. Chinese archery is as old as Chinese history itself. late neolithic and early bronze age Chinese religions often based around archery shaman cults like that of Yi the archer
2. the composite recurve bow is thought to have been invented in China since Shang pictographs offer the first written evidence for this type of bow. Composite bows have existed before Shang China but a composite bow of recurve design does not show up outside of China until the first millenium B.C
3. Chinese recruve bows of this era were asymetrical, long (over 55 inches) and had extremely heavy draw weights up to 160 pounds. Chinese recurve bows will be known for their incredible draw weight until the Ming dynasty. bow weights were meant to fascilitate the ability to penetrate 7 layers of toughened leather from 90 yards away
4. made from horn, woodcore (usually bamboo or mulberry) and sinew with fish glue. this is the way pretty much all composite recurve bows are made up of.

Feudal age up to warring states era(western and eastern zhou)
1. Invention of the crossbow
2. Archery is considered the 6 arts of the Jun Zi(gentleman). Emphasized by Kong Zi (most likely an archery instructor himself at one point in his life). ritual archery is created
3. via Confucian principles and the warrior nobility that has existed since China's beginnings, the Wu Shi (warrior gentleman or "knight") class develops. archery is considered the most important skill.
4. Horse archery is adapted from the Xiong Nu nomads by King Wujiang of Zhao. Soon all the warring states adopt it. it will be considered among the most important (if not the most important) military skill up until the late Qing dynasty

Early Imperial (Qin, Han,Three kingdoms,Wei-Jin, Age of fragmentation, Sui, Tang)

1. ritual archery reaches its peak of popularity during early Han dynasty.
2. Emperor Han Wu Di makes cavalry the main striking force in the Chinese military making Horse archery skills even more important
3. crossbow declines in popularity during the North-South dynasties due to popularity of heavy cavalry
4. ritual archery vanishes by age of fragmentation slowly replaced by sport archery
5. Emperor Tang Tai Zong allows archery practice to occur right in his palace(hundreds being trained right in his palace). He joins them frequently
6. Empress Wu ZeTian formalizes archery examinations (mounted, standing, sitting)
7. sport archery becomes China's most popular sport during Tang
8. Wang Ju's famous archery manual is written. archery instruction in the form of poems

late Imperial (5 dynasties ten kingdoms, Song, Jin/Liao.Xi Xia, Yuan, Ming, Qing)

1. crossbow becomes popular again
2. automatic crossbow and divine siege crossbow invented in Song
3. constant incursions of people skilled with bow like the Qidan and NuZhen during Song make archery skills even more important
4. after Mongol conquest. the traditional Chinese recurve bow is re-evaluated and adapted to Mongol style. shorter bow length, lower draw weight enabling faster shooting as well as the string bridge
5. by the Ming dynasty, 200 schools of archery styles exists
6. Manchus re-introduce popularity of long heavy draw weight bows
7. by 20th century, Chinese archery dies.


now i proudly display my own bows

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...azulbow008.jpg
this one above is a typical Ming Chinese/Mongol bow. 60 pound draw weight

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...azulbow001.jpg
this one above is more typical of pre-Yuan era Chinese bows. long length and heavy draw weight. this one is 110 pounds of draw (shown unstrung)