China Archery

Archaeological discoveries proved that archery in China dates back 20,000 years. Practical archery takes three conditions: a bow strong enough to propel arrows, arrows that are sharp enough to kill, and a technique to ensure the stability of arrows in flight. The bow and arrow in ancient China fully met the three conditions. Archaeologists have unearthed finely made arrowheads in a site of the Paleolithic Age in Shanxi Province. Made of stone, the arrowheads were sharp and pointed, and could be mounted on a shaft. No bow was found at the site, since bows were usually made of wood,  bamboo and perhaps tendon of animals and could not remain intact for so many years. But the arrowheads were enough to prove the existence of bows.

As for how to keep the arros stable in flight, Kao-Gong-Ji, the earliest work on science and technology in China, writes under the item of THE ARCHER: “Decide the proportions of the shaft to install the feathers.  The feathers at the end of the shaft are installed in three directions, and then the arrowhead is mounted. An arrow thus made will not lose its balance even in strong winds.” It also says, “When the feathers are too many, the arrows will slow down; when the feathers are too few, the arrow will become unstable.” Later on, ancient Chinese developed bronze arrowheads and the crossbow, upgreading archery to a new height.

Picture of using archery with feet in ancient China:

Team China won gold and bronze medals at the 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup at the Riverside Financial Plaza in Pudong’s Lujiazui District over the weekend.
The weeklong competition, which brought together 332 competitors from 46 countries and regions, serves as a ranking event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Team China won gold and bronze medals at the 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup at the Riverside Financial Plaza in Pudong’s Lujiazui District over the weekend.
The weeklong competition, which brought together 332 competitors from 46 countries and regions, serves as a ranking event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
South Korea is an archery superpower, having won the Olympics’ women’s recurve team championship nine times in a row.

Chinese archers struggled early on Sunday. But they took advantage of the mistakes of their opponents and raced ahead.
“The key to winning is mental construction,” Yang Xiaolei said. “The South Korean team serves as a reference point. We give it our all every time we meet them.”
Despite the drizzle, hundreds of local fans turned out to watch the finals.

“Since its inception in 2006, the Archery World Cup has changed the city’s attitude toward archery. It is no longer a niche sport,” said Guo Bei, Honorary Vice Chairman of the Asian Archery Federation.

After the tournament, the Pudong New Area authorities took the international athletes on a boat ride around the Huangpu River. They sampled local cuisine and listened to Jiangnan (the southern part of the Yangtze River’s lower reaches) music.

The World Cup will head to South Korea and Turkey next.

Source: SHINE BY:Ma Yue Photo:Ti Gong

World Archery Asia has released a preliminary calendar of continental events for 2023.

The tentative schedule respects the international blocks announced by World Archery for the 2021-2024 seasons and includes an Asian Championships, three Asia Cup legs and the rescheduled Asian Games.

Hangzhou was initially scheduled to host the Asian and Para Asian Games in 2022 but the multisport events were delayed, along with the World University Games, due to ongoing pandemic measures in China.

The Asian Games and Asian Championships will act as continental qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The qualifying period starts with the 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships in Berlin next summer.

World Archery Asia is also expected to host its congress during the championships in Thailand.
Thanks To: CHRIS WELLS
Seoul, Korea

Tibet’s Nyingchi holds archery competition to celebrate Gongbo New Year
Source: Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi

An amateur archer takes part in the traditional “Gongbo archery” competition in Nyingchi, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Nov. 19, 2020. A traditional archery competition was held in Nyingchi on Thursday to celebrate the Gongbo New Year. This year, more than 260 archery enthusiasts from Nyingchi participated in the competition. “Gongbo archery“, with a history of over 1,500 year, is a traditional folk sports competition which is unique to Nyingchi. It has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Tibet. There are small holes on the wooden cone head of the arrow. When the arrow flies to target, the air passes through the hole and makes a sharp whistling sound. A cloth curtain with a leather target is hung on the other side of the arena. After hitting the target, the arrow falls off together with the inner ring of leather target.
Source: Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi