China Archery

Shi Wansui (549-600) was a famous general in the Sui Dynasty from Duling, Jingzhao (now southeast of Xi’an City in Shaanxi Province).

Shi Wansui was ‘valiant, good at riding and archery when he was young and fond of reading military books’ (Sui Books. Biography of Shi Wansui). After the death of his father, he inherited the title of Lord of the Taiping County.

Shi Wansui was on a par with the famous generals of He Ruobi and Han Qinhu and was promoted to the Great General of the Left Guard. He was highly talented and was reputed as “General of Cavalry” by He Ruobi. In sharp contrast with Yangsu’s severe laws and penalties, as well as killing of the innocent, Shi Wansui was hated by Yangsu for his commanding tactics and died of Yangsu’s circumvention.

Chinese Ritual archery was the product of the ritual-respecting thoughts and ritual systems of the Western Zhou Dynasty.  As the archery had rigid rules on rituals and procedures, hence the name ritual archery. The participants should strictly follow the rules and rituals to show respect for the old and the senior.

The ritual archery could be classified into dashe (great archery), binshe (guest archery), yanshe (happy archery) and xiangshe (township archery) according to the ranks. Dashe was held when the emperor needed to select someone among vassals and court officials to attend sacrificial ceremony through archery; binshe was held as a ritual when the vassals came to visit the emperor or when vassals officially met together; yanshe was the entertaining archery held when the emperor and the court officials had a banquet; and xiangshe was regularly held in spring and autumn when local officials would select talents through archery.

The core of ritual archery was the archery match. Each time six archers would be selected who would be divided into three groups, two archers in each group. The match would have three rounds; one archer shot four arrows in each round. The first round was preliminary, and the archers in the three groups would show their skill in turn; in the second round, the host and guests would also join in, and the loser would be required to drink wine for punishment; the third round was the most difficult: music should be played during the round, and the archers should shoot the arrows according to the beats of the music.

In ancient China there was a fairy tale called “Kuafu Running After the Sun (In pinyin: Kua-Fu-Zhui-Ri).” Untrue as it is, the story does reflect people’s admiration for great runners. Walking and running are the most fundamental abilities of man in daily life as well as in fighting. In ancient times when the means of transport were extremely simple and crude, people attached great importance to improving their walking and running abilities.

“The quality of troops lies in speed” was one of the most important maxims in ancient Chinese art of war. Eminent strategists of all times, from Wu Qi of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Ming Dynasty patriotic general Qi Jiguang (1528-1587), required their men to “run light-footedly” while carrying their weapons and with their coats of mail on. In ancient times, when dukes and princes traveled around in carts, their bodyguards had to run behind them. These bodyguards, called “brave warriors,” were selected through stringent tests” and enjoyed high esteem.

By the Yuan Dynasty (1271- J 1368), a long distance running race was held every year by the ruler inspecting his guards. According to a Yuan Dynasty history book titled Chuo Geng Lu, the race covered at distance of about 180 Ii (90km) and the winner was awarded a silver disc while the others were given satin of different lengths. This was actually a kind of cross-country race that was held at regular intervals.

Hunting was one of the productive activities carried out by the primitive man as a means of survival. In the latter stage of the primitive society it began to be incorporated into the military training programmes of the ruling class. By the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods (770-221 BC) it assumed enormous dimensions as the rulers “taught the civilians ways to fight” by training them in such combat skills as marching, archery on horseback, and hand-to-hand fighting.

In the early Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), hunting gradually became a kind of recreation for the emperors and the nobility. Emperor Liu Che (140 BC- AD 88) had a hunting ground opened up in a forest west of the city of Xi’an. Named Shang Lin Yuan Park, it covers a large area with a circumference of hundreds of kilometers. Li Yuanji, son of the Tang emperor Li Yuan, is said to “prefer going without food for three days to going without hunting for one day.” This shows what a great favor hunting was among the nobility.

Rulers of the Oing Dynasty (1644-1911) hailed from northeast China where people depended on hunting for their livelihood. Following an old tradition, they practised marching and fighting through hunting. Emperor Kangxi (1662-1723) had a hunting ground named Mulan Ranch opened up in Rehe (a region comprising parts of today’ s Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia), where large-scale hunting was carried out in the seventh and eighth months of the lunar year for six decades on end. Oianlong (1736-1796), another Oing emperor, issued a decree to make his officials understand the importance of hunting to both military exercise and physical training.