Chinese archery For millennia , archery has played a pivotal role in Chinese history . In particular , archery featured prominently in ancient Chinese culture and philosophy : archery was one of the Six Noble Arts of the Zhou dynasty ( 1146 – 256 BCE ) ; archery skill was a virtue for Chinese emperors ; Confucius himself was an archery teacher ; and Lie Zi ( a Daoist philosopher ) was an avid archer . Because the cultures associated with Chinese society spanned a wide geography and time range , the techniques and equipment associated with Chinese archery are diverse . The improvement of firearms and other circumstances of 20th century China led to the demise of archery as a military and ritual practice , and for much of the 20th century only one traditional bow and arrow workshop remained . However , in the beginning of the 21st century , there has been revival in interest among craftsmen looking to construct bows and arrows , as well as practice technique in the traditional Chinese style . Use and Practice . In historical times , Chinese people used archery for hunting , sport , rituals , examinations , and warfare . Warfare . China has a long history of mounted archery ( shooting on horseback ) . Prior to the Warring States period ( 475 – 221 BCE ) , shooting from chariot was the primary form of battlefield archery . A typical arrangement was that each chariot would carry one driver , one halberder , and one archer . Eventually , horseback archery replaced chariot archery during the Warring States period . 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 . For infantry , the preferred projectile weapon was the crossbow , because shooting one required less training than shooting a bow . As early as 600 BCE , Chinese crossbows employed sophisticated bronze trigger mechanisms , which allowed for very high draw weights . 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 ) . Nonetheless , infantry archery using the bow and arrow still served important functions in training as well as naval battles . Ritual and examination . In the Zhou dynasty ( 1146 – 256 BCE ) , nobles regularly held archery rituals 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 . In these rituals , shooting with proper form and conduct was often more important than simply hitting the target . Ritual archery served as a counterpoint to the typical portrayal of archers , who were often skillful but brash . Confucius himself was an archery teacher , and his own view on archery and archery rituals was that " " A refined person has no use for competitiveness . Yet if he cannot avoid it , then let him compete through archery ! " " Although civil archery rituals fell out of favor after the Zhou dynasty , examinations inspired by the Zhou - era rituals became a regular part of the military syllabus in later dynasties such as the Han , Tang , Song , Ming and Qing . These exams provided merit - based means of selecting military officials . In addition to archery on foot , the examinations also featured mounted archery , as well as strength testing with specially - designed strength testing bows . Hunting . Hunting was an important discipline in Chinese archery , and scenes of hunting using horseback archery feature prominently in Chinese artwork . Aside from using normal bows and arrows , two distinct subgenres of hunting archery emerged : fowling with a pellet bow , and waterfowling with a tethered arrow . Shooting with a pellet bow involved using a light bow with a pouch on the bowstring designed to shoot a stone pellet . The discipline of shooting the pellet bow was allegedly the precursor to shooting with the bow and arrow , and the practice of pellet shooting persisted for many centuries . 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 ) . Decline . In contrast to Korean and Japanese archery ( whose traditions have been preserved through direct transmission ) , the circumstances of 19th and 20th century China made it difficult for Chinese archery traditions to be directly transmitted to the present day . Military use of firearms began in the Ming dynasty ( 1368 – 1644 CE ) , and general use of gunpowder weapons as early as the Song dynasty ( 960 – 1279 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 . As such , the Qing Emperor Guang Xu abolished archery from the military exam syllabus in 1901 . 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 . After World War II , traditional bow makers were able to continue their craft until the Cultural Revolution ( 1966 – 1976 ) , when circumstances forced workshops such as Ju Yuan Hao to suspend the manufacture of traditional Chinese bows . Modern reconstruction and revival . In 1998 , Ju Yuan Hao resumed bow making and until recently was the only active workshop constructing bows and arrows in the traditional Chinese style . 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 . Starting in 2009 , they have established an annual Chinese Traditional Archery Seminar . Through new understanding and reconstruction of these archery practices , their goal is to create a new living tradition for Chinese archery . Technique . Many variations in archery technique evolved throughout Chinese history , so it is difficult to completely specify a canonical Chinese style . The Han dynasty ( 206 BCE - 220 CE ) had at least 7 archery manuals in circulation ( including a manual by General Li Guang ) , and the Ming dynasty ( 1368 – 1644 CE ) had at least 14 different schools of archery and crossbow theory , and the Qing dynasty saw the publication of books from over 14 different schools of archery . , The commonality among all these styles is that they placed great emphasis on mental focus and concentration . The style of draw that is most commonly associated with Chinese archery is the thumb draw , which was also the predominant draw method for other Asian peoples such as the Mongolians , Tibetans , Japanese , Koreans , Indians , Turks and Persians . However , during earlier periods of Chinese history ( e . g . , Zhou dynasty ) , the 3 - finger draw was common at the same time that the thumb draw was popular . Furthermore , the various styles of Chinese archery offered different advice on other aspects of shooting technique . For example : how to position the feet , what height to anchor the arrow , how to position the bow hand finger , whether to apply tension to the bow hand , whether to let the bow spin in the bow hand after release , as well as whether to extend the draw arm after release . The dichotomy between ritual / examination archery technique and battlefield archery technique provides a significant example of the contrasts between different Chinese styles . Wang Ju , an author from the Tang dynasty , favored a ritual / examination style which involved a post - release follow through where the bow spins in the bow hand , and the draw arm extends straight back ; by contrast , certain authors such as Zeng Gongliang ( Song dynasty ) , Li Chengfen ( who was influenced by Ming dynasty generals Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang ) and Gao Ying ( Ming dynasty ) eschewed aesthetic elements ( such as Wang Ju ' s follow through ) in favor of developing a more practical technique . Bows . Historical sources and archaeological evidence suggest that a variety of historical bow types existed in the area of present day China . Most varieties of Chinese bows were horn bows ( horn - wood - sinew composites ) , but longbows and wood composites were also in use . Modern reproductions of Chinese - style bows have adopted shapes inspired by historical designs . But in addition to using traditional construction methods ( such as horn - wood - sinew composites ) , modern craftsmen and manufacturers have used modern materials such as fiberglass , carbon fiber and fiber - reinforced plastic . The following sections highlight the current understanding on some of the major design categories for Chinese bows . Scythian - style horn bows . Horn bows of this style tended to be asymmetric and adopted a distinct , curvy deflex - reflex profile ( colloquially known as the " cupid bow " shape ) . Archaeologists have excavated examples of Scythian - style bows dating to the Eastern Zhou dynasty ( 770 – 256 BCE ) from the Subeixi and Yanghai sites . Longbows ( self bows ) . Longbows and wood composite bows were popular in southern China , where the humid climate made horn bows more difficult to use . An excavated example of a Chinese longbow was dated to approximately the Warring States - Western Han Dynasty period ( 475 BCE – 9 CE ) , and its dimensions were 1 . 59 m long , 3 . 4 cm wide and 1 . 4 cm thick . Wood composite bows . Wood composite bows were popular in southern China because of the humid climate . 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 composite was a reflex bow made from multiple layers of wood ( such as bamboo or mulberry ) , wrapped in silk and lacquered . The typical length of such bows was 1 . 2 – 1 . 5 meters . Long - siyah horn bows . Bows with long siyahs were popular in China from the Han dynasty through the Yuan dynasty ( 206 BCE – 1368 CE ) . ( Siyahs are the non - bending end sections of Asiatic composite bows . ) The design shares similarities with Hunnic horn bows . The Niya , Gansu and Khotan bows are examples of long - siyah bows dating from the late Han to Jin time period ( about 200 – 300 CE ) . During this period , the siyahs tended to be long and thin , while the working sections of the limb were short and broad . However , during the Yuan period , long - siyah bows tended to have heavier siyahs and narrower working limbs than their Han / Jin - era predecessors . Ming dynasty horn bows . Turkish bow makers who migrated to China during the Yuan dynasty ( 1271 – 1368 CE ) substantially influenced Chinese bow design . As a result , short bow designs became popular during the Ming dynasty ( 1368 – 1644 CE ) . " Wubei Zhi " ( Chapter 102 ) describes several bow styles popular during the Ming dynasty : in the North , the short - siyah bow , grooved - siyah bow , grooved - bridge bow , and long - siyah bow ; in the South , the Chenzhou bow , short - siyah bow , as well as bamboo composite bows finished with lacquer ; the Kaiyuan bow was used in all parts of Ming China . The small - siyah bow ( Chinese : 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 . Its design is possibly related to the Korean horn bow . The Kaiyuan bow ( Chinese : 开元弓 ) was a small - to - medium size bow which featured long siyahs , and it was the bow of choice for high - ranking officers . 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 . These include the general - purpose bow , the big - siyah bow ( which was used for infantry as well as by cavalry ) , and the Taiping village bow ( which resembled a Korean 高丽 bow design and was favored in northern and southern China for its superior craftsmanship ) . Although Ming bows have been depicted in literature and art , archaeologists have yet to recover an original Ming bow sample . Qing dynasty horn bows . The Manchurian bow design became popular in China during the Qing dynasty ( 1644 – 1911 CE ) . In contrast to other Asiatic composite designs , Qing horn bows were large ( up to 1 . 7 m long when strung ) and featured long , heavy siyahs ( up to 35 cm in length ) with prominent string bridges . The general principle behind this design was to trade arrow speed in favor of stability and the ability to efficiently launch long and heavy arrows , which sometimes exceeded one meter in length . The Manchurian bow has influenced modern - day Tibetan and Mongolian bow designs , which are shorter versions of the Qing horn bow . Draw Hand Protection . Because Chinese archers typically used the thumb draw , they often required thumb protection in the form of a ring or leather guard . In historical times , thumb ring materials included jade , metal , ivory , horn and bone ( though specimens made of organic materials have been difficult to recover ) . Because of the importance of archery , the significance of thumb rings extended beyond the battlefield : rings were commonly worn as status symbols , and up until the end of the Han dynasty ( 220 CE ) , they were also sacrificial burial objects . Although the archaeological record for Chinese thumb protection is incomplete , the designs of excavated and antique rings suggest that a variety of designs became popular over time . 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 . An excavation of the Marquis of Jin ' s tomb in Quwo County , Shanxi revealed a Western Zhou jade thumb ring , which had a lipped design but featured taotie decorations similar to the Shang dynasty Fu Hao ring . From the Warring States period through the Han dynasty ( 475 BCE – 220 CE ) , excavated rings typically had a lipped design with a distinctive spur on the side ( there exist several theories about the spur ' s function ) . Rings from the Qing dynasty ( 1644 – 1911 ) were round cylinders or D - shaped cylinders . Apart from the above examples , describing thumb ring designs from other time periods is difficult . For example , thumb rings are absent from the archaeological record between the Han and Ming dynasties ( 220 - 1368 CE ) even though contemporary literature ( such as Wang Ju ' s archery manual from the Tang dynasty ) indicates that Chinese archers were still using the thumb draw . Moreover , evidence suggests a variety of ring shapes were popular during the Ming dynasty ( 1368 - 1644 CE ) . Li Chengfen ' s archery manual advocated using rings with oval openings , and Gao Ying ' s archery manual described the use of lipped rings and contained illustrations depicting an archer using a lipped ring . To date , however , the only recovered rings that purport to be from the Ming dynasty have cylindrical designs that are different from Qing thumb rings . To date , there are very few ( if any ) excavated examples of draw hand protection for Chinese archers using the 3 - finger draw . 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 . Legends . Legends about archery permeate Chinese culture . An early tale discusses how the Yellow Emperor , the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people , invented the bow and arrow : Another myth was Hou Yi shooting the sun . Other myths also feature Hou Yi battling an assortment of monsters ( which were metaphors for natural disasters ) using his cinnabar - red bow .