How To Pass Your Archery Exams

Joe Parker: For over a thousand years, you had to draw a bow to get somewhere in life

Depictions on this page spread are taken from a Chinese scroll dated around 1426-35, depicting entertainments in the Eastern Park of the Imperial Palace, probably under the Xuande Emperor, the fifth of the Ming Dynasty. They show in exquisite detail a group of archers shooting at targets on poles, targets which spin to indicate hits. The archers wear special overskirts to protect their silk robes. Note the soft tips on the arrows.  The rest of the scroll, which is twenty feet long, depicts games of football, golf and polo in addition to archery. Note also the recurved (reflex) bows, the beatific smiles, the waiting around, and general air of relaxed enjoyment, in what appears to be a head-to-head competition. But not all archery was like this.

Most countries’ archery traditions include an era (or two) where archery was a pursuit of the wealthy and noble, and China is no exception. In earlier times, during the lengthy Zhou dynasty (1046-256BCE), archery was refined into a ritual in which proper attire, form and attitude were essential; this was a hierarchical time and archery defined place and status – much as an exclusive golf club might do today.

Rituals symbolised the imposition of order upon the chaos that wars represented – much of the history of China is one of constant violent turmoil. They let the nobility exhibit their mastery and control over mind and body. Every movement, whether forward, backward, or sideways, should be executed with discipline, a clear mind, and unwavering focus on the target.

Archery has carved out its own mythology.  The Forbidden City in Beijing features a formidable ‘archery tower’ protecting one of its major gates, even though it wasn’t built until the fifteenth century, centuries after the invention of gunpowder and firearms.

Passing and failing

Noble pursuit it may have been, but for the lower classes archery played a key role in the complicated series of what are usually called ‘imperial examinations’; a gruelling method of betterment or promotion which began in China around 500 AD, continued through to the 20th century, and still resonates across east Asia today.

These examinations allowed an individual to become a civil servant at one of the many levels of state bureaucracy, and were regarded as a golden path to the future. By the time of the Ming dynasty in the late 14th century, the Hongwu Emperor had added archery to the lengthy list of skills required to pass, which already included essay writing, debating, political analysis, law, mathematics, calligraphy, and horse riding.

From around 700 AD archery also became a key part of the military exams designed to appoint the officer class of the day, usually the men chosen to lead local militias. In that era, mounted archery was of prime importance. Candidates were required to shoot three arrows at a target while riding a horse.  The man-size target was placed at two distances, 35 paces and 80 paces. A perfect score would be three hits, a good one two hits, and even one would earn you a pass. Falling off the horse or failing to score even one hit would results in elimination.

After that, a target session would take place in a garden at the prefectural office. Candidates were ordered to shoot five arrows at a target placed at a distance of 50 paces, and again, at least one hit would guarantee a bare pass. After the archery portion, candidates proceeded to the ‘gymnastic exercises’ when they had to “bend a bow into the shape of a full moon” – essentially, reversals. These bows were exceptionally large and heavy and tillered specifically for this role rather than for shooting, and categorised by their strength into three classes: 72 kg, 60 kg, and 48 kg. Candidates had to draw the bow three times, and each weight would be marked as excellent, good, and pass respectively.

Much of the origin of Chinese archery revolves around the founding philosopher Confucius (551 – 479 BCE) who regarded the practice of archery as integral to human evolution. He endorsed the practice of archery rituals, and viewed the bow as a transformative tool, an instrument of peace and personal development as well as of war. Engaging in archery, he believed, refined the body, mind, and spirit. In the era leading up to the Ming and Qing dynasties, archery held a position among the ‘Six Noble Arts’, which also included religious rites, music, chariot racing, calligraphy, and mathematics. It was widely believed that those who excelled in these six arts were deemed “junzi” or “Superior Persons.”

Wrapped up in books

By the time of the Ming and Qing, a fairly comprehensive system of archery training was in place, based in part upon Confucius’ “Great Learning” – one of the essential texts that shaped Chinese culture. Archery was seen, like much else, in terms of the flow of qi, that uniquely Chinese view of energy within the body. Chinese archery textbooks distilled the work of previous scholars into different strands of thought; one of the best known is Gao Ying’s ‘Orthodox Method Of Archery Study’ dating from 1637. Its advice, even in translation, has a wonderfully pithy tone:

“If you rush headlong into pulling the bow by yourself in the early days of learning to shoot, you may easily fall into bad shooting habits. The problem that people have is, they blunder into a side-road and can never get back onto the highway. If they just kept to the highway, they would get more familiar with the technique the more they shoot. That way, they are not going to embark on a downhill path, are they? These days, everyone is after instant results. Talk to them about taking around a year and they take fright. Who would have imagined that an unsystematic approach to archery would take you further and further from where you want to go?”

By that point, gunpowder had taken over the armouries of the world and the bow was no longer a vital military weapon.  However, it was still a key part of the military examinations of the time, and would be for centuries to come. Candidates had to be male, younger than 60, and the bows and arrows for the exams were carefully inspected to make sure they conformed to regulations, just as in competition today.

Mounted archery was still a key part of the exam, and Etienne Zie, a Jesuit priest of the time, carefully described the task, which had evolved considerably to include a ‘prize’ single shot at a ball, with a little added ritual theatre:

“The ball is about the size of a small pumpkin, about 60 cm high and 30 cm in diameter. It is made of leather and painted bight pied, and highly reflective due to the varnish on its cover. Its shape is like a roll of butter. There is only one on each course, placed on a small hummock in the centre raised for the purpose. An arrow of 119 g is used to knock it down, 108 cm in length and 4 cm in circumference. It is natural wood-coloured, but the fletched part is painted red. It is tipped with a leather blunt 6.5 cm in diameter and 4.5 cm in length. When shooting, the candidate has not only to touch the ball: he must knock it out of the supporting hummock… If it falls, the drum is struck or else a flag is waved. The rider calls out his name immediately and goes over to present himself to the Presiding Officer, giving his name again and bending at the knee. In all the candidates fire seven arrows: six at the targets and one at the ball … three out of seven arrows [must] hit their target.”

Archery proficiency in the Qing Dynasty could be acquired either through the guidance of a suitable tutor or through self-study. During this time a continuous stream of instructional material was published, primarily aimed at self-taught archery enthusiasts preparing for examinations.

These instructional materials consistently emphasised a clear distinction between internal techniques – encompassing aspects like mental control, qigong, concentration, and maintaining a dignified demeanour – and external techniques, such as stance, bow grip, proper arrow nocking, draw-hand technique, aiming, and follow-through. These instructional works frequently included glossaries, analyses of common shooting errors, and philosophical reflections on Confucian teachings about archery. (One of these manuals, by Wang Ju, later had a profound influence on the development of Japanese kyudo.)

Dozens of books were published in the era, but only a handful were extensively illustrated – illustrations then being considered of limited value.  One however, written by Liu Qi and published in 1722, proclaimed:

“There are thirteen of these illustrations of archery on horseback and on foot, all modelled on the technique of the Royal Bodyguard. Everything which relates to the important archery methods both old and new – is set out for you to see in these drawings. Their purpose is to provide you with a point of comparison; they are not just for decoration. From head to toe there is nothing in these models that is not in accordance with the correct method; nothing which is not of use. You must carefully observe every position and grasp what underlies each action. Then you go in front of the mirror or under the light of a lamp and try to mimic them, and try to get the position of your whole body exactly like theirs. Once you are set in the mould, you would not have been able to do better even talking face to face with a knowledgeable master.”

Rhymes aplenty

A unique feature of Qing era archery manuals – and one which might be worth reintroducing into archery training today – was the use of mnemonic, haiku-like rhymes to illustrate and help pupils remember concepts. Almost all Chinese martial arts used this trick, particularly helpful to the illiterate, and some were closely guarded secrets. These rhymes adhered to a consistent grammatical structure: each group consisted of seven characters, with the subject occupying the first four characters, and the predicate (verb ‘target’) or a related phrase found in the final three characters.

Just as in education today, entire industries sprung up around making sure people passed the exams. It was a golden few centuries for bowyers, too. The best known bowyers in military cities like Chengdu had more orders than they could fulfil, and made extra money renting out rooms to candidates and their tutors arriving to test and buy merchandise.

However, the heyday of military exams in archery – which lasted, astonishingly, over a thousand years – finally came to a screeching halt in 1902. Under pressure from modernisers, Guang Xu, the last emperor of the Qing, finally abolished the entire system. No longer would candidates for military office have to mount a horse and shoot a bow. Most traditional bowyers went out of business almost overnight, with just a handful still eking out a living in Beijing by the mid-20th century.

The founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, with its suspicion of Confucian thinking, didn’t help, and there are records of bowyers being forced to become carpenters during the Cultural Revolution. Today there is a tiny handful of traditional bowyers are working in China, but with the internet spreading knowledge and culture across the world, it is hoped the tradition may yet be able to survive.

Quotes from Stephen Selby’s ‘Chinese Archery’ (2000), published by Hong Kong University Press.