China Archery

Li Guangbi (AD 708-764) was born in Liucheng, Yingzhou (now Chaoyang City of Liaoning Province) and a famous general in mid Tang Dynasty.

The father of Li Guangbi was a chieftain of Khitan and pledged allegiance to Tang Dynasty during Wu Zetian’s reign. Li Guangbi was eager to learn and good at archery and horsemanship when he was young. He was appointed successively as the Military Tribune of Shuofang (Now northwest of Lingwu in Ningxia Autonomous Region) and Hexi (Now Wuwei in Gansu Province).

In the early period of 15th year of Tianbao Reign of Tang Dynasty (AD 756), Li Guangbi was recommended by Guo Ziyi to be the Vice Military Commissioner of Hedong and participated in pacification of the An Shi Rebellion. He guarded three cities of Taiyuan, Heyang and reoccupied Luoyang.

After Li Yu, Emperor Daizong of Tang Dynasty ascended the throne, he trusted eunuchs Cheng Yuanzhen and Yu Chaoen, who were in discord with Li Guangbi and smeared his reputation. He led his army and guarded Lin Huai. He didn’t dare enter the palace for two to three years. Li Guangbi was always quite strict with the army. Nobody dared look upwards when he gave an order. The court summoned him for several times and he didn’t obey the order. Consequently, his soldiers didn’t obey his order. Li Guangbi was so ashamed and became ill. He died in Xuzhou in the second year of Guangde Reign (AD 764)

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.