Hou Yi and the noble art of archery

Chinese mythology tells the story of the legendary archer Hou Yi, who lived at a time when there were still ten suns in the sky. Ordinarily, these suns would take turns to shine, but for one reason or another, all ten of them decided to shine all at once, making the earth almost inhabitable for humans.

There was no relief from the heat, and what wheat farmers planted, were scorched by the fury of those ten suns. The people decided to call Hou Yi to the rescue. The godly archer shot down nine of the suns, leaving only the one we still see shining in the heavens today. What Hou Yi did was nothing short of saving mankind, and because of his deed, archery (shè jiàn, 射箭) has always been highly regarded in China.

In China, as in other places the world over, the bow and arrow was used for hunting and as a weapon during war. However, there are evidence that using the bow and arrow formed part of shamanic rituals. Archery was also practiced by the Emperor during the early Chinese dynasties and it was part of the education of the young members of the upper class, as was poetry, mathematics, and other classical disciplines. Confucianism brought the art of archery to the next level, by developing the archery ceremony, which highlighted Confucian goodness and morality. Archery was thus as much a part of ethics as it was a martial art.

The bow and arrow was part of the arsenal of the Chinese army, from the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BC) and was used as a weapon until the later part of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

With the advent of firearms during modern times, the Chinese had to resort to more drastic measures against the Western powers marching into the country. At this point, archery was almost forgotten, except as a martial art, or wushu, tradition.

From the wushu standpoint, shooting an arrow is a good spiritual practice, a mental exercise, whose basic elements are alternating relaxation and tension, and above all, concentration. The stance of the Chinese archer is different from that adopted in other countries. In China, the archer keeps his legs wide apart and his knees deeply bent. This position requires stability, which in turn helps breathing, blood circulation, muscle control and concentration.

This means that archery could be considered one of the forms of the Chinese art of qi gong. In qi gong, the mind and the body perform as one, and through proper breathing, the practitioner gains unity of the body, and may even reach another plane of consciousness. Shooting an arrow and hitting the target achieve a metaphysical significance – or loses all significance – from this point of view.

Chinese bows are traditionally made from glued pieces of wood and bamboo and animal tendons. The string is pulled with the thumb, which is supported by the middle finger. The forefinger points upwards. Arrows are also traditionally made from bamboo.

In the last few years, China has not fared well in international archery competitions, but let’s see what happens at next year’s Olympics. Would the heavenly archer Hou Yin finally smile upon the inheritors of this noble sport?