The origin and development of archery

Archery is a competitive sport that uses the elastic force of the bow to aim in a certain direction or target in a controlled manner and compete for accuracy or distance within a certain distance.

At present, the official competition events stipulated by the International Archery Federation are field shooting competitions, field shooting competitions, ski archery competitions, and long-distance archery competitions.

The origin of bows and arrows

According to archaeological discoveries, archery appeared more than 28,000 years ago and was popular in ancient Africa, Europe, Asia and other regions.

China invented bows and arrows as early as the late Paleolithic Age. Bows and arrows have always been important weapons for people to hunt and the army to fight. Stone arrowheads were found at the Zhiyu Cultural Site in Shuo County, Shanxi.

The ancients bent thick branches with ropes to make bows and made thin wooden sticks into arrows for hunting and self-defense. In the Stone Age, bows and arrows were added with stone arrowheads and bone arrowheads, and later copper arrowheads and iron arrowheads appeared. These discoveries all show that our ancestors had already started using bows and arrows as early as the Paleolithic Age.

Uses of archery in different periods

Archery as a "weapon"

As humans entered the civilized era, bows and arrows, as important lethal weapons, were widely used in wars of various ancient civilizations, leaving behind various myths, carvings or written records.

Archery as a "ritual"

Archery was originally a skill for hunting and military training, and its extension has been continuously expanding. In ancient China, since the Zhou Dynasty, archery has developed religious and entertaining characteristics, which has also become the origin of the "archery ritual" of Chinese civilization.

The "archery ritual" in the "Zhou Li" has already had the distinction of patriarchal hierarchy, and the archery art also presents a strong ritual and ethical atmosphere, and the "Six Arts" has also become a method of education and selection of talents.

The "Book of Rites: Archery" spread far to Korea and Japan, creating the "kyudo" culture with its own characteristics in the two countries.

Modern archery as a "sport"

Although bows and arrows shined in the Hundred Years' War, by the end of the 16th century, the governments of England and Wales no longer forced the people to use longbows. This is because the military revolution from cold weapons to hot weapons has begun in Europe. Bows and arrows as weapons have also left the European war stage first, and archery as entertainment and sports has begun to rise.

From the 18th to the 19th century, modern archery associations have emerged, and entertainment archery has begun to transform into a modern sport. The rules of shooting accuracy have also begun to be gradually refined, and "archery" as a competitive sport has been formally formed.

In 1931, the British initiated and organized the International Archery Federation, and the first Archery World Championship was held in the same year.

In the late 20th century, there were about 5 million archers in the United States and Canada.

Archery is also very popular in Japan, and currently there are more than 100,000 people engaged in archery.

South Korea is a strong country in archery. For many years, they have maintained a monopoly in archery competitions in the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, and Asian Championships. South Korea has archery teams in schools from elementary school to university, and archery is included as one of the required contents of school sports. There are hundreds of thousands of people engaged in archery.

Development of modern archery in China

Although archery has a long history in my country, the development of modern archery is relatively late.

Modern archery was introduced to my country in 1957. Mr. Ma Yuhan, then Chairman of the All-China Sports Federation, led the Chinese Youth Sports Delegation to participate in the 3rd International Youth Games held in Moscow. There were archery events at the Games. Mr. Lin Qiwu, a professor at Peking University who attended the Games, visited the competition and introduced international archery competitions to China.

In April 1958, the State Sports Commission held the first international archery technology lecture in China in Beijing. Professor Lin Qiwu gave a comprehensive introduction to the venues, equipment, competition methods, bow and arrow characteristics, and basic technical essentials of international archery. Since then, the Western Mediterranean archery method has gradually developed in China, while China's traditional archery has gradually faded out of the archery stage. Modern archery has been developed in 25 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government.

In 1961, Shanghai athlete Zhao Suxia broke the world record for the first time. In the following 30 years, outstanding athletes such as Zhao Suxia, Li Shulan, Xu Kaicai, Wang Xihua, and Zhang Fan have emerged. Among them, the famous female athlete Li Shulan broke the individual world record 11 times and broke the team world record 6 times with her teammates. She is the outstanding athlete who has broken the most world records in the history of Chinese sports.

At the 23rd Olympic Games, which my country participated in for the first time, Sichuan athlete Li Lingjuan won the individual silver medal with 2559 rings, breaking five Olympic records and becoming the first archer in my country to win a medal in the Olympics. Another Guangdong athlete Wu Yanan won the eighth place and broke two Olympic records at the same time.

At the 25th Olympic Games in 1992, the Chinese women's team won the team silver medal in the elimination round, and Wang Xiaozhu won the fourth place in the individual elimination round.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, female archer Zhang Juanjuan won the individual championship and became my country's first archery Olympic champion, breaking the myth that South Korea won the gold medal in this event.

Although my country started to hold modern archery competitions according to international rules relatively late, archery in China is also very popular and has a good mass base, especially in ethnic minority areas. Every year, ethnic archery competitions are held on ethnic minority festivals.

For example, Tibetan compatriots in Qinghai Province hold long-distance shooting competitions, bow drawing competitions, and accurate shooting competitions. The "Nadam" conference in Inner Mongolia holds traditional horseback archery and accurate shooting competitions.