The Development and Improvement of Archery (II)

Perfection of school archery education
In the history of ancient Chinese sports, Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou are the only periods that can be understood as having real school sports. That is because under the background of "learning in government offices", sports were regarded as an indispensable part of talent training and were highly valued by the government. After the Spring and Autumn Period, with the rise of private schools, whether to arrange physical education in schools has completely depended on the personal understanding and recognition of the private school sponsors. School sports, which are uniformly required and standardized by the government, have never appeared in ancient society. Archery education in the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou periods has reached a relatively perfect level.
The cycle and process of archery education 1
The cycle and process of archery education in the Shang Dynasty
2. Perfection of school archery education In the history of ancient Chinese sports, Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou are the only periods that can be understood as having real school sports. That is because under the background of "learning in government offices", sports were regarded as an indispensable part of talent training and were highly valued by the government. After the Spring and Autumn Period, with the rise of private schools, whether to arrange physical education in schools has completely depended on the personal understanding and recognition of the private school organizers. School sports, which are unified and standardized by the government, have never appeared in ancient society. The archery education in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties has reached a relatively complete level. The cycle and process of archery education First, the cycle and process of archery education in the Shang Dynasty.
Secondly, the following changes occurred on the day of Yisi, "Yiyi divination, in Li, Zi Ruo Chi Yi bow, out of the sun. Tang Bing bow used to shoot, Geng Bing bow used, not used". The oracle clearly tells us that on the day of Yiyi, the bow used by "Zi" as a student for archery also changed. First, he began to choose to use the Chizang bow; second, he also chose to use the Chongbing bow. What is the Chizang bow? Some scholars believe that the Chiwu bow is the Wang bow and Hu bow in "Zhou Li"; the Yibing bow is the Heng bow, which is equivalent to the Tang bow and the Da bow in "Zhou Li". The Zhouli says: "The archer is in charge of the six bows." The so-called six bows include the king bow, the curved bow, the clamped bow, the Yu bow, the Tang bow, and the large bow. Their functions are: "The king bow and the curved bow are used to teach those who shoot armor, leather, and chess, the clamped bow and the Yu bow are used to teach those who shoot fine horses, birds, and beasts, and the Tang bow and the large bow are used to teach those who learn archery." (Yang Tianyu: Zhouli Translation and Annotation, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2004, p. 461) Among the eighteen weapons in later generations, the king bow and the curved bow are mainly used for defending the city and chariot battles, while the Tang bow and the large bow are mainly used for archery practice. The change in bows and arrows should also be an aspect that increases the difficulty of archery education. So on the 13th day of Bingwu, students began to choose fast bows to practice archery. "Bingwu divination, you shoot, fast bows, if." Fast bows, that is, clamped bows and Yu bows, are mainly used for field hunting and shooting flying birds. On the last day of the learning cycle, the 15th day, Wushen, we see another change in teaching activities. "On Wushen, at the foot of the mountain, three people were shooting bananas with a fast bow." Banana is interpreted as a bird with a crown. It can be seen that the last day of teaching was probably a bird shooting teaching practice competition. Otherwise, why would they emphasize the use of a fast bow and the archery activity of three people?
(2) Second, the cycle and process of archery education in the Western Zhou Dynasty. From the situation of the Western Zhou school, although there is no more detailed historical data than the Shang Dynasty, an inscription in the Jing Gui still leaves us with very important information. The inscription reads, "On the first day of the sixth month, the king was in the capital. On the day of Dingmao, the king ordered Jing to be the archery teacher, and the young men, the servants, and the barbarian servants learned archery. On the first day of the eighth month, on the day of Gengyin, the king asked Wulai, Lü Gang, Binshi, and Bangjun to learn archery at Dachi. Jing learned and taught. The king gave Jing a bow. Jing bowed and praised the emperor for his great honor, and used the gui as a sacrifice for his mother and aunt, so that his descendants could use it for thousands of years." The above inscription provides the following three points of information: First, on the day of Dingmao in early June, the king of Zhou ordered a person named "Jing" to be the archery teacher, responsible for the archery education activities of the king's sons and some noble officials. Second, after about 80 days of teaching and training, on the day of Gengyin in August, the king of Zhou personally came to Dachi and checked the effect of more than two months of archery teaching through archery competitions with Wulai, Lü Gang, Binshi, and Bangjun. Third, the King of Zhou was very satisfied with the teaching quality of "Jing", so he rewarded "Jing".
Secondly, the following changes also occurred on the day of Yi Si, "Yi Yi divination, in Li, Zi Ruo Chi Yi bow, out of the day. Tang Bing bow used to shoot, Geng Bing bow used, not used". The oracle clearly tells us that on the day of Yi Yi, "Zi", as a student, also changed the bow he used for archery. First, he began to choose to use the Chi Zang bow; second, he also chose to use the Chong Bing bow. What is the Chi Zang bow? Some scholars believe that the Chi Wu bow is the Wang bow and Hu bow in "Zhou Li"; the Yi Bing bow is the Heng bow, which is equivalent to the Tang bow and the Da bow in "Zhou Li". "Zhou Li" says: "The bow and arrow manager is in charge of six bows." The so-called six bows include Wang bow, Hu bow, Jia bow, Yu bow, Tang bow, and Da bow. Their functions are as follows: "Wang bow and Hu bow are used to teach people who shoot armor, leather, and chess. Jia bow and Yu bow are used to teach people who shoot fine horses, birds, and beasts. Tang bow and Da bow are used to teach people who learn archery." (Yang Tianyu: Zhou Li Translation and Annotation, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2004, p. 461) In the eighteen kinds of weapons in later generations, Wang bow and Hu bow are explained as being mainly used for defending cities and chariot battles, while Tang bow and Da bow are mainly used for archery practice. The change of bows and arrows should also be an aspect that increases the difficulty of archery education. So on the 13th day, Bingwu day, students began to choose Ji bows to practice archery. "Bingwu divination, you shoot, Ji bow with it, if." Ji bows, that is, Jia bows and Yu bows, are mainly used for field hunting and shooting flying birds. On the last day of the learning cycle, that is, Wushen day on the 15th day, we saw changes in teaching activities again. "Wu Shen divination, at the foot of the mountain, Ji bows are used to shoot bananas. Three people." Banana is interpreted as a bird with a crown. It can be seen that the last day of teaching was probably a bird-shooting teaching practice competition. Otherwise, why would they emphasize the use of a fast bow, and why would they have a three-person archery activity?
(2) Second, the cycle and process of archery education in the Western Zhou Dynasty. From the situation of the Western Zhou school, although there is no more detailed historical data than the Shang Dynasty, a passage in the inscription in the Jing Gui still leaves us with very important information. The inscription reads, "On the first day of the sixth month, the king was in the capital. On Dingmao, the king ordered Jing to be the archery school, and the young men, the servants, and the barbarian servants learned archery. On the first day of the eighth month, on Gengyin, the king asked Wulai, Lü Gang, Binshi, and Bangjun to learn archery at Dachi. Jing learned and taught. The king gave Jing a bow. Jing bowed and praised the emperor for his great honor, and used the gui as a sacrifice for his mother and aunt, so that his descendants could use it for thousands of years." The above inscription provides the following three points of information: First, on the Dingmao day in early June, the king of Zhou ordered a person named "Jing" to be the archery teacher, responsible for the archery education activities of the king's sons and some noble officials. Second, after about 80 days of teaching and training, on Gengyin day in August, the king of Zhou personally came to Dachi and checked the effect of more than two months of archery teaching through archery competitions with Wulai, Lü Gang, Binshi, Bangjun and others. Third, the King of Zhou was very satisfied with Jing’s teaching quality, so he rewarded Jing.