Gentleman - Archery

Confucianism has elevated the hunting and shooting of the past into a universal way full of philosophy, which is very rich in connotation. One of its themes is to use the archery ceremony as a way to rectify one's mind, cultivate oneself, and reflect on oneself.

"The Meaning of Archery" says: "The word 'shooting' means to explore, or to give up. To explore means to explore one's own ambition. Therefore, if one's mind is calm and one's body is upright, one holds the bow and arrow firmly; if one holds the bow and arrow firmly, one will hit the target." This means that the so-called shooting means to explore. Archers have different identities, but they should all explore their ambitions in the process of archery. Only when one's mind is calm, one's body is upright, one's bow and arrow is stable, and one's target is accurate, can one hit the target.

"The Meaning of Archery" also proposes that whether one is a father, a son, a monarch, or a minister, one should use the target as one's own moral standard to shoot. Although the same target is used, the moral goals that each person wants to hit are different. The process of shooting a swan is a process of repeated introspection, cultivation, and progress. Therefore, Confucius said: "The one who shoots without missing the target is the wise man!

Confucianism advocates self-cultivation, family management, governance of the country, and peace in the world, and self-cultivation is the first. Life is not smooth sailing. How to face failure, cultivate perseverance, and move from failure to success can be learned from the archery ceremony. "The Meaning of Archery" says: "When shooting, you must correct yourself. After you are correct, you can shoot. If you miss, don't blame the one who beat you, but look for the reason in yourself." The key to the success or failure of archery lies in whether you can adjust your body and mind. The fundamental reason for missing the target lies in yourself. Don't blame others, especially don't blame the one who hit the target, but "look for the reason in yourself" and ask yourself.

Yiyi
Confucius believed that as long as people focus on improving their spiritual realm, they will naturally be indifferent to fame and fortune and treat competition calmly. He said: "A gentleman has nothing to fight for, so he must shoot! Yiyi rises and goes down to drink, and his competition is also gentlemanly. "(The Analects of Confucius, Eight Yi)" means that a gentleman is based on self-cultivation and moral improvement, so he does not compete with others. If there is a dispute, it is archery. In archery, there is a winner and a loser, and the loser must drink a penalty wine in public, so a gentleman strives to win in the competition, but during the competition, he bows and yields to his opponent at every turn, and drinks together after the game. This is the competition of gentlemen.

The so-called "bowing and yielding" includes two aspects. One refers to a series of etiquette when competing with the archers in the class. For example, at the beginning of the first round of shooting, the two archers in the upper pair bow and yield, and then walk side by side from the west of the courtyard to the east, with the upper archer on the left and the lower archer on the right; when they reach the place facing the west steps, the two bow and yield, and then walk north; when they reach the west steps, the two archers ... At the bottom of the steps, they bowed to each other again.

So, the upper shooter went up the steps first, and when he reached the third step, the lower shooter went up the first step, and there should be one step between the two. After the upper shooter went up to the hall, he should stand slightly to the left to make room for the lower shooter to go up to the hall, and wait there; after the lower shooter went up to the hall, the upper shooter bowed to him facing east, and then walked east side by side. When both of them walked to the place facing the shooting position symbol, they bowed to the north, and then walked north; when they walked to the shooting position symbol, they bowed to the north again.

When the Sishe was combining the pairs, they fully considered their levels. The upper shooter and the lower shooter of each pair were of similar levels, so the competition must be fierce, and there must be a winner between the two. But Yes, the archery ceremony requires archers to show respect to each other in every ritual, and this applies to every shooting. This is to cultivate the cultivation of competitors.

The second refers to the etiquette when the couples meet. The victory or defeat of the game is calculated based on the upper shooting of the three couples as one group and the lower shooting as another group. Therefore, in addition to having your own opponent in one couple, you also have your own opponents in the other two couples. In the archery ceremony, when the couples meet, there are also detailed etiquette to show respect. For example, after the upper couple finishes shooting, they go down the hall side by side, with the upper couple on the left. At this time, the middle couple has begun to go up the hall, and they are staggered with the upper couple in front of the west steps. The opponents are on their respective left sides, and they greet each other at this time.

For example, when the upper couple finishes taking the arrows and leaves, they will greet each other with the lower couple who is in the middle. When the middle couples met on the way to the arrow rack, the other party was on their left side, and both sides bowed to each other. For another example, when drinking penalty wine, when the losing archer went down the hall, he crossed paths with the next archer who went up to the hall to drink before the west steps, and the other party was on their left side, and they bowed to each other. It can be seen that although the archery ceremony is a ritual to calculate the victory and defeat, and the competition is fierce, it has a sense of "friendship first".

This Confucian thought has an important influence in the East Asian cultural circle. As we can see today, in traditional competitions such as sumo and taekwondo in Japan and Korea, both sides have to bow or kowtow to each other before the game, and the same is true at the end of the game. It is the legacy of the ancient archery ceremony gentleman's competition.