Archery - Changes and Constants in Archery (III)

Oracle bone inscriptions and archery. Oracle bone inscriptions refer to characters carved on tortoise shells or animal bones during the late Shang Dynasty of China for divination and record-keeping. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, oracle bone inscriptions continued to be used for a period of time. Oracle bone inscriptions are China's earliest mature writing system, combining both writing and painting. They are the earliest known systematic form of Chinese writing, and modern Chinese characters evolved from oracle bone inscriptions.

Existing oracle bone inscriptions reveal a wealth of information about archery, which further reflects the importance of archery in people's lives at the time. Archery was both a skill and an official position. These three oracle bone characters are all pictographic, resembling the image of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, representing the activity of archery.

Shuowen Jiezi explains that the bow and arrow are fired from the body and aim at a distance, hence the character "射" (shooting) derived from the character "身" (body) and the character "矢" (arrow). It is noteworthy that archery here refers not only to a physical activity but also to an official position, indicating the existence of an official position specifically responsible for archery. For example, the "Book of Zhou" established 52 official positions for managing archery, each with specific responsibilities. Archery proficiency was considered a social virtue, a crucial skill, and well-trained archers were respected. Consequently, numerous bow-related characters were created, using the bow as the basic element, to represent personal names. These characters often record the names of archers of the time. For example, the first character represents a person with a bow on top and a mouth below; the second character represents a person with a bow outside and a mouth inside; and the third character represents a person with a horse on the left and a mouth on the right. Similarly, oracle bone inscriptions often use the bow as a pictograph, referring to names of individuals of the time, likely influential archers. These pictographs in oracle bone inscriptions record archery proficiency, such as characters.

"Shuowen Jiezi" (Explanation of Characters) states: "Yin, to draw the bow." The character "Yin" resembles the act of drawing a bow, and thus also records a person's name. Oracle bone inscriptions using the bow as a basic element suggest that the bow was one of the world's earliest long-range lethal weapons. Arrows were typically released through the elastic force of the bow arm. Bows and arrows were used for hunting and were also once employed in warfare. It is a pictographic character for bow in oracle bone inscriptions.

Shuowen Jiezi states: "Bow, to use the near to reach the far, is a pictographic character." The word "bow" originally referred to a country or a person's name. Therefore, it likely refers to a tribe or craftsman renowned for making or using bows and arrows. Characters composed of bow elements, such as "bow" (from the character "gong" and "jin"), also refer to place names or personal names. They may also record a famous bow maker or a place where bows were used. Another bow-related character combination is the pictographic character "勿," which is a bow with two strokes outside the bow shape. Its original meaning is likely to be "to use a horse to open a pass," implying the pluck of a bowstring. The oracle bone inscription "发" (from the character "发") also shares a similar meaning. It is the origin of the character "发" (to send forth a bow), which also resembles the trembling of a bowstring.

Therefore, the Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Chinese Characters) states: "Fa, from the character 'bow,' meaning 'to make a sound.'" Another example is the oracle bone script, which, in pictographic form, is derived from the character 'jiang,' meaning to seize or defend territory. Another oracle bone script, in pictographic form, adds a pictographic symbol to the bowstring to indicate its location, hence the character 'xian.' The Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Chinese Characters) states: "Xian, the bowstring, from the character 'bow,' meaning 'silk peg.'" The oracle bone script, using the character 'shi,' interprets 'shi' as meaning arrow, also known as an arrow, launched from a bow or crossbow. Its structure consists of an arrowhead, a shaft, and feathers. The arrow originated in the Neolithic Age and is one of the oldest weapons in history. The earliest arrows were simply made by cutting a stick or bamboo pole into a shaft of a certain length and sharpening one end to create an arrow.

The true origin of arrows probably dates back to the Stone Age, when people sharpened stone flakes, bones, or shells into sharp shapes and attached them to the end of arrow shafts. This resulted in arrows with stone, bone, or shell arrowheads, a significant advancement over arrows made solely from wooden sticks or bamboo poles. Because ancient arrow shafts rarely survive, unearthed artifacts often only contain the arrowheads. Stone, bone, and clam arrowheads from the Neolithic Age came in various shapes, including rods, leaves, and triangles, some with stems and spikes. Oracle bone script contains numerous pictographic characters with arrows as the core element.

For example, the first one is a pictographic character composed of a single arrow at the bottom and a single stop at the top. The second one is a pictographic character composed of two arrows at the bottom and a single stop at the top. They all represent personal names, suggesting they refer to two skilled archers. Similarly, oracle bone script also contains several pictographic characters with arrows as the core element, and they also refer to personal names. It can be assumed that archers at the time were highly respected by society, otherwise there wouldn't be so many names containing arrows. The saying "When a son is born, the man sets up an arrow bow on the left side of the gate" (Sun Xidan, "Liji Jijie", Zhonghua Book Company, 1989, p. 761) is the best explanation. Furthermore, the oracle bone inscription "眣" (meaning "eye" and "arrow"), composed of the characters "目" and "矢", represents the name of a country.

Thus, we believe this refers to a tribe excelling in archery. Other pictographic characters using arrows as the core element to represent place names include "霣" (meaning "霣"), which may also refer to a tribe skilled in the use of arrows. The oracle bone inscription "山" (meaning "山") also uses arrows as the core element and refers to a place name, but this place name may refer to a famous place specialized in bow and arrow manufacturing. In addition to representing personal and place names, characters using arrows as the core element also represent archery tools. For example, the oracle bone inscription "医" (meaning "医") is a pictographic character composed of the characters "矢" and "口".

According to Shuowen Jiezi (Shuowen Jiezi), "医 (medicine) is a container for bows and crossbows." Therefore, "医" (medicine) is a device for shielding arrows, like a shield against soldiers. The oracle bone script character for "医" (medicine) refers to a place, suggesting a place specialized in manufacturing containers for bows and arrows. Other pictographic characters related to archery equipment include a basket resembling a basket for storing arrows, suggesting a tool for storing arrows. Another example is a sack resembling a bag containing arrows, similarly indicating a device for storing arrows. This also refers to a place, likely specifically where quivers were manufactured.

In oracle bone script, the pictographic character resembles a flat arrowhead on top of an arrow, which later evolved to mean "give." Characters composed of arrows also have the meaning of "injury." For example, the oracle bone script character for "矢" (arrow) plus the character "子" (son) signifies wounding someone by hitting them, thus forming the origin of the character for "伤" (shang). Oracle bone script also includes pictographic characters representing two arrows placed side by side, such as [the character for "arrow" is missing in the original]. Another example is the origin of the character "疾." The oracle bone inscription for "疾" (illness) is composed of the characters "大" (big) and "矢" (arrow), resembling a person struck by an arrow, thus conveying the idea of injury. This suggests that in early human history, people's initial understanding of illness likely referred less to natural ailments and more to man-made injuries, and that this understanding of illness may have evolved from these initial arrow wounds. If so, this further reflects the importance and widespread nature of archery in people's lives at the time.

Further, other oracle bone inscriptions related to arrows include the character "矢," which depicts an inverted arrow on top and a horizontal line below. The horizontal line symbolizes the earth, thus conveying the idea of surrender from afar. The oracle bone inscriptions with arrows as the core element reflect the influence of archery on contemporary society and its widespread popularity.