Editor's note: When it comes to bows and arrows, there is often a perception that the tool used in China is the compound recurve bow. When the European bow and arrow is mentioned as a longbow, some people wonder why China does not have a longbow. Some people also gave explanations, and some even debated whether the European longbow was better or the Chinese short bow. The bows and arrows of ancient soldiers in some film and television dramas are also small short bows, so does China have a longbow? From the appearance of the bow and arrow to the present, it has a history of tens of thousands of years (or even longer). According to public information, the excavated bow is 121 cm long, and the cross-section of the bow arm is flat and round, about 3.3 cm wide and 2.2 cm thick; the ends (remnants) are slightly thin, 3 cm wide and 2 cm thick." The middle section (17 cm long) section is also flat and round, and the flat side direction is perpendicular to the rest of the bow body, which should be the position of the bow handle. The bow handle position is 3.2 cm wide and 2.2 cm thick. Except for the position of the bow handle, there are patent leather, patent leather band wrinkles, and local peeling. The bow is the heartwood of mulberry wood".
▲ Bow excavated across the lake bridge This bow is currently considered to be a non-recursive bow, and its similar bow can still be seen in other parts of the world, such as Africa, the Americas and other primitive indigenous audiences, but this bow is painted.
▲ Papua Guinean bow
From the perspective of shape, this bow has a symmetrical tendency, and it is estimated that the original length is about 160 centimeters, which is about the same as an adult at that time. It can be seen that there were longbows in ancient China, which is very similar to the British longbow. However, because it is old and still a remnant, the specific power is not easy to judge. However, in the Neolithic Era, China has found the thigh bone that has been inserted into the stone arrow, so it is estimated that the power is OK. The record of the longbow in the literature passed down to the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Six Classics, there are four systems of bows: one is a longbow, two is a horned bow, three is a slight bow, and the fourth is a longbow with a mulberry, which is used by infantry. Before Leng Yan's "Archaeologists Will Also Get Me Wrong, What Kind of Weapon Is the Guard's Waist on the Tang Dynasty Mural?" The article also tells about the longbow of the Tang Dynasty.
▲ English longbow
Specifically, the origin of the shape of the tang dynasty longbow is mainly based on the Northern Dynasty murals. According to the nobles on the frescoes who wore longbows while riding horses, it is generally believed that the Tang Dynasty longbow system originated from the Northern Dynasty, but in fact, the tang Dynasty longbow shape system can be traced back further. Compared with the longbows excavated from the sites across the lake, there are also the longbows in Africa and the Americas, as well as the longbows in England, the Northern Dynasty and the Sui and Tang dynasties, which are obviously very different. Because the middle of its bow is particularly wide and the two ends are very thin, many people at first thought that it was a strange knife, and archaeologists once regarded this as a knife.
▲ and bow
▲ English longbow winding
▲Tang Dynasty murals
▲Lou Rui tomb mural 1
▲ Lou Rui tomb mural 2
So, when did this shaped longbow originate? A Han Dynasty wooden bow has been unearthed in Zhejiang, and its complete length is about 160 centimeters.
▲Han Dynasty longbow unearthed in Zhejiang
You can compare the form, the Han Dynasty wooden bow is obviously very close to the longbow on the Northern Dynasty murals. Although the middle bow body is contracted, the bow of the Northern Dynasty tomb mural is not wound and is placed in the bow bag, so it is not visible. From the comparison of the height of the bow and the figure below, the length of the Tang Dynasty longbow in the case of unlocked is about 160-170cm. A similar design has a North American tablet bow, but the North American piece bow arm is not as wide. A Nordic archer named kviljos also made a single longbow in 2009. In addition, archaeologists have found similar longbows in Denmark, dating back 8,000 years. Another feature of the Tang Dynasty longbow is that the slender parts of the two ends of the black longbow are white, and it is suspected that cattle bones or sheep bones are added.
▲ An eight-thousand-year-old wooden bow found in Denmark
▲ A single bow made of iljos
Judging from the Tang Dynasty murals, this very slender bow tip, very wide bow arm, plus black paint, is easy to think of as a strange knife without a handle.
▲The "Yiwei Tu" in the tomb of Princess Changle
The material record of the longbow in the Tang Liudian is: the longbow is used by the mulberry, which is used by the infantry; the horn bow is used by the tendon angle, and the cavalry is used; the slight bow, the short bow is also conducive to close fire. It is said here that mulberry wood is the main material of the longbow, and these two kinds of wood are characterized by high hardness and good toughness. Judging from the frescoes and records, the longbow was still very common at that time, and from the description, the longbow range was OK. In addition, in some historical records, the Tang Army even had records of everyone with a bow in the early days. In view of the single longbow, compared to the rib angle recursive bow, the cost is low, the construction period is short, the maintenance is convenient (the wet environment of the rib angle bow is easy to fall off the rib angle) and from the mural and records, the equipment rate of this longbow is very high. Therefore, the bow that Tang Soldiers had in their hands was probably this kind of longbow.
Compared with the original one-stick longbow, this piece of bow is more efficient, and it is more labor-saving and more convenient to operate. Therefore, not only ordinary soldiers like to equip this kind of longbow, but even generals and even emperors like it. For example, in the Zizhi Tongjian Tang Ji, there is also such a record: Shang (Tang Taizong) said that the prince Shaoshi Xiao Yu said: "Shuo Shao has a good bow arrow, gets a good bow and a dozen, claims to be incomparable, and is close to showing the bow worker, but it is said that 'none of them are good materials', and he asks why." Gong Yue: 'If the wooden heart is not straight, the pulse is evil, and although the bow is strong, the arrow is not straight.' Here Tang Taizong said that his bow was shown to the craftsman, and the craftsman said that the material was not good. Because it's too messy from the grain of the wood. Tang Taizong may have shown the craftsman this kind of longbow.
In the Song Dynasty, although the horn bow became the mainstream, from the "Qingming River Map", the longbow still existed. However, the recurve angle bow is more efficient than the monolithic longbow. Therefore, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the standard bow and arrow of the army was basically the kind of reverse curved angle bow. For example, the Ming army mentioned in the "Wu Bi Zhi" is equipped with bows, mainly Kaiyuan bows and small bows, which are two kinds of anti-curved angle bows. In fact, in addition to the longbows of the Tang Dynasty, the Mongols, who have always been famous for their short bows, also had longbows. So in a crossover novel, the protagonist takes the longbow, looks at the others and uses the longbow as an anti-element weapon, and it is obvious that the author took it for granted.
▲The Longbow of the Bow and Arrow Shop in the Qingming Upper River Tuli also has the well-known Japanese Washi Bow (single maruki bow and compound bow), which also belongs to the longbow. The advantages of the longbow are simple to manufacture, adapt to wet weather, and although the efficiency of the single longbow is not as good as the tendon angle, it can be compensated by increasing the pull, so it has been equipped by the Chinese army for thousands of years. And because the horn bow equipment was common in the Ming and Qing dynasties, it gave people the impression that there was no longbow in ancient China, and even some people tried to argue "why there was no longbow in ancient China" and so on. In fact, these are some very one-sided views.
▲ Mongolian longbow
This article is the original manuscript of the Cold Weapons Research Institute. The original outline of the editor-in-chief, the author of the double-tailed cat, any media or public account without written authorization shall not be reproduced, and the offender will be investigated for legal responsibility.