Classification of bows and arrows

Bows include horn bow, compound bow and pulley bow. The latter two kinds of bows are made of modern materials and are generally used as competition equipment. Horn bow is the pinnacle of ancient bows and arrows in China, no less than bows made of modern materials. Horn bow is made of ox horn, bamboo and wood tires, beef tendon, animal glue and other materials through hundreds of processes. It has high technical difficulty and long production cycle, but it can't be preserved for a long time, and it can be preserved for a hundred years at the longest. As an important weapon in ancient wars, bows and arrows were eventually eliminated by guns, and the traditional bow and arrow culture has since become history. Few people can make traditional bows and arrows now, perhaps only a few masters from Beijing Juyuan and Qufu Xugongfang can do it.

According to the structure of bows, Pitt-Rivers, an Englishman, divides the bows of all nationalities in the world into three types: single bow, reinforced bow (also known as synthetic bow, back bow or laminated bow) and compound bow. The general evolutionary path of bow making is to strengthen and compound from monomer. Grassland areas in East Asia, West Asia and Eurasia all developed in this order. Of course there are exceptions. Monolithic bows have been used in most parts of Europe for a long time.

The single bow is represented by the English longbow. The representative compound bows are the West Asian triangle bow and the hyperbolic anti-bending compound bow. The latter was introduced to Europe by the Guscadians around the 7th century BC, and the ancient Romans called it "Scythicus Bow", which has been in use ever since. As early as 2000 BC, that is, in the late Shang Dynasty, China had invented the hyperbolic bending compound bow on the basis of extensive use of reinforced bows, and it became the main bow equipment for the army in the Warring States period.