What you don't know about the archery culture of the Xibo people

In the northwestern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Ili River Valley stretches out in the open area north of the Demurik Mountain, a branch of the Tianshan Mountain, where the Xibo people, who love archery, live. Xibo people love archery has a long history, with the development of the times, now formed a Xibo unique archery culture, is an important part of the Xibo culture.

The Xibo people have been known as "good riding and good shooting", the history of the Xibo people's ancestors: "Children can ride sheep, draw the bow to shoot birds and rats. When they were young, they would shoot foxes and rabbits for food. Powerful men can cross the bow, all for the armor ride." "The people are good at riding and shooting, and are proud to die in battle, specializing in horn-ended bows." Xibo people initially nomadic in the Xinganling, Heilongjiang area, generations of hunting and fishing for a living.

"Good riding and good shooting" Xibo

"There is a region of the Qing Dynasty, the border trouble is no greater than the frontier." In the early Qing Dynasty, due to years of conflagration, the land is vast and sparse, the local military affairs in Xinjiang is empty. At that time, the Ili region because of geography has become a place of war, the Qing government in the pacification of the Junggar rebellion, in order to defend the northwestern border areas, in 1762 established the Ili General House. At the request of the first Ili General Mingrui, the Qianlong Emperor ordered the deployment of the Xibo soldiers and officers who were "able to ride and shoot well, elite soldiers and brave generals" to guard the western frontier, and they were allowed to return to their hometowns only after 60 years. And from the earliest Xianbei, Xibo people have been living in the Hulunbeier Prairie and Shenyang and other areas. Xibo officers and soldiers deep in their hearts to leave their homeland, leaving their loved ones sentimental, resolutely back on the bow and arrows, holding horses, with their wives and children embarked on a journey to the west to guard the frontier. This is the history of the famous Siberian great westward migration.

The glorious history of the bow and arrow

The Xibo people who live by the bow and arrow also have a lot of famous historical generals, famous for their bows and arrows, and they are famous for their martial arts. The most famous of them is Salin'a, the eldest son of the Siberian general Ergulun, who took part in the pacification of the Junggar rebellion. Sibe history records, Salin A from the age of 5 years old began to practice archery, 18 years old with his father went to war, and made a great achievement, known as the Sibe clan's sharpshooter. Salin'a could do three arrows on one horse! That is, riding on top of a galloping horse, three arrows in a row within a range of 100 meters, arrows hit the red center of the target. This is a modern man can not do.

The bow skills of Salinas were heard by the emperor at the time, and even recruited into the palace to face the saint. At that time in front of the Tiananmen Square performed bow and arrow stunts, shocked the four seats. He was praised by the emperor as the divine archer of the eight banners of Sibe. "The invention of the bow and arrow not only enhanced the military strength of ancient countries, and with it a very rich national cultural heritage. As early as in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the art of archery was known as the six arts of the gentleman, which emphasized the cultivation of the body. Confucius and Mencius even raised the shooting rite to a philosophical level, emphasizing the Confucian idea that "doing nothing" means "doing something". In the eyes of the Xibo people, practicing archery is practicing the heart, which is a reflection of a person's moral quality. A person with morality and quality will be courteous when shooting arrows, he will not pay attention to the results but only to the process, pursuing an egotistical state of mind, to achieve the level of unity of man and arrow. "Shooting to see the ritual" is an important standard to evaluate the moral integrity of a person in ancient times.

As a people with a bow and arrow all their lives, the Xibo people have inherited this profound thinking of Chinese Confucianism very well. The Xibo people will salute each other before each archery, as a kind of archery ritual. Afterwards, there will be wonderful rituals, calling for battle and other activities, and the result of the game is no longer important. People are just immersed in the atmosphere created by this bow and arrow competition, which makes the Xibo people the only one of the 56 ethnic groups in China to be stamped with the bow and arrow.

The history of the Xibo people is a history of the bow and arrow, a heroic poem of defense of the country and the garrison, as described by Su Shi in "Jiangchengzi - Mizhou Hunting", "I will pull the carved bow like the full moon, look northwest and shoot the sky wolf."