by Stephen Selby, published by Hong Kong University Press, 2000.

This book provides everything you ever wanted to know about Chinese archery -- plus a lot you maybe didn't.

I first met the author of Chinese Archery on the outdoor archery range of the Hong Kong Island Archery Club, of which we were both members. At that time, he was engaged in perfecting his technique with a ritual form of target shooting - in the Korean style. He was using a reproduction Korean bow that was most unique in that it was a very short, straight (!) self-bow, i.e., not a composite recurve - as one would expect with an Asian bow. This stimulated my interest in traditional Asian archery.

As the jacket of the book explains, “the author is both a sinologist and practicing archer; his translations make the original Chinese texts accessible to the non-specialist. Written for readers who may never have picked up a book about China, but still containing a wealth of detail for Chinese scholars, the book brings the fascinating history of Chinese archery back to life through the voices of its most renowned practitioners.” Selby's expository approach utilizes “parallel text translations of classical Chinese sources, some famous and some little known, in which Chinese writers give vivid and detailed explanations of the techniques” of bow-building, arrow-making, and recurve and crossbow usage over the centuries.

Selby explores how archery is inextricably interwoven into the mythology and traditions of ancient Chinese culture by a masterful and exhaustive exposure of a vast body of literature. He also presents a wealth of technical aspects in terms of the bowyer and fletcher's crafts, as well as traditional Chinese shooting techniques, all taken from original materials of ancient China. Even better, his translations as a sinologist benefit greatly from his knowledge and experience as a toxophilite. Bowyers, fletchers, archers, wargamers, and students of military history all will find something of interest in this massive guide to an arcane subject.

As always when reading about the Chinese, some amazing discoveries are made. For example, in the discussion about arrow making and arrow performance, we learn that some unique arrow flight characteristics that have become observable to man only though high speed photography in the past few decades were accurately described in an ancient Chinese text - parts of which date from the first half of the first millennium B.C.E., i.e., the Zhou Li (“Rites of Zhou”).

I suspect that this textual tour de force was made possible not only by the dedication, skill and focus of the author, but also by a recent project at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in which all the extant literature of classical China (gathered in an immense imperial collection called Si Ku Quan Shu) was scanned into a computer database. (A copy of the software is available for sale at the modest price of around US$6,000, but so far I haven't yet been able to convince my wife that it is a real bargain!) Selby's research has also involved an extensive review of modern Chinese language publications on archery. The net result is the most exhaustive and unique topical review of Chinese literature I have ever seen.

Interest for the wargamer heightens when Selby discusses the place of archery in ancient and medieval Chinese warfare. For example, his translation of a 5th Century BCE account of the Battle of Yanling (575 BCE) provides sufficient information to allow the reconstruction of the respective Orders of Battle, as well as an almost blow-by-blow account of how the battle was fought. (See pp. 135-145.) In fact, I believe a reasonably accurate miniature wargaming scenario could be created from the information he provides.

Another ancient battle report that Selby offers is Sima Qian's (ca. 145-85 BCE) account of the Battle of Maling (341 BCE). (See pp. 170-172.) This story, while not providing sufficient information to develop a wargaming scenario, does demonstrate how the development of the crossbow allowed the creation of a new tactic for Chinese armies, i.e., saturation fire. The chariots in early Chinese armies were small units of aristocratic archers, each of whom was armed with a powerful composite bow that took up to three years (!) to manufacture properly. With the invention of the crossbow, large masses of infantry archers could be fielded at much less expense since the bronze firing mechanisms and simple wooden stocks could be mass-produced quite rapidly in large numbers. This kind of information is of value to authors of miniature wargaming rules by helping them to weight the relative effectiveness of the early composite bow and the crossbow in the firing tables.

Wargaming authors can also find help in this tome with distinguishing the tactical capabilities of specific medieval period East Asian armies. This is extremely important for developing army lists that reflect accurately the relative powers of the various armies of this period. Selby's work is especially useful for wargaming rules authors who have little knowledge of East Asian armies.

For example, his translations of contemporary Song Dynasty (906-1279 C.E.) period literature describe the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 C.E.) army as having halberdiers and spearmen Heavy Infantry in their forward ranks, and fully armored Heavy Cavalry carrying swords, bludgeons, spears about 3.74 meters in length, bows and arrows. Their bows had draw-weights of approximately 100 lbs, and each warrior carried approximately 100 arrows with armor-piercing heads. (This corresponds with the archers of the Thematic and Nikephorian Byzantine armies who also carried 100 arrows each.) Their conscripted troops from other ethnic groups were mostly Unarmored Infantry, some with bows and some with “various” weapons. It was the practice of the Jin bowmen to never shoot at a range of more than fifty paces. (See pp. 236-237.)

The Tangut Tibetans of the kingdom of Xixia (990-1227 C.E.), located in northwest China in the general region of present-day Gansu Province, allowed only their regular troops to be trained as archers, and those who could not qualify had to fight with lesser “various” weapons. As a result, the Xixia performed poorly 'on the ground' with short weapons, and always sought to maximize the use of their cavalry. We learn from Selby's resources that while they could dominate their Chinese opponents in this fashion, the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan overcame them quite easily. (See pp. 238-239.)

In the case of the Song army, we learn that the royal guard had 20 percent (composite recurve) bowmen, 60 percent crossbowmen, with the remaining 20 percent equipped with spears and shields. (See p. 241.) Detailed information on the Chinese examination system for archery throughout the Tang to Song periods also provides valuable information about the tactical capabilities of both Chinese composite recurve bows and crossbows.

One of the judgments Selby offers on these Eastern medieval forces might be of special interest to those who participated in the MW rules discussion that resulted in the decision to consider Mongol army bowmen to have the capabilities of the English longbow in the firing tables. He states: “From the Western perspective . . . you could gain an impression that Genghis Khan's repeated victories can be put down to the novel attack method of using an onslaught of skilled horsemen firing powerful bows on horseback. But in the East that method of attack was not novel, and the ability of the Mongolian horseman in cavalry archery should not have presented an unbeatable challenge either to the Chinese, nor to the other Turkic tribes they attacked and defeated. The [reason for the] success of the Mongols lay elsewhere (p. 259).” One is tempted to ask here: Could there be possibly a less controversial way of allowing for the Mongols' better discipline and leadership within the MW rules system?

For those interested in more detailed historical and technical information on Asian archery, the author has founded the Asian Traditional Archery Research Network, which has a web site at www.atarn.org. (Membership is free.) This site provides links to articles and photographs on the traditional archery of the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Mongols, Manchus, Tibetans, Indians, Magyars, Mid-East Islamics, Khitans and Turks. (I would add that, for excellent photos of reproduction bows in Avar, Magyar, Turk, Scythian and Mongol styles, go to web site www.traditional-archery-scandanavia.com.)

Selby's new book on Chinese Archery is fascinating for anyone interested in the history and capabilities of weapons. It is well researched, and well written. Having been trained in classical Chinese myself, I was able to compare his translations with the original texts. (This was done very conveniently since he so considerately included the original texts he quoted in the book.) I found them impressively accurate and reliable. I have no doubt it was his in-depth knowledge of archery itself that enabled him to elucidate some of the more abstruse passages.

This book qualifies for a place on the wargamers' bookshelf.