Archery or Shooting an Arrow
射箭
Archery is an extremely old sport. According to the archeological materials, the stone arrow was found in the Zhiyu site of Shanxi province about 20, 000 years ago.
射箭是一种极为古老的运动。据考古发掘资料，在距今两万多年前的山西峙峪人遗址中，已发现有石制的箭头。
The birth of bows and arrows
弓箭的出现
The early appearance of the shooting skills has close relationship to the living activities of ancient people, for they lived mainly on hunting and collecting before the appearance of agriculture. At the very beginning, people used sticks and stones to fight against animals, which required to fight with animals closely. It was not only very dangerous to people but also aroused the vigilance of them. If so, it was difficult for people to approach the animals. People discovered in their long life experiences that bamboo and some sticks with good flexibility had great recoil, and great power would be made by using the recoil to shoot. The bow and arrow were created in time.
远古人类的生存方式导致了射箭活动的产生。因为在农业生产出现以前，远古人类主要靠狩猎和采集为生。开始时，人们主要靠棍棒和石头对付野兽，这就必须与野兽进行近距离的搏斗，这样，不仅对人的生命有很大的威胁，而且也会引起野兽警觉。在长期的生活中人们发现，竹子及一些柔韧性较好的树枝会产生很大的反弹力，用这种反弹力来发射物体，可产生很强的杀伤力。于是，便出现了弓箭。
Houyi Shot the Suns
后羿射日
To be good at archery means to have more bag, so the ancient people respelled the sharpshooter much. The legend about "Houyi shot the suns" was coined in this situation. It is said that there appeared ten suns in the sky in the reign of Emperor Yao. The suns baked the earth, and the people struggled to survive. When the lord of Heaven found this and sent the miraculous sharpshooter, Houyi, to descend to the world. Houyi shot down nine suns at one time. From then on, there had been good weather on the earth, and all the living things began to grow up strong and sturdy.
擅长射箭意味着可以获取更多的猎物，因此，古人对擅长射箭的神箭手十分推崇。神话传说《后羿射日》就是在这种崇拜射箭技术的状况下创造出来的。据传，在帝尧时代，天上突然出现了10个太阳，把大地烤成了一片焦土，地上的人们都在死亡线上挣扎。天帝俊发现此事后，便派神箭手后羿下凡。后羿一箭射下了9个太阳。从此，大地上又开始风调雨顺，万物也重新茁壮成长了。
Shooting proprieties in the Western Zhou
西周时期的射礼
During the period of the Western Zhou, proprieties were stressed a lot as means to control the people and standards to communicate in daily life. Proprieties required people to be just in the heart and have proper manners when they behaved. It was found that archery was identical with proprieties.
西周时期，礼作为一种统治手段和人们日常交往的规范而受到人们的高度重视。礼的特点是要求内心中正，表现于外时则要求规矩合度。人们发现，射箭时的状况与礼的这一特点十分吻合。
Archery in the War
射箭技术在战争中的应用
Bows and arrows can be used to hunt animals, and humans, too. With the development of wars of human beings, bows and arrows turned into weapons in the war from the tools to gain food. In the times of Shang and Zhou dynasties, war-carts were the main equipment in the war. On the cart there were only two men except for the driver, one of whom was a soldier in charge of the bow and arrows.
弓箭既可用于射猎野兽，当然也可用于射人。因此，随着人类争夺战争的展开，弓箭便从一种获取食物的主要手段演变成为一种战争工具。商周时期，战车是战场上的主力，每辆战车上除了驾车手，只坐两个人，其中一个就是弓箭手。
During the periods of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States, the scrambling wars became more and more serious and brutal, so people began to pay more attention to the training of shooting. In the period of the Warring States, horsemanship and archery appeared with the birth of the cavalry. Wushu juren examination was given since the Queen Wu Zetian in the Tang dynasty, and archery was the main one in it. It is no doubt that this action promoted the development of the archery. When it came to the Qing dynasty, the Eight Banners still emphasized the training of shooting, though the guns were used more and more widely. However, after the middle years of the fling dynasty, especially with the breakout of the two Opium Wars, the Qing government suffered great loss from the Western guns, and the bow and arrows retired from the battles.
春秋战国时期，争夺战争越来越激烈、残酷，人们对射箭技术的培养也进一步重视起来、战国时期，随着骑兵在战争中的运用，人们还发明了骑射这种射箭方式。所谓骑射即骑在马上射箭。唐朝自武则天统治时开始设武举，射箭便是其中重要的考核项目，此举对推动射箭技术的发展无疑产生巨大的推动作用。至清朝，虽然火器在军事上的应用范围越来越广，但八旗兵对射箭技术的训练仍十分重视。不过，清朝中期以后，尤其是随着两次鸦片战争的爆发，清政府在洋枪洋炮面前吃尽了苦头，弓箭才最终退出了战场。
Archery and Recreation
射箭与娱乐
The retirement from the battles of bows and arrows does not mean the disappearance of archery in the daily life because it is not only applied in the army but also as a means of recreation. For instance, early in the periods of Wei, Jin, the Southern and the Northern dynasties, there was a custom to drink and shoot in the Double Ninth Festival. Besides, there was a willow-shoot game, which means to shoot the willow twigs.
弓箭退出战场并不意味着射箭在日常生活中的消失。因为在中国历史上，射箭不仅用于军事战争中，也是一种娱乐活动。如早在魏晋南北朝时期，就有重阳节饮酒射箭的习俗。除此之外，古代还有一种名为射柳的游戏。所谓射柳，就是用箭射柳枝。
Though there is a long history of archery in China, and the shooting methods are diverse, it does not develop into an official competitive sport. On the contrary, the Great Britain had its Archery Championship in the middle of the 19th century and spread it to the other European countries and USA and so on. In 1931, the World Archery Association was founded, and the 1st World Archery Championship was held. Archery became the official competition in Olympic Games in 1972, but in China, there were no modern archery competitions before 1950s. Due to the consistent struggles, the results of the Chinese athletes in the world competitions are on the rise.
中国的射箭活动虽然有十分悠久的历史，射箭方式也丰富多彩，但它始终没有发展成为一种正式的体育比赛活动。与此不同，英国则在19世纪中叶开始举办射箭锦标赛，并逐渐把这项活动推广到欧洲其他各国及美国等国家。1931年，国际射箭协会正式成立，并在同年举行了首届世界射箭锦标赛。1972年，射箭成为奥运会正式比赛项目。我国直到20世纪50年代末才开始进行现代射箭项目的比赛。不过，由于我国射箭选手的顽强拼搏，他们在世界大赛中的比赛成绩正在以极快的速度跃升。
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