The site for articles on all aspects of historical Manchu archery.

For years I put heart and soul into this site, writing articles in weekends and after office hours. Since 2016 I quit my day job to dedicate myself full-time to antique arms at www.mandarinmansion.com. Most of my more recent writing is done there now, but I haven't forgotten about the subject yet!

Big News! Debtelin 2 is out!

Themed "Manchu Archery", I acted as a guest editor for this publication.

Together with a team of over 20 translators we dug into the literature of Manchu archery, producing various translations to English which reveal Manchu archery as seen from the eyes of the culture itself.

Click the link below to see the full table of contents.

Debtelin 2 can now be ordered via Etsy:

Debtelin 2: Manchu Archery
€32,50

Peter Dekker

Amsterdam, 16 February 2018.

Articles

For a complete overview of all articles in chronological order see the full list of publications.

History & general backgrounds:

Rise of the Manchus	Manchu archery	Bow evolution
Portrait of Youtun	1882 Jiangnan examination results	Last Manchu archer 1
Last Manchu Archer 2	Mongolian archery ban

Historical Manchu archery equipment:

The Manchu bow	Manchu arrows	Whistling arrows & whistle arrows
Bow-making	Qing Mosaic-patterned bows	Recreating a baogong
Bow cases & quivers	Historical draw weights	Manchu war arrows

Today's practice:

Technique	The tunken target	Using the thumbring
Bow care by Lukas Novotny	Starting Manchu archery

Early photographs and footage:

Manchu and Chinese archers	Mongolian archers	Tibetan archers
A bowyer's workshop in 1935	Republican period archery	Mongolian archery footage
Republican archery footage