The bow of the Tartar (which has spread throughout all China) is much on the principle of the reversed bows which have already been described, though the curve is not so continuous. The bow is nearly straight for the greater part of its length, and then takes an abrupt curve within a foot or so of each end. One of these bows, in my collection, is nearly six feet in length, and measures two inches in width. About seven inches from each end, a broad piece of bone nearly an inch in length is fixed to the bow, so that the string passes over it, and does not strike against the wood.
The strength of these bows is enormous, varying, according to our mode of reckoning, from sixty to ninety pounds. The weapon is strung in manner somewhat resembling that which has already been described in connection with Indian bows. It must be done in a moment, or not at all, and the only method of doing so is, by placing it behind the right thigh and in front of the left, and then bending it with a sudden stoop of the body, at the same time slipping the loop of the string into its notch. My own weapon is so powerful that I can scarcely make any impression upon it, though I have used my best efforts.
The soldiers undergo a vast amount of practice in the use of this weapon, of which they are as proud as were the English archers of their long-bow and cloth-yard arrow. They have a saying, that the first and most important duty of a soldier is to be a good archer, and that a man ought even to sleep with a bow in his hands. In order to instruct them in the proper attitude of an archer, they have invented a simple piece of machinery, by means of which the soldier undergoes a vast amount of “position drill,” so that he may learn to keep his body straight and firm, his shoulders immovable, and his hands in the right position.
From a beam or branch are suspended two rings, which can be moved up and down, to suit the height of the learner. The young archer places his hands in the rings as far as the wrists, and then goes through the various movements of the weapon. When he can satisfy his instructor, a bow is placed in his hands, and he then practises the art of drawing the string to its proper tension. Lastly, he has an arrow besides, and shoots it repeatedly. The head of the arrow is blunted, and the target is a piece of stout leather, hung loosely at a little distance, so that it partially yields to the arrow, and allows the missile to fall to the ground.
The arrow corresponds to the bow. One of these missiles in my collection is three feet three inches in length. It is made of some light wood, and is terminated by a flat, spear-shaped head, two inches long and one inch wide. The other end of the arrow is expanded, so as to allow a large “nock” for the reception of the thick string, and is bound with fish-skin as far as the feathers, which are exactly a foot in length. The shaft is extremely slight in comparison with the length of the arrow.
These men train their muscular powers to a great extent, and have several exercises for this purpose. One of them is called Suay-tau, or throwing the weight. They have a nearly square stone, weighing rather more than fifty pounds, and having a handle in a hollow cut in its upper surface.
The men mark out a square on the ground, and the players stand at some distance apart. One of them takes the stone, swings it once or twice, and hurls it in the air toward the next player. It is thrown with such skill that the hollow always comes uppermost, and the stone descends into the hand with a shock that makes the man spin round on his heels. The same movement, however, is utilized to give force to the stone; and so the players pass this heavy weight from one to the other with apparent ease, and with the regularity of a machine. A similar exercise is conducted with a heavy sand-bag.
It may easily be imagined how such men would vanquish in battle the comparatively sluggish Chinese, and how they would impose upon them many of their manners and customs. But, though they succeeded in their conquest, though they changed the dress of the Chinese, though they placed a Tartar monarch on the throne, and though they have been the chief military power in China, they have themselves suffered a far severer, though slower, conquest at the hands of the vanquished.
The Chinese, being essentially a contemplative and intellectual nation, care very little for military ability, so that the lowest civil mandarin feels a thorough contempt for the highest military mandarin, because the active life of the latter precludes him from following up those peculiar studies which can raise a Chinese from the state of a peasant to that of the highest in the land. Especially do the Chinese despise their intellectual capacities, though they may appreciate and utilize their bodily strength and military prowess. “The Tartars,” said a Chinese shopkeeper, “are cows.”
The extraordinary reaction of the vanquished upon their conquerors is admirably put by Mr. Fleming, in his “Travels on Horseback in Mantchu Tartary.”