Bow and arrow making skills (Mongolian ox horn bow making skills)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: bow and arrow making technique (Mongolian ox horn bow making technique)

Applicant: Inner Mongolia Normal University

Item No.: 394

Project No.: VIII - 44

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: traditional art

Region:

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Inner Mongolia Normal University

Protection unit: Inner Mongolia Normal University

Introduction to bow and arrow making skills (Mongolian ox horn bow making skills)

Applicant: Inner Mongolia Normal University

The Mongolian people are famous for their excellent riding and shooting skills. Making bow and arrow is one of the most important handicrafts of the ancient Mongolian people. The traditional Mongolian bow making skills are widely distributed in all Mongolian tribes. In the past, every Mongolian man could make bow and arrow, and the skills were handed down from generation to generation.

The making of Mongolian traditional horn bow mainly includes four steps: material selection, material collection, processing and combination. The selection of materials is the premise and foundation of making a good bow. The raw materials include buffalo horn, ox hoof tendon or ox back tendon, bamboo, birch, Vitex and other materials with good elasticity. These raw materials are processed by artists and made into important parts of angle bow, which are then glued and packaged with animal glue. It takes a lot of time and energy to make a bow, including more than 100 processes.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Mongolian bows and arrows have gradually changed from weapons and hunting tools to sports and entertainment tools such as Nadam. In the 1950s, Mongolian athletes used traditional horn bow to participate in various competitions at home and abroad. However, in the 1980s, with the death of old artists and the requirement of using FRP bows in archery competitions, the technique of making angle bows almost disappeared.

Since the 1980s, NOMIN and others have devoted themselves to the protection and inheritance of Mongolian traditional horn bow. They have visited horn bow makers in Hulunbeier, Chifeng, Tongliao, Alxa, Xilinguole, Hohhot and other places, actively studied Mongolian horn bow making skills, and finally grasped the complete Mongolian traditional horn bow making skills. NOMIN founded "Inner Mongolia mengkegala bow and arrow production base", which is dedicated to the protection and inheritance of Mongolian traditional bow making skills. The traditional horn bow competition, which has disappeared for more than half a century, has been restored in Inner Mongolia.