Appearance of Empire period Mongol Bow.

abr · Post by **abr** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:31 pm

Is there a picture somewhere on this site or can anyone post a picture of what a Mongol bow of the empire period (approximately 1220-1260)looked like?

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 11:59 pm

Stephen has a picture in one of the news letters of Khubilai Khan hunting. One bow is shown at full draw and another's outline can be seen through a cloth cover.

abr · Post by **abr** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:46 am

Bede, thanks for your reply. Are you referring to the letter of February 2001 and the paintings of Liu Guandao? If so, these bows don't look a whole lot different from Grozer's Magyar style, am I right? To what extent can the image in an artwork of this sort be trusted?

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:27 am

Many images and archaeological remains attest to the fact that the image in Liu Guandao's painting was broadly correct. I agree that it's not so far off the Hungarian-style bows that Grozer makes. But the limbs would have been a bit wider (around 6cms).

Keep in mind that the Mongolian empire was a very varied rag-bag of nationalities with a number of different bow designs. But the Mongolian bow seen in Mongolia today is not the sort used at the time of the empire: it is an adaptation of the Manchu bows of the Qing Dynasty.

S

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:33 pm

I have a slightly different view than Stephen on what the artist was trying to represent. I think that it is closer to the Omnogorov bow than a Magyar one. However, it is only an impression based on the drawn bow and the outline of the tip in the bow wrapped in cloth. I think there is a slight recurve at the end of the ear.

The later Rashid ed-Din illustration shows string bridges at this point. It is also my feeling as Stephen suggests that there were several bow types used in the empire period though I see it as a period of transition between the straight ended bow and the recurved eared bow.

As individual bows are discovered in dated contexts we will learn more. Stephen has already illustrated a Tangut bow of the Mongol period eslewhere on this site.

Due to the longevity of composite bows, changes might take a lifetime to spread through a society. A working bow would only be replaced when it failed unless you were rich or captured a better bow.