Korean Vs. Turkish Bow

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:13 am

I hear people talk about how turkish bows are the pinnacle of bowmaking, but also that korean bows are extremely fast and efficient. What are your opinions or remote findings on these statements?

Dusan · Post by **Dusan** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:36 pm

Nobody cant answer you . We dont have today strong, heavy korean horn bow in oldest konstruction(about 120lb). Todays korean "modern" hornbows have 60-70 lb max. Mostly 50-55 lb. Like we see ,nobody today cant shooting vith heavy 130lb turkisch hornbow...
But from all information about this thema- Turkish horn bow was realy pick of evolution of all composite bows. You can see in turk history that tartar bows was in his disain very similara to korean bows. Many of midle construction variants betveen tartar and turkish bows in museums show us that turkish bowyers try and search ideal disain. Probbably find him.

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:17 am

I believe that Turkish and Korean bows have a similar origin from Turkish mercenaries serving the Mongolian empire. The Koreans made their bows of lighter materials and that made them more efficient; but in the process they became more difficult to maintain and more prone to damage. So there is no 'better': only 'different qualities'.

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:30 am

Yes, yes I remember that korean hornbows are very tender bows, and by efficiency, do you mean cast?

Alan Flashing · Post by **Alan Flashing** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 5:46 pm

Where does the Mughal crab bow stand in this evolution? It seems to be a derivation of the Turkish bows. I am very keen on the performance qualities of the different horn bow designs and always like to hear opinions on this.
I know that most of you have a favorite design or style , but some sort of general consensus on over all feeling for the performance of the different styles must be out there.
Alan

Dusan · Post by **Dusan** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 6:03 pm

Mughal bow is evolution of old mongol ( moghul -mughal) bows. In fact all this bows have his oldest adrres in Mongol plains. Old Turcic tribes is too from this teritory. When tribes move from mother land , his culture including bows was more or less changed. Mughal bow is one of specific variation from the same model, like Turcic or Korean bows.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:44 pm

I agree with Dusan but would also like to clarify.

The earliest Turkic identity dates to about the 4th C. CE. There is some proof that bows with V-spliced siyahs date, in the earliest instances, to just a few centuries later. By 1200 CE Hunnic derived bows seem to have still been the norm and these made up common bows of Mongol armies, (I think).

By 1400, Turkic V-spliced bows became common.

So to my thinking standard Mongol era bows were derived from Hunnic design, whereas V-spliced Turkic designs represent the next generation. Turkish, Persian, Mughal and Korean bows would be cousins.

Manchu design would also be Turkic inspired from another branch.

Mughal bows include Sind, metal bows and probably Hunza besides crab (and of course self bows). Metal and Hunza bows are inferior, but crab and Sind are equal to Turkish.

Since many groups used Manchu type bows, we must assume that for some purposes they were at least as good as Turkic. -j-

Alan Flashing · Post by **Alan Flashing** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:37 pm

Jack thank you for your explanation ... erudite as ever.
Alan

Alan Flashing · Post by **Alan Flashing** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:39 pm

Dusan , Thank you as well.
Alan

mongolianarcher · Post by **mongolianarcher** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 2:40 am

Allow me to throw my 2 cents in as well.

It seems that many bows all seem oddly related such as in famous pictures of chinese fighting ghengis khan's horsearchers, it shows both sides using similar bows, and they both look like the sterotype of the crab bows, which followed generations later, but koreans, turks,mughals, all have that similar design in certain parts. Koreans are a bit more tender and have slowly evolved as all the other types of bows mentioned, but they all have been changed for different areas. Stephen selby's comment really was spot on on my question.
Also Jack, you are completely right about how your hunnic bows are the ancestors of my yuan bows. Neither have their string touching the limb, and they both have long ears, among other similarities.

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:39 pm

One interesting aspect is the relationship between language and horn bows. Many of the so-called Altaic languages were also horn bow cultures. I bet that could make a good research topic for someone so inclined.

yokhua · Post by **yokhua** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:22 am

The theory that the design came only from Turkey?? I don't buy it...

Those horn bow designs were existed long before that...

To prove? Easy! just look at Stephen's Avatar, that image were how old? 2,000 years? Isn't the size and profile of that bow looks like so called "Tat-Tar" , "Korean" or "Turkish"....

My point of views are those bow designs were all exist in the history time line... Some periods some designs were preferred... Except Qing dynasty, The Manchurian were very cruel to Han Chinese and so many Chinese tradition were banned... Chinese traditional costume were banned and everybody must wear Manchurian cloths and ugly ugly pig-tail hair style... Of course, Chinese bows were banned as well, and replaced to Manchurian style bow... Which I will call it 韃子弓...

For the dignity of Chinese, and according to what Manchurian have done to Chinese... That is why I am so very very detest about things in Qing dynasty... I'll never wear Manchurian costume and will never build Qing bow...

Qing bow is not Chinese bow.. It is just a 韃子弓(Barbarian bow ) for me..

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:04 pm

Yokhua; Please do not misunderstand me. I use the word Turkic to describe the cultures of Tutkestan, that is Central Asian, Middle Asia or Inner Asia, whichever term one prefers, and not just Turkish peoples of Turkey.

Turkestan is the homeland of the Turkic peoples, from Siberia to North Afghanistan, Xinjiang to Turkmenistan and later outward from there.

Are you going to Korea? -j-

daryush · Post by **daryush** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:16 pm

What's a Hunza bow?

Dusan · Post by **Dusan** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:32 pm

Hornbow in Afganistan.