What is this picture and bows?

Rapsod · Post by **Rapsod** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:37 pm

Digging some old pictures on my comp I find this. What is this picture? Does anyone have more of this pictures in high res? If it is too big you can sent them on my e-mail.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:53 pm

These are "Parlor bows", toy bows used inside for entertainment in Japan, in the past. -j-

Rapsod · Post by **Rapsod** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:45 am

I know about entertainment bows but I didn't know their unstrung form. Interesting. If we presume that handle is 10cm than this bow is not longer than 100cm. Small bow.

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:21 am

The illustration comes from a Japanese book dated about 1680. It was called a 'willow bow', and was used for a parlour game played by men and women in Edo.

Rapsod · Post by **Rapsod** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:16 pm

Is there anything else interesting in that book?

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:54 am

Probably, if you can read 17th Century Sino-Japanese texts. I translated the introduction on p. 224 of "Chinese Archery" (text 9G1).

Rapsod · Post by **Rapsod** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:22 pm

Everybody say that my handwriting is like chinese so I can try to read it.

Are there any others pictures?

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:21 am

There are ten illustrations of the equipment in the first volume. The second volume illustrates the scoring. Here are the ten.

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:23 am

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:24 am

Rapsod · Post by **Rapsod** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:44 pm

Stephen thank you for pictures.

Why that target in last picture have pendulum?

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:57 am

The pendulum will swing, showing clearly that the target was hit. As the arrow is blunt and does not stay in the target, there is no other way to show a hit clearly.

Note that I have added the explanations for each picture.