Kaiyuan Warbow of the Ming Empire V1.1

by Ali Bow

Introduction

In 1599 the Kaiyuan bow is first recorded as a bow used by the border garrison troops of the Ming Empire. It is one of the popular bows used by the border troops of the Ming. Based on contemporary paintings of this period, the kaiyuan bow is bigger than the previously popular xiaoshao (lit. small siyah) style bows. Therefore it is possibly a transitional form of bow, when the military switched from the light arrow shooting small bows to the heavy arrow shooting big bows.

Based on a more sophisticated study of the bow over the past decade, the "Wall Guards" Kaiyuan Warbow is a major upgrade to our previous fiberglass Kaiyuan bow. We can now confidently make the bow up to 80lbs@32", while keeping its good performance.

There are historical archery manuals describing picking up arrows from horseback with the bow’s distinctive hooked siyah.