Gungsul: Archery in Korea
Archery has always been a fascinating sport to me. It is a test of how well you work under pressure, with balance, and how sharp your aim is. Although many of us now enjoy it as a game with plastic bows and sucker arrows, back in the olden days’ archery was a form of survival and defense.
In Korea, the significance of archery doesn’t stop at survival and defense, but rather recognizes it as a military and cultural asset. In fact, if Japan was to be known as the land of swords and Sri Lanka was the land of guerilla warfare, then Korea was the land of bows.
Archery was prevalent in the Korean peninsula for a long time. But it only picked up during the three kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goryeo. It was more famous in the Kingdom of Goryeo and was the first to introduce mounted archery with short bows. Mounted archery is where a rider rides on a horseback while shooting arrows. It was a sport well loved by the kings and nobles. History also shows that in the Kingdom of Silla, Hwarangs were trained in it too.
In Baekje and Gaya, archery was practiced using longbows made from bamboo. This design also influenced the bows introduced in Japan.
In the Joseon dynasty archery was introduced not only in the military exams but also in the civil exams. This meant that civil government officers had to have some skill in handling a bow and arrow. But what is special in this dynasty is that (noble) women were also given the opportunity to practice archery. The Joseon dynasty had many rules in place for women that included no property ownership, maintaining a strict dress code, curfews, etc. So this is seen as a notable feature of this dynasty.
Throughout the years, the designs of bows used in archery varied. And what stood out to me was the gakgung. It is was introduced in the Joseon dynasty and was known for its strong power and flexibility. It was made using a bamboo core, mulberry wood, water buffalo horn, siyah and sinew or cow’s tendon.
Korea was also special when it came to introducing thumb rings to support the archerer. While most countries used a thumb draw, ancient Koreans designed thumb rings considering gender, purpose and drawstring weight. So for men thumb rings were longer and designed to draw higher weights that helped in releasing the arrow smoothly. These were called suggakji. For women, the thumb ring was meant to protect the inner joint of the thumb and was known as amggakji.
Archery was the base for Koreans in developing their gun powder technology as well. The first design in mastering this technology was the creation of a rocket propelled arrow along with a launcher that was introduced later. It shot several arrows at once was also known as a hwacha.
Overtime with modernization taking place archery was almost on the verge of being completely substituted by modern weapons. But under the advice of the Prince from Prussia, Emperor Gojung made archery a national sport of the country during the 19th century.
Today, though the bows have modernized and the arrows are stronger, archery still remains a specialty of the Koreans. It is an event that many fans look forward to at the Idol Star Athletics Championship, waiting for their favourite idol to shoot a bullseye at the camera in the center and a sport that many Koreans cheer for at international events. The Korean archery team has also been recognized globally for their elite skill level, especially with them earning 39 medals at the Olympics in 2012. With the Hallyu wave spreading globally, Korean Archery Centers have also been opened up in different locations offering lessons for archery enthusiasts.
