Horn bow from Dulaankhaan
There, residents know J. Sukhbaatar well for his bow craftsmanship, where he and his wife J. Davaa have lived together for 52 years. They discussed their years of experience crafting bows and arrows and archery over hot tea while offering bread from the region and sausage from Darkhan.
Eventually someone from Bayangol Soum in Baruun-Kharaa entered the home with his son. There was something wrong with his bow, and he wanted to find out what.
“The sinew has become loose”, he said, after careful observation.
The guest was Kh. Gobi, who has practiced archery since 1957. He said Sukhbaatar and his family had made significant contributions to the development of Mongolian national archery.
The number of bow makers in Mongolia can be counted on two hands, and two live in Dulaankhaan.
Sukhbaatar holds the title of ulsyn mergen (state wiseman), a title for highly achieved archers, while his local peer Z. Baatar is a sports master. Both have taught bow crafting to their sons.
Horn-fronted,
Sinew-backed Bow
The Khuvchit Num workshop had a fire in the iron oven with the crackling and hiss of burning wood. In the middle of the room stood several wooden worktables where lied an incomplete bow, birch bark, the sinew of a large cow, feathers of the Eurasian Black Vulture, scissors and a bowl full of glue.
A traditional Mongolian bow is hand crafted, said Sukhbaatar. The main elements are ox or goat horn, sinew, birch bark and bamboo. The bows and arrows vary, as they are made from raw animal materials.
The main distinguishing characteristic of the Mongolian bow is the use of horns and the tough muscle fibers from cattle. The three core parts of the bow are the horn, bamboo and sinew. On the backside of the goat horn is bamboo. At the top of the bamboo is the sinew, giving it the name of the horn-fronted, sinew-backed bow.
Archers prefer to let the bow “stretch” before they practice their archery, determining the hardness and softness of the bow. Pulling on the bow back and forth helps the sinew last longer, archers say.
“The bow and arrow should be relevent to a person’s height, and his strength”, Sukhbaatar said. “Only if a person can pull back on the bow then he can meet his target. So people should have bows and arrows that are suited to them”.
Most of the raw materials needed for crafting the bow can be obtained in Mongolia, but the bamboo is imported from China. Making a bow requires a total of 12 to 13 types of materials. After the raw materials are collected, the construction process takes four to six months for completion. Lots of precise work such as gluing pieces to each other is necessary. The glue needs four to six months to dry, but sometimes can take as long as an entire year.
The longer the drying process continues the better it is for the firmness, said Boldbaatar. The whole process is done during colder seasons rather than summer because of the animal materials needed. The sinew is purchased during the slaughter season for about MNT 2,900 a kilogram. But it is becoming harder to come by as it is used these days largely for food export to Japan.
The goat horn, too, is becoming rare, so bow crafters cooperate with archers from provinces with wild goats. They provide the horn and receive a bow in exchange.
Construction of a single bow requires about one kilogramme of sinew, a pair of goat horns, and vulture feathers. The feathers on the arrow help the archer shoot from much farther than possible without. The arrow can be made of wood from aspen, birch or willow trees, but birch wood is common. The horn and sinew are glued together using animal parts.
After all the materials are collected, the craft-making process can begin.
Boldbaatar said the bow making technique is usually passed down from the older generation to the younger. One or two people are needed to tear the sinew, and two people are required to cut off, heat and straighten the horn. The entire project has many stages and demands a lot of precise work. Boldbaatar said not every bow is acceptable. If the horn is worn out, damaged or sawn in the wrong way, it is useless.
Great skill is needed to tear apart the sinew lengthwise. Up to six people could be working in the workshop at one time. Sometimes preparing the raw materials is done at home.
Sukhbaatar said at least 70 percent of the work should be done by hand. However, at Khuvchit Num about 90 percent of the work is done that way.
A bow with four arrows costs MNT 400,000 while one with ornaments and a leather case for the arrows (khoromsog saadag) costs on average MNT 600,000. Khuvchit Num receives orders mostly from Mongolia’s provinces, tourist groups and abroad. They craft up to 60 bows in a year. Orders for bows from Dulaankhaan come from Russia, the United States, France and Germany.
A History of Mongolia’s Bow and Arrow
Archery is one of the three “manly games” practiced during Naadam celebrations. Its origins date back to Hunnu times when ancient people hunted, prepared their food, and made clothing from animal hides. It was during these times the bow and arrow was invented by Mongolian craftsmen.
Women began practicing archery in the 1960s when sports became better organised in the country.
According to Sukhbaatar, there are three main types of archery in Mongolia: Khalkh, Uriankhai and Buriat.
Khalkh archery is shot from a distance of 75 metres, while the other two are from 40 metres. The bows are always the same, but the arrows vary.
Sukhbaatar himself has a long relationship with the hunting tools and his craft. Sukhbaatar settled in Selenge from Khalkh Soum of Dornod Aimag. He started his first work as a machinist at the wood processing factory at Sukhbaatar Soum in Selenge. He has worked over 40 years in leading positions for the factory, in the local government, and in the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party. He is the sixth generation of archers in his ancestry. He left his job as governor of Bugant Soum to teach bow and arrow craftsmanship to the next generation.
Khalkh archery is shot from a distance of 75 metres, while the other two are from 40 metres. The bows are always the same, but the arrows vary.
Sukhbaatar himself has a long relationship with the hunting tools and his craft. Sukhbaatar settled in Selenge from Khalkh Soum of Dornod Aimag. He started his first work as a machinist at the wood processing factory at Sukhbaatar Soum in Selenge. He has worked over 40 years in leading positions for the factory, in the local government, and in the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party. He is the sixth generation of archers in his ancestry. He left his job as governor of Bugant Soum to teach bow and arrow craftsmanship to the next generation.
In total, his company has produced over 1,000 bows. They produce bows and arrows for children, adults and as souvenirs among other bow-related products.
The Horn Bow partnership was established December 5, 1995 in Dulaankhaan of Shaamar Soum. In 2002, the small organisation was expanded into the Khuvchit Num company, before Sukhbaatar handed over his work to his son Boldbaatar and retired. He works now as a consultant for his company and has been repeatedly elected as chief of the Archery Union of Selenge since 1964.
As a culmination of his achievements during his career, Sukhbaatar and his son Boldbaatar had one of his finest bows inducted to the State Palace. His bow of 2.5 metres and arrows of 1.5 metres were slightly larger than traditional pieces with the usual lengths of 2.3 metres for the bow and one metre for the arrow. They introduced their crafts to the president in 2002, entering the State Palace with honours mimicking the customs of Chinggis Khaan’s time, when the bow and arrow was worshipped and placed beside the state white banner.
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