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Post 91 the Six Arts of Ancient China 1000 Days in China – Post 91 May 2, 2021 The Six Arts (liù yì – 六艺) of Ancient China In Ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty (1046 – 256 BC), students of Nobility were required to master the “Six Arts (liù yì – 六艺 – in Chinese)”. The “Six Arts” included rituals(礼), music(乐), archery(射), charioteering(御), writing(书) and mathematics(数). The six arts emphasized comprehensive development in all subject areas, and attempted to educate students to be well-rounded. In researching these “Six Arts”, it foreshadowed some of the values during the Renaissance Age in Europe that would occur about 2,000 years later. These Six Arts also formed the foundations of Chinese Thinking and Philosophy. RITUALS(礼) Ritual is an extraordinarily important cornerstone in Chinese culture. Without rituals, the 5,000-year-old country would never exist. In ancient China, there were officers in charge of rituals for every aspect of life, like marriage, funerals, and sacrifice. Chinese people started to live with a sense of ritual thousands of years ago and nothing can remove it from Chinese culture. MUSIC(乐) Music was not just a melody or a pastime for entertainment in ancient China. It was a symbol of great manners and a well-educated person. To learn music, one should have high aesthetic standards. Confucius himself studied from three different people to learn courtesy, music and how to play music. A famous saying of Confucius on music education is: “To educate somebody, you should start from poems, emphasize ceremonies and finish with music.” In other words, one cannot expect to become educated without learning music. Music was also an indispensable part of Chinese culture. People play music in every ritual to express feelings and emotions. Also, there was a special position for a music officer in the court. ARCHERY(射) Archery was not only a way to protect the kingdom or to kill enemies, but was also a good sport. China measured its force in strength as much as literature. A real gentleman should not only be well-educated but also should be strong and demonstrate great archery skills. A good archer was highly admired in ancient China not only among the nobility but also among ordinary people. The ancient emperors took archery classes as a required course and it was a tradition to hold a big hunting ceremony every year. CHARIOTEERING(御) The chariot had an important place in war, in hunting and in the parades that expressed the power of the nobles in ancient times. To become a charioteer is also an excellent form of training that requires the combined use of intellect and physical strength. WRITING(书) Writing usually included handwriting, reading, drawing and composition. There have been so many great calligraphers throughout the history of China and the Chinese greatly valued handwriting. There’s a saying that your handwriting reflects your alter ego. Especially in ancient China, it was necessary for an emperor to write beautifully. There were many emperors in China who were not only calligraphers, but also poets. Having the ability to compose poems is the skill of an educated person. Chinese ancient poetry is a precious heritage for every Chinese and to the whole world. MATHEMATICS(数) In ancient times, mathematics was a useful method to make predictions. Ancient Chinese used mathematics to develop astronomy, to predict the weather and applied this knowledge to real life. The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art was the earliest Chinese math book. The ancient Chinese also developed the abacus to benefit daily living and this invention is one of China’s material cultural heritages. The First Chinese Math Book - "The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" I took some time during the May Holidays in China to learn the skill of archery. I arranged to have my lessons at an Archery training center where a number of the members were National Champions but it was also a place that had the history of Archery in China on display. It was a fascinating place as they also had some of the ancient amour that you could wear for pictures. In addition to the displays and costumes, they also had a wide variety of bows that were used. They not only had Chinese bows, but also others such Mongolian, Japanese, Turkish and English Long Bows, to name a few. Besides safety instructions, I was told I would be learning the Eastern technique of shooting a bow with the finger placements and body positioning. One of the things I was told was to relax my arms as I shot the arrow. After a few practice shots, I found out that I was actually holding the arrow too long before releasing it and that this caused my arm to shake a bit. I then noticed that if I shot the arrow relatively quicker, I was getting better results. The good thing about my shooting was that all of my arrows tended to be clumped either low center or low right to the bullseye. This consistency was actually good as it was an easier technical fix in terms of technique where I just had to lower my back elbow to get better results. My instructor and I laughed about when my next lessons would be - on horseback shooting at a target in full armour! Now that would be a sight and a good laugh! I must say that learning and seeing the history of archery in China made this experience a lot of fun. LOL! .
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