In 1738, The Manchu emperor Qianlong ordered a division of his Manchu bannermen to defend the border of China in Xinjiang, where his troops had been fighting continued campaigns against the Muslim Uighurs. The troops that he despatched came from the Xibe (pronounced “shee-ber”) group, and were directly descended from the Ruzhen who founded the Jin Dynasty in China between 1115 and 1234.

The Xibe Manchus travelled with their families, enduring an arduous treck lasting three years, until they finally reached Ili (Yining) on the border of modern-day Khazakhstan. Although Ili is surrounded by the forbidding Tian Shan Range and the deserts of Central Asia, the Ili river plain is fertile and the climate is so mild that they can grow rice there. (The Ili valley is thought to be the place from which all domesticated apples in the world originated, and the last descendants of the famous ‘blood-sweating’ horses cn be found high in the surrounding valleys.)

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Originally, they were to be posted there for thirty years; but when the period ended, their request to return to their homeland was refused. So there they settled, established an ancestral temple and built up a community at Chapchal (Chabucha’er).

The Xibe community remains at Ili until today – indeed it is the only Manchu community in China which preserves the original Manchu written and spoken language. Spoken and written Manchu has died out among the remaining Manchus in north-east China. Today, the Xibe of Chapchal  have a Manchu language local newspaper, a Manchu language primary school syllabus (with textbooks in Manchu), and even a Manchu language broadcasting station.

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Through the Centuries, the Xibe of Chapchal maintained the proud Manchu archery tradition. Every year in May, they celebrate the day that they completed their arduous journey from the Capital to Ili, and hold an archery competition. Gradually, however, with the loss of the traditional Manchu bows, they changed to using Western archery equipment. Only a few old men continue to shoot with fire arrows and whistling arrows to mark the festival. Modern Xibe shoot with compound bows or competition recurves.

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But archery prowess has never deserted the Xibe. Even today, when a boy is born, a miniature bow and arrow are hung over his cot. Children – boys and girls – learn to shoot young, and every province in China now has at least one archer from the Xibe minority on its provincial team.

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In May 2003, I visited the Xibe at Chapchal and interviewed them about their archery tradition. I presented them with a photocopy of Naran Changgiun’s ‘Shooting the Target’ – a book on archery written in Manchu at the start of the Qing Dynasty, the last remaining copy of which is now kept at the Toyobunko Library in Tokyo. They were amazed and delighted to have it, and vowed that it would be re-printed in their local newspaper.

They have a small local museum of Manchu culture in which they had previoulsy had an old bow on display (until it was clumsily destroyed by a visiting newspaper reporter!) Last year, I sent them an original old Manchu bow to replace it.

Last week, I received a letter from Mr Xu Kaicai – former Chinese national archery coach – who had accompanied me to Chapchal last year: the Xibe have applied to the Central People’s Government to reintroduce archery into the primary and secondary school syllabus. After consultation with the National Archery Association, it has been proposed that their request be accepted provided that they also include traditional Manchu archery in the syllabus. They will be sent ten of the reproductions of Manchu bows provided through ATARN and generously funded by the Rotary Club of Hong Kong North.