the list includes BOTH historical and semi-mythical figures who were renowned for their archery skills

also included are people famous for their instruction in archery

Who was Yang Youji?

I choose Taishi Ci of the Three Kingdoms, whose archery skill is not well known but who was probably the equal of Lu Bu. I especially like his arms which were long like an ape's

I vote the Flying General.
His entire career was based on his archery skills.

How about Huang zhong ? I thought he was great with archer..

Btw, I didn't know Confucius is a good archer? Anyone can verify this?

Only in the novel. History says nothing about his archery.



I thought he was better known for teaching that in archery competitions one should be gentlemanly and take turns to shoot.

Yi beats them all, shooting suns down, he was a star destroyer.

I hope he wore shades - everyone knows you shouldn't look at the sun for too long.

yes you'll go blind............ unless he was already blind... nah

I voted for Yang Youji. Yi is too mythical to be true.

Li Guang, for his sensational shooting of a rock (physically impossible)

Can someone tell me more about Yang Youji?

Yang Youji was a great archer that lived in the Spring and Autumn era and rose to fame under the reign of the illustrious King Zhuang of Chu.

I have here the Chronicles of Eastern Zhou that describes his exploits in detail:

From Chapter 51:
Reprimanding Zhao Dun, the Grand Historian Dong Hu records unswayingly;
Slaying Dou Yue Jiao and the Grand Feast of Removing the Helmet Plumes.

In Yue Bo's army there's a low ranking officer skilled in archery. His name is Yang Youji. He is known in the army as the "Yang the God of Archery". He recommended himself to go against Yuejiao in his duel. He stood at the banks and shouted:

"The river is so wide, hardly any arrows can reach the opposite bank. I have heard that the premier is skilled in archery. I wish to challenge his skill. We would stand on the remains of the bridge and have 3 shots each. Whether we live or die we leave it to fate!"

Yuejiao asked: "Who is this man?"

Youji replied: "I am a small officer under Yue Bo, I am Yang Youji!"

Yuejiao saw that his opponent held no significant rank and thus looks down upon him. He said: "If you want to pit your skills against mine, I will have the first 3 shots!"

Yang Youji retorted: "Even if you have 100 shots, I wouldn't even be afraid. If you duck you're a coward!"

And thus both sides stayed their troops. The 2 men stood on the ruins of the bridge. Yuejiao drew his bow and fired his arrow with the hope that it will shoot Youji's head off into the river. However, Youji calmly swatted the arrow away with his bow and it fell into the water. Youji said: "Comeon and hurry up!"

Yuejiao drew his bow a second time and took a careful aim. The arrow flew with a swoosh, but Youji simply squatted and the arrow flew over his head. Yuejiao shouted: "You said those who duck are cowards! Why do you squat? You're a coward yourself!"

Youji replied: "You have one more shot, and I promise I won't duck this time. If you can't hit me with this shot, it will be my turn!" And thus Yuejiao took his 3rd arrow and it flew straight and true. He declared: "HIT!" However, Yang Youji planted his feet solidly into the ground, and when the arrow was about to hit, he opened his mouth and clamped down on the arrow head with his teeth. Yuejiao saw that he missed all 3 times, and felt fear. However, due to the promise made beforehand, he did not back down. Instead he declared: "You'll have your 3 shots. But if you miss it will be my turn again!"

Youji laughed and said: "If I need 3 arrows to hit you I'm a amateur. I only need one to send you to the heavens."

Yuejiao retorted: "How boastful! If you are truly that skilled, I'll let you have your shot!" But in his heart he thought: "How can he hit with a single shot? If he misses, I'll use that boast against him!"

But he does know that Yang Youji was famed for his accuracy. Youji took an arrow in his hand and shouted: "Premier! Watch out!" But he did not mount the arrow but simply released the bow string. Yuejiao heard the bowstring sing through the air and ducked to the left. Youji said: "The arrow is still in my hand. I didn't mount it. I thought those who duck are cowards. Why do you duck?"

Yuejiao rebuked: "If you're afraid of people ducking, you must be pathetic in archery!"

Youji pulled the bowstring and released it without mounting the arrow again. In the moment Yuejiao ducked to the right side, Youji quickly mounted the arrow and it went through Yuejiao's head. How poor the end of Dou Yuejiao, the premier of Chu for several years. He fell at the hands of a mere military officer of no significant rank.

...

King Zhuang of Chu awarded Yang Youji on the deed of his single arrow and granted him the rank of general over the royal guards as well as the Chariot Companion to the King.

Somehow, that whole thing reminds me of a penalty shootout in soccer

Yang Youji is probably the greatest archer personality in Chinese history

Dong Zhuo deserves special mention due to the fact that he was able to shoot with either hand at full gallop (arguably when all was available was the prototype stirrup or no stirrup at all)

there is a large amount of Confucian archery rituals. he personally considered archery an essential skill for any gentleman

stephen selby sermizes that he was in fact an archery instructor at one point in his life

Chapter 58:
Swaying the Lord of Qin, Wei Xiang receives a doctor;
Taking revenge against Wei Qi, Yang Youji displayed his gift once more.

...
The Chu and Jin army were encamped and entrenched. Battle has yet to commence. The Chu general Pan Dang practiced archery in the camps, hitting the bullseye 3 times in a row. All the soldiers and officers commended his skills. Yang Youji appeared in the scene and the men all declared: "Now here comes the God of Archery!"

Pan Dang was angered: "How is my skill not as good as sir Yang?"

Yang replied: "You can hit the bullseye. But that's amateur. I can hit the leaf of the Yang tree at 100 paces."

The men asked: "How do you do that?"

"Someone can mark a leaf with ink and I'll hit that leaf at 100 paces. That's hitting the leaf at 100 paces."

The men said: "There's a Yang tree in the camps. Can we see such skill?"

"Why not?"

The men were pleased: "Today we can see the great skill of sir Yang once more!" And they fetched ink to mark a leaf and marked a distance of 100 paces for Yang Youji. Yang Youji fired his arrow, but the arrow did not drop to the ground. The men went to the tree, and saw that the arrow has gone through the marked leaf and was stuck in the midst of the branches of the tree.

Pan Dang said: "That may just be luck. According to my standards, you should be able to hit 3 marked leaves. That will truly be the skill of a grandmaster."

Youji replied: "I might not be able to do that, but I can try."

Pan Dang thus went to the tree and marked 3 leaves at different height of the tree with the words "1", "2" and "3". Yang Youji double checked the markings, and went back to his position at 100 paces way. He also marked his arrows with the words "1", "2" and "3", and fired them one after another. The arrows went through the respective leaves. The men all gave formal salutes to Yang and said: "Sir Yang is truly godly!"

Pan Dang, though truly admiring the skills of Yang Youji, still wish to save some face for himself. He thus said: "The archery skill of Sir Yang is focused on finesse! But slaying armored men requires strength and power! My arrow can penetrate multiple layers of armor. I will demonstrate in front of you men!"

The men said: "We'll see your skills!" And thus Pan Dang ordered the men wearing composite armor to take off their armor. They stacked 5 suits of armor on top of each other and said: "This is enough." But Pan Dang added 2 more suits of armor for a total of 7 suits.

The men thought: "7 layers of armor is nearly a foot thick. How can he shoot through that?"

Pan Dang mounted the armor upon the archery target and stood at 100 paces away. He took his bow of black teak, mount a wolf-tooth arrow. His left hand appeared to be pushing with all his might against the mountain Tai, while his right hand appeared to be gently holding a babe. He took careful aim and let the arrow fly. It hit with a thud and Pan Dang declared: "HIT!" But the men did not see the arrow drop to the ground. They thus rushed forward to look at the target, and cheered: "What good shot! What good arrow!" For the arrow had gone through all 7 suits of armor and was firmly planted in the armor and the target. Pan Dang beamed with pride and ordered the soldiers to take down the armor along with the arrow.

Yang Youji said: "Wait! I'll try a shot, how about that?"

The men said: "We'll see the skills of Sir Yang too!"

Yang raised his bow, took aim, but lowered his bow. The men asked: "Why don't you fire?"

Youji said: "Simply shooting through the armor is nothing amazing. I have something more amazing: arrow sending skill!" With that, he mounted his arrow and let loose the bow string, declaring: "A good hit!"

The arrow did not hit too high or too low, too left or too right. It landed precisely at the spot where Pan Dang has sent his arrow. Not only that, Pan Dang's arrow was sent flying a distance away, hitting a separate target and was embedded deeply. The men were awed by the sheer skill and might of Yang's archery. Pan Dang was completely convinced of Yang's skills and exclaimed: "There's no way I can surpass the skill of Sir Yang!"

It was recorded in the history how the King of Chu hunts in the Jing Mountain. There was a gibbon that caught every single arrow fired at it. The King of Chu had the men surround the gibbon and shoot it repeatedly. Alas all arrows were caught or swatted away. Thus the King summoned Yang Youji. When the gibbon heard the name it let loose a sorrowful moan and tried to escape. Once Yang Youji arrived, a single arrow was all it take to pierce the gibbon's heart. He is thus declared the 1st archer of the Spring and Autumn era.

...

The other generals said to each other: "Now that the Jin are trying to bog us down. Our king needs all the heroes amongst our ranks! Both generals are mighty archers. We must report this incident to the king. Good jade must not be kept hidden!" And thus they ordered their men to careful take down the armor and arrows to show it to King Gong of Chu. Yang Youji and Pan Dang also went along.

The officers explained the incident with great detail to the king: "Since we have such mighty archers, we should not even be afraid of an army of a million men!"

The King, however, was furious and said: "Generals win by tactics. How can one hope for victory with a stray arrow? Such pride and arrogance! One day you'll die from your skill!" And with that the King confisticated Yang Youji's bow and arrow and forbade him from shooting. Yang Youji went away in shame.

...

The Jin general Wei Qi saw the chariot of the Chu king at a distance and fired a shot. The arrow hit King Gong of Chu on his left eye. The King, gravely wounded, still managed to pull out the arrow along with his left eye and threw it on the ground. A soldier picked it up and returned it to the king, saying: "The serpent's eye should not be discarded lightly!" And thus the king kept the arrow in his quiver.

...

The King of Chu was furious and summoned Yang Youji to his side. Yang Youji arrived promptly but he had no arrows. The King gave him 2 arrows and said: "The general in green robes and great beard is the one that hit me. You must take revenge for your king, but knowing your great skill I don't think you need that many arrows."

Yang Youji took the arrows and wheeled his chariot around, charging into the Jin formation, meeting Wei Qi (who wore green robes on that day). He shouted with anger: "What an audacious fellow to hit my king!" Before Wei Qi can reply, Yang Youji's lethal shot has pierced Wei Qi just below his chin. Wei Qi was slain. Youji took the remaining arrow and returned it to the king. King Gong of Chu was greatly pleased. He took off his robes and gave it to the great archer, as well as 100 wolf tooth arrows. The army would call Yang as "One arrow Yang" for his great deed.

...

The Chu was in full retreat, and the Jin gave chase. Yang Youji stood his ground and fired on any who came close. The Jin army thus halted their pursuit...

another special mention should go towards Wang Ju, archery instructor during the Tang dynasty. the most poetic archer in history

here is his poem/instruction in horse archery

Chen An could do that too, although he might have had stirrups by this time. Refer to my article in Age of Fragmentation.

Anyway, vote for Yang Youji guys. Be sure to read my translated excerpts to know more about his great exploits!

Nice work Seph.

if he lived during the age of fragmentation, i'm pretty sure Chen An would definitely make use of the full stirrups

most historians claim the Chinese prototype stirrup could only be used to get on the horse. i'm not too sure about that although the shape of the early Chinese stirrups obviously weren't as sturdy as the later true stirrups of the age of fragmentation

That's based on the presence of only one stirrup on the tomb horse-and-rider figurines from Changsha, dated to 302 and the earliest depictions of metal stirrups in China, if not the world. The earliest horse figurine with two stirrups is from an Eastern Jin tomb dated to 322.

Chen An lived up to 323, so whether he had full stirrups or not is not clear.

yeah i was aware of the one sided foot hold. i've sort of tested something like that by only leaving the foot opposite of the direction the horse was turning (at the extreme displeasure of my riding instructor) and i could sort of stand by balancing out my weight

implying that even with one side, it could fasiciliate certain horse riding needs (like mounted archery)

but then again, i could choose either side of the stirrup which obviously early stirrups could not fascilitate