By Peter Dekker, October 26, 2014
# | English | Manchu | Möllendorf transliteration | Chinese | Pinyin transliteration |
1 | Bow core (literally: "foetus") |
![]() | giru | 弓胎 | gōngtāi |
2 | Bow knee (literally: "brain") |
![]() | bokson | 弓腦 | gōngnǎo |
3 | Bow ear | ![]() | igen | 弓弰 | gōngshāo |
4 | Horn | ![]() | uihe | 角 | jiǎo |
5 | Sinew | ![]() | sube | 筋 | jīn |
6 | Birch bark | ![]() | alan | 樺皮 | huàpí |
7 | Bow handle | ![]() | jafakū | 弓弝 | gōngbà |
8 | The sides of the bow handle | ![]() | meiren | 弓弝膀子 | gōngbà pāngzi |
9 | Arrow passing point | ![]() | nisuri | 箭溜子 | jiànliūzi |
10 | Ear inserts | ![]() | soncoho | 弰頭 | shāotóu |
11 | Nock | ![]() | wen | 扣子 | kòuzi |
12 | Ear v-splice male part | ![]() | senggele* | 弓弰插口 | gōngshāo chākǒu āofú |
13 | Ear v-splice notch | ![]() | xukun | 弓弰插口凹虙 | gōngshāo chākǒu āofú |
14 | Horn slabs on either side of handle | ![]() | fara | 弓眙兩身 | gōngyí liǎng shēn |
15 | String bridges | ![]() | tebke | 弓墊子 | gōng diànzi |
16 | Bowstring | ![]() | uli | 弓弦 | gōng xián |
17 | String knots | ![]() | kuyerhen | 弦拾搭 | xián shídā |
Chinese and Manchu terms from the 1766 五體清文鑑 or "Five languages compendium", a Qing imperial dictionary in Manchu, Mongolian, Uighur, Tibetan and Chinese.
Photo's taken by author, author's collection.
*Jerry Norman's Manchu-English dictionary translates this term as the opening of a bow case, but when seen with the original Chinese entries, this does not make much sense and it is more likely describing the male part of a v-splice.