Archery Contest

Chinese Qing Dynasty

National Gallery of Art

The painting features a busy scene with various activities taking place outdoors under a wide, open sky. Closest to us, on the right, there are people in long blue and gray garments standing next to several horses tied to a fence near a tall brown tree. In the center, a group of people are participating in an archery demonstration or competition, with targets set up on the left side. A group of people holding bows and arrows watch a person in the center wearing a long red outfit aim a bow at the target. The area is filled with numerous people, some walking, others watching. To the right, behind the fence with the horses, is an ornate building with gray walls and a black roof where another group of people is seated under a carved wooden canopy. At the center of this group is a person in long orange robes who sits facing the archery contest. A person in blue on the left kneels down towards this seated person. All the people in the painting have light skin and dark hair in long braids down their back, and they wear red hats. In the distance are several white tents flying flags of different colors. Behind them, the landscape is full of green and rusty-orange trees, with green and tan hills rising up below a wide blue sky full of white-and-gray clouds.