Author: Hrothsige Frithowulf

History of Black Slaves and Slave Trade in Africa
During the Age of Exploration, Europeans colonized the New World of America and brought many black people to work as slaves. This infamous trade in black slaves raises the question of where these black people came from and how they became slaves. Let’s dive into the origins of black slaves in the slave trade. The beginning of the European black slave trade dates back to 1441, when Portuguese explorers Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão first engaged in it.
One of the first European black slave traders was the Portuguese explorer Nuno Tristão.
These two Portuguese navigators, under orders from the Portuguese king, led their exploration ship southwards to Africa in search of a route to the East and trade goods. During this voyage, greedy and eager to find wealth, the Portuguese explorers captured 10 black people near Cape Bojador and brought them back to Portugal to be sold in the markets of Lisbon. This was the beginning of the European black slave trade.
Note: Cape Bojador, also known as “Cape Brown,” is the northernmost point on the African continent. It is located at 9°51′E, 37°20′N.
In order to obtain more labor, the Portuguese began to capture black people on a large scale from West Africa, and then bring them back to their own country or sell them to plantations in places like the Madeira region and the Canary Islands for labor.
Early Black Slaves in the Slave Trade
However, the scale of the slave trade was small in the 15th century, and only a small number of black slaves were available for European merchants to trade. The value created by this trade was far less than that of African goods such as gold, ivory, and pepper.
Black slaves were only a commodity and not particularly important, so there were no Europeans specializing in the slave trade at this time.
If Europeans wanted to obtain black slaves during this period, they would carry firearms, cannons and other weapons to attack the settlements of black people or villages that refused to trade with Europeans.
The transatlantic slave trade transformed a practice that had been performed in Africa for centuries into something completely different.
They would then shackle and force the captured black people onto ships, and finally transport them to markets for sale. The whole process was full of bloodshed, violence and the killing of innocent people.
This kind of violent and plundering slave trade conducted by European merchants caused fierce resistance from black people. As a result, European merchants turned to “legal means” to obtain black slaves by exchanging goods with local slave owners or chiefs.
Black Tribes Implemented Slavery Before the Europeans
In fact, before white people arrived in West Africa, local black tribes had already implemented slavery. Although most black tribes were still in the early stages of slavery and had not fully entered a slave society, the chiefs, leaders, or warriors in the tribes mostly held some slaves to serve them.
Slaves in West Africa during the era of the transatlantic slave trade were individuals who lacked personal autonomy, freedom, and rights. They were considered the private property of their owners, who had the power of life and death over them and could subject them to enslavement, sale, or even murder at will.
Most of the black slaves in West Africa were captured as a result of warfare, punishment, superstition, or famine.
- Warfare: Local black tribes engaged in wars due to feuds, territorial disputes, or hunting grounds, among other reasons. In the course of these tribal conflicts, some black people were taken captive by opposing tribes and turned into slaves.
- Punishment: Apart from the capturing of enemy tribe members, some black people were also punished into slavery for crimes or debts, for instance, when a husband discovered his wife committing adultery, according to tribal customary law, the husband had the right to capture his wife’s lover and turn them into a slave.
- Superstition: Most West African blacks believed in animism, where everything has a spirit, and were highly superstitious, without a scientific worldview. Thus, when someone desecrated a god or a sacred object, the tribal priests or chiefs would turn the perpetrator into a slave.
- Famine: Although West Africa had abundant natural resources, there were times of drought or flooding, and blacks had little savings culture, which made it difficult to survive disaster years. Therefore, during periods of famine, some blacks sold their wives, children, or even themselves into slavery. As the famous American pastor Charles W. Thomas noted in his description of the African Slave Coast: “During periods of famine, if (black) men have no slaves to dispose of or satisfy demands, they would pawn themselves for food. They have a certain self-sacrificing spirit, and when their families are in danger, a member of the family will step forward and sell themselves to the highest bidder to save their parents or other relatives from peril.“
Number of Slaves in West Africa When Europeans Arrived
When Europeans first arrived in West Africa, there were few slaves in the region. While many African tribes had slaves, the number of slaves within each tribe was small, and slave owners rarely sold their slaves. This was because the local people had low productivity and did not lack labor.
They only needed to make minimal effort to obtain enough production materials to sustain themselves. Therefore, the local people did not have much desire to accumulate wealth, resulting in few slaves within their tribes.
Portuguese soldiers in the 16th century.
The emergence and maintenance of slavery require certain prerequisites. Only when social productivity and the division of labor develop, labor productivity increases, and the surplus wealth produced by laborers increases, can enslaving others become a profitable enterprise.
This is why slavery was not prevalent in low-level hunting tribes but was widely practiced in developed agricultural societies.
Furthermore, the phenomenon of African tribes keeping slaves can also reflect the compassion of African slave owners to some extent. After all, many African tribes without the habit or ability to keep slaves tend to execute members of enemy tribes they capture instead of enslaving them.
The Price of an African Slave
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, before the prices of black slaves skyrocketed and the dollar was invented, the average cost of transporting an adult male black slave from the African slave coast to the American region was around 12 pounds. This cost included the price of the slave, shipping costs, food expenses, clothing expenses, and so on.
After arriving in America, an adult black slave could be sold for 20–45 pounds, while the price of an underage male black slave was around 15 pounds.
In the mid-to-late 18th century, the price of black slaves skyrocketed, and the purchase price from African black chiefs increased to around 22 pounds per person. Many of these slaves were sold in America for over 50 pounds.
In the early 18th century, 1 pound was roughly equivalent to around 350 dollars in today’s currency, based on the exchange rate of gold, without taking inflation and purchasing power into account. But converting ancient currency to modern currency is often inaccurate.
Expansion of the African Slave Trade in the 16th Century
After the discovery and colonization of the New World in the 15th century, the Spanish began expanding into regions such as the West Indies, Central America, and South America.
They carried out brutal massacres of the indigenous people, known as Native Americans, and subjected them to various methods of enslavement. However, due to their inability to resist European-borne diseases, illnesses, and heavy labor, some Native American populations were pushed to the brink of extinction.
To address the need for labor in colonial agriculture and mining, the Spanish began importing black slaves from West Africa in 1503. This led to the massive expansion of the African slave trade, which became a major trade for Europeans.
The infamous triangular trade was established during this period. European slave traders would sail from various European ports to West African coasts such as the Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, and Slave Coast to purchase slaves from local slave traders using European goods.
They would then transport the purchased black slaves by ship to the Americas, where they would sell them to plantations or mines. Finally, they would purchase gold, cash crops, and other products from the colonies to sell in Europe and make huge profits.
The profits from the triangular trade were enormous, leading more and more Europeans to become slave traders and participate in the slave trade, making the black slave trade gradually more organized from the 15th century on.
Why Did Black Rulers Sell Their Own People and Promote Slave Trade?
An artwork from the book “Moral Capital.”
Due to low levels of social productivity, black tribes in West Africa were unable to produce a wide variety of goods. In order to improve their own lives, black slave owners were forced to participate in the slave trade and exchange various goods for slaves with slave traders.
The “price” of a black slave was quite high and therefore very attractive to black slave owners. For example, in 1801, a healthy and strong male slave could be exchanged for the following goods from a slave trader: 18 pounds of printed cotton cloth, 18 pounds of Indian coarse cotton cloth, 18 pounds of chintz cloth, one piece of bandanna cloth, 14 pounds of Nicaene cloth, 14 pounds of Costal cloth, 3 rolls of Romel cloth, 52 handkerchiefs, one brass bottomed kettle, two muskets, 25 barrels of gunpowder, 100 flints, two bags of lead, 20 knives, four iron pots, four felt hats, four straw hats, four short swords, six strings of beads, and 14 gallons of brandy (with a total value of 25 pounds). If they only wanted alcohol, a strong male black slave could be exchanged for 110 gallons of rum.
In addition, some black rulers were forced to engage in military competition to prevent hostile tribes from attacking them. They had to exchange slaves with European merchants for powerful weapons. For example, they would exchange 15 strong male slaves or 21 female slaves for a cannon or some guns and gunpowder.
Without these weapons, black tribes would be very likely to be destroyed by other tribes, so the sale of slaves to plunder became the reason for starting wars.
In the 19th century, when some Europeans decided to abolish the slave trade and persuade African chiefs to do the same, one black chief refused, explaining that his people were not familiar with other types of trade and that the slave trade was the only way for them to gain wealth and honor. They celebrated victories with songs and lulled their children to sleep with songs of triumph over their enemies.
“Lawful Methods” Used for Acquiring African Slaves
To obtain black slaves, European slave traders would first visit African chiefs or leaders and offer them gifts such as cloth, guns, gunpowder, brandy, and wine—items that were not available in Africa—to entice the greedy rulers to participate in the slave trade.
After a short time, the chiefs would sell all their slaves to the traders to obtain more European goods. The traders’ greed would not be satisfied, and they would continue to buy slaves as long as there was space on their ships. When the supply of slaves was low, the European slave traders would use various methods to stimulate the African tribes to produce and sell more slaves.
Typically, European slave traders would instigate wars between two African tribes or provide one tribe with a large number of weapons, inciting them to seek revenge against a hostile tribe. Meanwhile, the slave traders would continuously exchange cheap goods for captives with the African chiefs.
Slave traders would also instigate civil wars within African tribes, funding rebels or “exposing” certain individuals in the tribe as conspiring against their chief. The best way to quell a rebellion or conspiracy was to turn the rebels or unsuccessful power strugglers into slaves and sell them.
In addition to inciting wars, slave traders would also collaborate with the witch doctors in African tribes, encouraging them to capture fellow Africans under various pretexts. For instance, a witch doctor might accuse one person of using evil witchcraft against another person and tell the victim that the best way to break the curse is to capture the accused and sell them to slave traders.
Alternatively, the witch doctor could tell certain tribe members that their wives had been unfaithful to them with another man and incite the husband to capture the so-called lover and sell them into slavery.
Unlawful Methods Used for Acquiring African Slaves
The aforementioned methods were referred to as “legal methods” by European slave traders. However, after the success of plantation economies and the surge in demand for black slaves in various American colonies in the 1700s, the price of black slaves skyrocketed.
In the early 17th century, a strong male black slave was sold in the American slave market for only 35 pounds. But about twenty years later, the price of an average slave had already doubled to 70 pounds per person, and the total cost of a black slave was only 27 pounds and 5 shillings and 10 pence.
Such a lucrative business led to a change in the way slave traders obtained black slaves, using more brutal and despicable “illegal methods” to meet the labor demands of the American colonies. During this period, most black slaves were free people who had been captured or kidnapped.
Earlier European slave traders would examine the source and identity of the slaves and would either return some free black people who had been kidnapped to their respective tribes or refuse to buy slaves with such status to maintain relationships with the local people.
The slave traders of the 18th century cared only about the physical health of the slaves they purchased and no longer paid attention to their identities. They welcomed anyone who would sell them “slaves.”
During this period, the majority of black slaves in the slave trade were free people who had been kidnapped. Small groups of slave catchers also emerged as one of the main suppliers of black slaves.
Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802–1858), a German artist, depicted a slave catcher in Imperial Brazil.
These small groups of slave catchers were typically made up of local black people, with very few members, usually only three or four people. Some groups even had only one or two people, and they used deceit, kidnapping, and coercion to obtain slaves.
These black slave catchers showed no regard for their fellow black people. They would attack lone black people to sell them to slave traders for European goods.
Slave-catching groups also lured black people into their rooms under the guise of offering free food or selling cheap goods. Once the black people entered the room, the members of the slave-catching group would capture them as slaves.
Sometimes, in order to obtain the most valuable, strong male slaves, slave-catching groups would send women to seduce young black men into their rooms for sexual encounters. However, once the black men entered the room, the slave catchers would kidnap them as slaves while they were defenseless.
Some slave catchers would also hide in the bushes near the fields. Once a farmer came out to till the land, the slave catchers would kidnap them.
There were also some slave catchers who would deceive distant black people or their own friends and family into drinking rum. When the other party woke up drunk, they would find that they had been sold to slave traders by their so-called friends.
Sometimes, in order to quickly obtain slaves, European slave traders would cooperate with slave catchers and work together to trap black people from other tribes. For example, European slave traders would use the pretext of reconciling a conflict between two tribes to invite black people from one tribe to the slave ship to negotiate.
However, once these black people got on the slave ship, the slave traders would reveal their evil nature and work with the slave catchers to kidnap them as slaves.
In addition, members of slave-catching groups would sometimes be sold as slaves themselves. A ship’s carpenter recorded in his diary that in the town of Galinas on the west coast of Africa, he saw a merchant preparing to sell a slave to a slave ship. However, when he walked with the slave to the beach, suddenly, four men emerged from the bushes, grabbed him, and took away his goods.
Although these four people paddled the merchant’s canoe, they still sold the merchant and his slave to a slave ship. The captain of the slave ship witnessed the entire process but still bought the two slaves with money.
Regardless of whether the “black slaves” were free or not, slave traders did not care. In their eyes, a black person was a black person, without any difference in identity. Some ship captains even declared to all their partners, as long as someone is willing to sell slaves, they will buy them.
This illegal slave trade had a significant impact on the daily lives of black tribes, making people fearful and afraid of being kidnapped by slave catchers. As a result, a black chief had to write a letter to the king of Portugal to describe the terrible nature of the slave trade. He explained how people suffered from enslavement and plunder every day, and even the nobles and royalty were not immune.
Slave Wars in Africa
Although slave traders obtained black slaves illegally, the number of slaves still could not meet the demand of the American colonies. As a result of the slave trade’s impact, black tribes and populations along the West African coast had decreased significantly, and surviving black people had armed themselves with guns and ammunition. Thus, the success rate of slave catching in the region decreased, and the cost increased.
In response, some black tribes began to resist slave catchers, and the slave catchers also began to fight back. These conflicts eventually evolved into what is known as the slave-catching war or “Slave Wars” in Africa.
In this situation, slave traders began to support and incite larger-scale slave wars, and their activities were not limited to the coastal areas of West Africa. They instigated black tribes living near the coast to advance into the interior of Africa and then attack the black tribes in the interior to capture black slaves for trading.
At that time, many black tribes lived in the interior of Africa, and these inland tribes lagged far behind the coastal black tribes in terms of social productivity and military strength, which gave the slave catchers an opportunity to exploit.
Slave traders would either provide weapons for some greedy and warlike black tribes, or join forces with these tribes to form a slave-catching team and then attack the black tribes in the interior together. European slave traders left some authentic records of such actions:
“We provided some guns and ammunition for the black chiefs, and then, the horn sounded, a group of black warriors gathered together to distribute weapons. After distributing the weapons, they camped by the tributary of the Sassandra River until midnight. Then, these black warriors left me and quietly crossed the forest. Half an hour later, gunshots and screams were heard, and the forest was set on fire. Later, these people brought back thirty captives, including men, women, and children.”
Most of these plundering actions deep into the interior of Africa were launched by black tribes or countries along the West African coast. They regarded their fellow countrymen in the interior as the main source of black slaves and established powerful tribes or kingdoms based on the huge profits from the slave trade. For example, the famous Dahomey Kingdom (1600–1904) thrived under the stimulus of the slave trade.
The Dahomey Kingdom, located in West Africa, was the predecessor of modern-day Benin. Starting from the 17th century, it continuously plundered the land and people of other black tribes, enslaving them. It thrived and accumulated enormous wealth by relying on the bloody and insane “triangular slave trade.”
Slave-capturing teams were the most important partners of slave traders. Without their supplies, European slave traders would not be able to obtain a large number of black slaves. Although these members of the capturing teams were also black, they had no psychological barriers to capturing their “fellow countrymen” as slaves.
On the contrary, these black slave capturers were even crueler than European slave traders. After all, slave traders would try to keep as many slaves alive as possible to make money, but black capturers had no such concerns.
Not only did black capturers use the captured slaves for their own purposes or sell them, but they also killed a large number of prisoners of war as a blood sacrifice to their gods. This kind of human sacrifice was especially common during major holidays or ceremonies, often killing several thousand people at once. It even affected the operation of the slave trade, forcing slave traders to advise black kings to reduce the scale of live human sacrifices as much as possible.
The Impact of the African Slave Trade on Africa
The impact of the African slave trade on Africa was devastating. As the scale of the slave raids increased, thousands of black Africans were captured and sold into slavery every year, causing significant damage to the population and social fabric of African societies.
Many densely populated villages were destroyed, fertile farmland was abandoned, and surviving black Africans were forced to hide in dense forests, resulting in the stagnation of local black civilizations and societies.
When European countries no longer needed black slaves as laborers, they had already accumulated massive profits from the African slave trade, invented medicines to combat tropical diseases, and developed more powerful weapons.
However, the African continent had been devastated by centuries of slave raids, and as a result, it had no way to resist European conquest and colonization, making it easy for Europeans to conquer Africa.
This Article at a Glance
When did the European black slave trade begin and where did the slaves come from?
The European black slave trade began in 1441, when Portuguese navigators Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão captured 10 black people near Cape Bojador in Africa and brought them back to Portugal to be sold in the markets of Lisbon. The Portuguese then began to capture black people on a large scale from West Africa, bringing them back to their own country or selling them to plantations in places like the Madeira region and the Canary Islands for labor.
Were there any Europeans specializing in the slave trade during the 15th century?
No, there were no Europeans specializing in the slave trade during the 15th century. Black slaves were only a commodity and not particularly important, and the value created by this trade was far less than that of African goods such as gold, ivory, and pepper. If Europeans wanted to obtain black slaves during this period, they would carry firearms, cannons and other weapons to attack the settlements of black people or villages that refused to trade with Europeans.
Did local black tribes implement slavery before the Europeans arrived in West Africa?
Yes, before white people arrived in West Africa, local black tribes had already implemented slavery. Although most black tribes were still in the early stages of slavery and had not fully entered a slave society, the chiefs, leaders, or warriors in the tribes mostly held some slaves to serve them. Most of the black slaves in West Africa were captured as a result of warfare, punishment, superstition, or famine.
What were the legal and illegal methods used for acquiring African slaves during the 18th century?
In the 18th century, slave traders no longer cared about the identities of the slaves and would welcome anyone who would sell them slaves. This led to the emergence of small groups of slave catchers who would use deceit, kidnapping, and coercion to obtain slaves. They would also attack lone black people and lure them into rooms to capture them as slaves.
What was the impact of the slave trade on black tribes and populations along the West African coast?
The slave trade had a significant impact on black tribes and populations along the West African coast. The success of plantation economies and the surge in demand for black slaves in various American colonies in the 1700s led to the emergence of more brutal and despicable “illegal methods” to meet the labor demands of the American colonies. The number of slaves could not meet the demand, leading to a decrease in black tribes and populations along the West African coast.
References
The African slave trade from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century – 1978, UNESCO Digital Library
Roger Crowley. 2015. Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire by Roger Crowley | Goodreads
Roger Anstey. The Atlantic Slave Trade and British Abolition, 1760–1810. London: Macmillan, 1975. ISBN 0-333-14846-0.
Africa in world history: from prehistory to the present – Stanford.edu
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March 16, 2023
How Strong Were Archers in History?
Many people have a great misunderstanding of archers, especially those who have been influenced by games, movies, and TV shows, particularly fantasy movies such as The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Many people think that medieval archers were similar to elves in the movies—slender and delicate. Some even believe that archers in history were fragile and were only capable of shooting arrows in battle.
According to this misconception, archers use numerous arrows to kill a single enemy, quickly retreat if the enemy gets closer, and leave the field to the close combat soldiers. Because if the enemy breaks through the archers’ position, the fragile archers would be unable to resist and would disperse. Although many people have such a stereotype, it is largely a fallacy. Once you understand the amount of force medieval archers had to use to draw a bow, you will realize that it takes a great deal of strength to be an archer.
The Archers of West
Pulling traditional bows (including all kinds of medieval bows and arrows) requires a great deal of strength, as the draw weight of war bows was quite high. The famous English longbowmen, who fought in the Hundred Years’ War against France, had great combat achievements that made many people think that the knights who were rampant in medieval Europe were powerful looking but actually weak in combat.
Do you know how difficult it was to pull the English longbow used by longbowmen? The unit of measurement used for this is called the “bow draw weight.”
The bow used by English longbowmen on the battlefield was a one-piece bow, with the entire bow body mostly made from a single piece of yew wood bent into a curve. Its length was approximately between 5.9 and 6.6 feet (1.8 and 2 meters). The yew wood is hard and elastic but not easy to bend. So, the bow must be made longer. This makes the English longbow, although a one-piece bow, very powerful and have tremendous killing power.
In order to ensure killing power and armor-piercing ability, the English longbows used on the battlefield generally had a pull weight of 120 pounds (54.5 kg) or more. Archaeologists have replicated some longbows using the same materials as those found on sunken ships, and the draw weights of these longbows were measured to be between 120 pounds and 160 pounds (54.5 to 72.5 kg) and even higher weights.
Such a high draw weight of the longbow means that archers had to have equal or even greater strength; otherwise, they would not be able to draw the longbow at all. These figures are the minimum force required for a person to draw the longbow (a.k.a., war bow). Not an exact comparison, but imagine a person who lifts a weight of 120 to 160 pounds (54.5 to 72.5 kg) with one hand; can they be slender and weak? The archers of history were never as vulnerable and fragile as they are stereotyped in popular culture.
The Archers of East
There are more ways to understand how strong archers were in reality. Let’s take a look at the archers of another nation whose people are often smaller in stature. Chinese medieval archers were equally impressive as the Western archers. Although the Song Dynasty (960–1279) had the powerful weapon of the huge repeating crossbow mounted on walls and ships, the Song army also attached great importance to archers and bows. The draw weight of the Song Dynasty’s bows was measured in “dou” and “shi” (pronounced “dan” where ten dou equals one shi), with war bows generally classified as “eight dou”, “one shi”, or “one and two thirds shi”.
One shi during the Song Dynasty was equivalent to 92.5 Song jin (one Song jin being equal to 640 grams or 1.41 pounds), which means that Song Dynasty bows of eight dou, one shi, and one and two thirds shi were approximately equivalent to bows with a weight of 90 pounds (41 kg), 130 pounds (59 kg), and 180 pounds (82 kg), respectively.
During the early Song Dynasty, one jin (a unit of weight) was equivalent to 680 grams, but by the middle of the Northern Song period, it had been standardized at 640 grams. By the early Southern Song period, it had decreased to around 625 grams. The weight standard used in this calculation is based on the Northern Song period standard, and the legendary Chinese general Yue Fei was said to be able to draw a bow with a draw force of three shi, making him a remarkable archer.
During the Qing dynasty, the longbow used for archery was standardized at a weight of 100 pounds (around 45 kg). In the military exams, there were several tests related to archery, such as shooting while standing or while riding a horse. The first test in the martial arts exam was pulling a bow. For this, a “strength bow” was provided for the examinees to pull. Although the strength bow was not used in real combat, it was an important tool to measure the archers’ strength and martial arts skills. The examinee archers could try three times, and the score was based on whether they could pull the bow to full draw above their heads.
During the Qing dynasty, “strength” was used as the unit of measurement for bow draw force. One strength was equal to 5.85 kilograms, or approximately 13 pounds. The strength bows used in the martial arts exam were divided into four grades. A strength of more than 12 (approx. 156 lbs; 70 kg) was called “outstanding,” or “tiger strength.” 12 strength was called “number one,” 10 strength (approx. 130 lbs; 58.5 kg) was called “number two,” and 8 strength (approx. 104 lbs; 47 kg) was called “number three.”
After the mid-Qing dynasty, in order to prevent examinees from showing off and getting injured, they were generally not allowed to try bows with a pulling force of 15 or more (approx. 195 pounds; 88 kg).
Muscles Used in Archery
Latissimus dorsi.
Contrary to popular belief, the main body parts used in archery are not the arms, but rather the back muscles, specifically the latissimus dorsi. This means that a qualified medieval archer was usually a big, strong person with a large frame and strong muscles, much stronger than many modern people. In order to pull the bow back, it is necessary to use the back muscles in a similar way to doing a one-armed dumbbell row. Therefore, an archer’s physique was not actually slim and agile as often depicted in movies and games, but rather a big and strong one compared to an average human.
Most people today learn archery by practicing with a 15-pound soft bow and start using a 30- to 40-pound stiff bow only after gaining some experience. After some time, most people mainly use a 55-pound traditional bow for practice. And do not think that a bow of this weight is easy to pull. If you have no training, even pulling a 30-pound bow can be very difficult, and almost all inexperienced beginners cannot pull it to full draw.
To put into perspective how strong archers are, a person who is around 5 feet, 11 inches (180 cm) tall and weighs around 175 pounds (80 kg) will find it difficult to pull a traditional bow that is around 65 pounds fully drawn. One cannot imagine how medieval archers, who used to use bows with 100 pounds of draw weight, would have had slender and delicate bodies. In movies, the actors who play archers make it look effortless, but that is only because they use props that do not require much strength. Even children can pull those bows.
Were Archers Vulnerable in Combat?
People believe that archers in history were vulnerable in close combat because they expended all their strength by pulling the bowstring, which was already too hard. Additionally, it is believed that archers always had to wear light clothing and no armor to facilitate the difficulty of pulling the bow since they would not fight against heavily armored infantry anyway.
This view seems reasonable, but it is actually incorrect. First, medieval archers on the battlefield would not have had many opportunities to shoot arrows if they did not occupy advantageous positions. In a head-on battle, archers would typically only shoot three arrows before the enemy approached, as the range of a bow was only around 660 to 990 feet (200 to 300 meters). All infantries could quickly get over such a short distance. Therefore, archers often shot only a few arrows before the enemy arrived.
Why Did Archers Wear Light Armor?
How is it possible for archers, who have only fired a few arrows, to feel fatigued during a battle? The idea that archers wore light clothing and no armor to facilitate shooting arrows does have some truth to it, but it also depends on the circumstances and location. In Europe, for example, most archers did not wear plate armor on their upper bodies after the introduction of plate armor, nor did they wear iron gauntlets, as plate armor was inconvenient for archers and interfered with their ability to exert force. However, other types of armor, such as chainmail (see lorica hamata), did not have this problem.
In contrast to the problem faced by European archers when wearing plate armor, ancient Chinese archers did not have this issue. Because the Chinese armor used was already designed to facilitate archery. One reason why Chinese armor did not include iron gauntlets was to enable archers to shoot arrows easily.
Some Archers Actually Wore Heavy Armor
One can easily observe from surviving Chinese paintings, murals, and sculptures that so-called archers were fully equipped with heavy armor and helmets. For instance, even heavy cavalry in full body armor in the painting “Emperor Taizong’s Campaign Against the Eastern Turks” carried bows and arrows. The Tang Dynasty military treatise “New Book of Tang” described the Tang army’s equipment and weapons, which included bows, various melee weapons, armor, and helmets, but only soldiers with garrison duties were not provided with armor:
“The Tang soldiers equipped themselves with a bow, thirty arrows, a Hu-Lu (a container for holding arrows), a horizontal knife, a whetstone, a quiver, a felt hat, a felt garment, and rattan shoes. They brought their own nine dou of wheat and two dou of rice. All their armor and weapons were stored in the warehouse. When they went out, they received them before departure. Only those who guarded the outpost were provided with bows, arrows, and horizontal knives.”
New Book of Tang, Volume 50, Military Provisions
The Chinese poet Du Fu also described the Tang army’s bow and arrow equipment in his poem “Ballad of the Army Carts“: Wagons rattling and banging, horses neighing and snorting, conscripts marching, each with bow and arrows at his hip.” This indicates that the Tang army did indeed provide each soldier with a bow.
The record of military campaigns and “Taiwan Foreign Records” both provide clear descriptions of General Koxinga’s army structure and weapon equipment. They mention that the elite Iron Man Army of Koxinga’s forces had not only sturdy iron helmets, armor, and other protective gear but that each soldier also carried a bow and a variety of weapons for both long-range and close combat. In addition, they were equipped with fearsome horse-chopping broadswords that were carried by hand:
In February, the bravest and strongest soldiers were selected as Koxinga’s personal troops, and they trained at the Yandwu Pavilion in Xiamen Port. They could each pull a bow up to 500 jin (550 lbs; 250 kg) and still move around freely on the training grounds. With the help of a skilled technician named Feng Chengshi, they wore thick iron helmets, armor, gauntlets, skirts, and shoes that arrows could not penetrate. They also wore iron masks that covered only the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, decorated with colorful patterns resembling ghostly figures, and wielded horse-chopping broadswords.”
Taiwan Foreign Records, Volume Four.
Therefore, archers in history—especially medieval archers—were not completely defenseless in close combat. They had combat capabilities and could switch to using melee weapons such as swords and spears. However, their fighting ability depended on the quality of their armor and their organization, such as the tightness of their formation and whether they could form a battle formation when the enemy attacked.
March 15, 2023
Were Archers Vulnerable in Combat and Seen Weak?
A significant number of individuals, especially those who have been exposed to prevalent media such as movies, television, and video games, harbor a misconception about archers. The portrayal of archers in such media as feeble and susceptible has led people to believe that historical archers were often defenseless in close combat due to their lightweight attire and lack of armor. Furthermore, the belief that archers wore light clothing to offset the strenuous act of pulling the bowstring, which demanded immense strength, reinforces this misconception. Additionally, people assume that archers avoided confrontations with heavily armored infantry altogether. Although these notions may appear logical, they are not truly accurate.
The Way Archers Are Positioned on the Battlefield
In the Middle Ages, archers would have had limited opportunities to shoot arrows if they were not positioned advantageously on the battlefield.
During a direct engagement, archers typically fired only three arrows before the enemy approached since the effective range of a bow was only about 650 to 1,000 feet (200 to 300 meters).
Given that all infantries could cover such a short distance swiftly, archers had to be strategic in their approach and often discharged only a handful of arrows before the enemy was upon them.
Did All Archers Really Wear Light Armor?
Despite only firing a few arrows in a battle, archers can still experience fatigue due to the physical demands of drawing the bowstring and maintaining a constant state of readiness. The notion that archers donned light clothing and no armor to enhance their arrow shooting ability does hold some truth, but it also varies depending on the specific battlefield conditions and tactics employed.
In Europe, for example, most archers did not wear plate armor on their upper bodies after the introduction of heavy armor, nor did they wear iron gauntlets, as plate armor was inconvenient for archers and interfered with their ability to exert force. However, other types of armor, such as chainmail (see lorica hamata), did not have this problem.
The European knights, being more inclined towards direct confrontation, donned full-body metallic armor on their horses. In contrast, the European archers prioritized their agility and were less prone to battle. Thus, they opted for lighter protection, typically fashioned from leather, and padded or quilted materials.
Exceptions
In contrast to the problem faced by European archers when wearing plate armor, medieval Chinese archers did not have this problem. Chinese armor was indeed crafted with archery in mind, as evidenced by the absence of iron gauntlets, which would have hindered an archer’s ability to shoot arrows smoothly.
This design decision highlights how the Chinese recognized the importance of archery on the battlefield and tailored their armor accordingly to accommodate it.
Archers Also Wore Heavy Armor
Mural of Tang soldiers. 7th century AD. Archers in heavy armor with quivers on their belt. Image: Wikimedia.
One can easily observe from surviving Chinese paintings, murals, and sculptures that their medieval archers were fully equipped with heavy armor and helmets.
For instance, even heavy cavalry in full body armor in the painting “Emperor Taizong’s Campaign Against the Eastern Turks” carried bows and arrows.
The Tang Dynasty military treatise “New Book of Tang” described the Tang army’s equipment and weapons, which included bows, various melee weapons, armor, and helmets, but only soldiers with garrison duties were not provided with armor:
“The Tang soldiers equipped themselves with a bow, thirty arrows, a Hu-Lu (a container for holding arrows), a horizontal knife, a whetstone, a quiver, a felt hat, a felt garment, and rattan shoes. They brought their own nine dou of wheat and two dou of rice. All their armor and weapons were stored in the warehouse. When they went out, they received them before departure. Only those who guarded the outpost were provided with bows, arrows, and horizontal knives.”
New Book of Tang, Volume 50, Military Provisions
The Chinese poet Du Fu also described the Tang army’s bow and arrow equipment in his poem “Ballad of the Army Carts“: Wagons rattling and banging, horses neighing and snorting, conscripts marching, each with bow and arrows at his hip.” This indicates that the Tang army did indeed provide each soldier with a bow, armored or not.
The record of military campaigns and “Taiwan Foreign Records” both provide clear descriptions of General Koxinga’s army structure and weapon equipment.
They mention that the elite Iron Man Army of Koxinga’s forces had not only sturdy iron helmets, armor, and other protective gear but that each soldier also carried a bow and a variety of weapons for both long-range and close combat.
In addition, they were equipped with fearsome horse-chopping broadswords that were carried by hand:
“In February, the bravest and strongest soldiers were selected as Koxinga’s personal troops, and they trained at the Yandwu Pavilion in Xiamen Port. They could each pull a bow up to 500 jin (550 lbs; 250 kg) and still move around freely on the training grounds. With the help of a skilled technician named Feng Chengshi, they wore thick iron helmets, armors, gauntlets, skirts, and shoes that arrows could not penetrate. They also wore iron masks that covered only the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, decorated with colorful patterns resembling ghostly figures, and wielded horse-chopping broadswords.”
Taiwan Foreign Records, Volume Four.
Conclusion
Therefore, archers in history—especially medieval archers—were not completely defenseless in close combat. They had combat capabilities and could switch to using melee weapons such as swords and spears. However, their fighting ability depended on the quality of their armor and their organization, such as the tightness of their formation and whether they could form a battle formation when the enemy attacked.
March 15, 2023
Mapuche People: The Last Conquered Native American Nation
March 15, 2023
Why the Storming of the Bastille Started the French Revolution
March 14, 2023
Harpies, Swamp Dragons, and Vampire Bats of South America
The grand era of the Age of Exploration is a topic that many history enthusiasts love to talk about. In this era, one cannot ignore the illustrations of mythical creatures and mysterious beasts that were recorded in the navigational and geographical charts of that time. The cartographers of that era often painstakingly drew all sorts of monsters and creatures with mythological elements, such as headless men, dog-human hybrids, lizard-like monsters, humanoid apes, sea monsters, and so on, filling the corners of the maps with these strange images. These animals, both marine and terrestrial, soon became popular elements of maps and atlases.
The Origin of the Cartographic Monsters
A sea monster in Olaus Magnus’ Carta Marina of 1539.
Modern people find these monsters preserved in the oldest map books fascinating and feel that they were mere embellishments added by the artists and cartographers to break the monotony of the terrain and coastline.
It is assumed that these creatures were included in the charts for no other reason than to spice things up and give the cartographers a bit of a break. While it’s true that cartographers included creatures on their maps for the sake of entertainment, they also drew them after receiving “actual” input from adventurers who ventured into these regions.
The monsters they drew were actually based on first-hand accounts they heard from the explorers. When European sailors first arrived in uncharted waters and set foot on untraveled shores, they were often terrified by the sight of strange creatures they had never seen before. This was true both during the Age of Exploration and previous nautical operations in Europe.
When they returned home, they would spread their observations, and the cartographers would draw these monsters based on the descriptions of the explorers, trying to make the appearance of these monsters as “realistic” as possible.
Some of the cartographers were even explorers themselves. In other words, the monsters they drew were not imaginary, but actually “realistic records,” and there were many such records in the Age of Discovery.
For example, when exploring the “Dabeiba” region of the native Americans called Antioquians, the magical animals and mythical stories passed down by the natives gave Spanish cartographers classic monster images such as vampire bats, harpies, and swamp dragons.
Dabeiba Temple With Full of Golds
The current location of the Dabeiba town in the Antioquia Department of Colombia. (Image: Milenioscuro, CC BY-SA 3.0)
In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Spanish explorers began to explore the Central American region. They first heard about “Dabeiba” from the native people who lived near where Panama is today in Central America. The exact location of this area is now unknown.
According to the indigenous people of Antioquians, “Dabeiba” was the name of a goddess in ancient times. She was once a princess of a powerful country, ruled over the area of Dabeiba, and had unique magical powers and great wisdom. The locals admired her greatly, and after her death, they worshipped her as a deity and built a magnificent temple to honor her. People from nearby and even faraway places came to this temple to pay their respects.
To show their respect for the goddess, every indigenous person who came to pilgrimage would bring their own precious treasures to offer to her. Even distant tribal leaders would come to pay homage every year and decorate the Dabeiba Temple with large amounts of gold treasures, and over time, Dabeiba accumulated a large amount of wealth. Moreover, there were many gold mines in this area as well. The rivers were full of gold sand; one could easily find a handful of them.
The Spanish Colonizers
Vasco Núñez de Balboa by Charles Henry Granger (1812 – 1893). Image: nihilnovum.
After hearing the story of Dabeiba from the indigenous population, Spanish explorers came to Central America one after another to search for this place. For example, Spanish explorer and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519), who was famous for “discovering” the Pacific from the New World, had also explored Dabeiba. But the local environment was harsh and filled with damp swamps.
- See also: How Did The Discovery of America Change The World?
Local people like the Antioquians were brave, quick, and very good at fighting on land and water. They were also very hostile to outsiders, which made it impossible for Spanish explorers to find what they were looking for. Only Balboa once attacked an empty indigenous village (the residents had all hidden), and he found jewelry worth 7,000 Castilian gold coins in this village, proving that the rumor of gold treasures in Dabeiba was not false.
Except for Balboa’s one big win, none of the Spanish sailors’ efforts were successful, though. Along with the story of Dabeiba’s gold treasure, people also knew about the mysterious events and monster rumors that happened in the area. Several exploration teams disappeared completely in the Dabeiba area, and hundreds of Spanish explorers went missing, never to be seen again.
Swamp Dragons
Frederick Justin Bertuch’s 1806 depiction of a flying, flame-breathing dragon.
According to the documents from Dabeiba, short-tailed crocodiles often emerged from the water, attacking people and animals and dragging their prey into the mud to devour them. And even more frighteningly, there were said to be dragons living in the dark swamps.
Although the Spanish explorers did not see these swamp dragons with their own eyes, the native South Americans swore that there were monsters in the depths of the swamp. According to the documentary evidence left by the Spanish explorers, these monsters were likely giant alligators measuring several feet long or terrifying anacondas measuring tens of feet long, which were beyond human ability to withstand.
Dabeiba was such a legendary and terrifying place, and the dangers described above were just some of the rumors, whether true or mythical, passed down by explorers. In fact, even the natives were afraid of the gloomy and cold swamps, so they always carefully avoided the swamps and preferred to take winding and rugged mountain roads when traveling.
Vampire Bats
The vampire bats do exist. Image: Syfy.
Spanish explorers in Dabeiba wrote that the area was full of wet marshlands with groups of reptiles, clouds of flies and mosquitoes, and large bats that, unlike bats in Europe, didn’t eat insects but instead fed on human blood like vampires.
Interestingly, many people thought the rumors of vampire bats were ancient fabrications, but modern zoologists tell us that they do indeed exist in the world. Vampire bats are a unique type of blood-sucking mammal that are found only in the central and southern Americas and feed on the blood of animals.
A vampire bat can consume up to 26 gallons (99 liters) of blood in its lifetime. There was even a recent series of vampire bat attacks in the Amazon region of Peru, causing great panic among local residents. Some people died of rabies after being bitten by vampire bats.
Harpy Monsters
Harpy monsters are among the mythological creatures of South America.
In addition to these terrifying creatures of Dabeiba and the Antioquians, which may or may not be real, the chroniclers of the time also recorded a monster based on the memories of the explorers: the harpy. According to the local legend, shortly before the arrival of the Spanish, a huge storm occurred near Dabeiba, with such strong winds that even large trees were uprooted.
Under such a storm, the Antioquians’ houses were destroyed, and the forests became barren land. After the storm subsided, the terrified natives cautiously came out of hiding and began to prepare to rebuild their homes, but they discovered that the hurricane had blown in some “terrifying” creatures known as harpies.
In Native American folklore, there were two creatures that resembled the ancient Greek mythological creature, the harpy. They were described as having the face of a woman, eagle claws, and wings. They were enormous in size and capable of breaking tree branches while perched. These creatures would swoop down and carry people away, tearing them into pieces on the mountaintops.
For a time, the Native American towns and villages in the surrounding areas were terrorized by these creatures, but eventually, they were able to kill the larger ones and drive away the smaller ones, hanging the head of the creature on their spears to show other villagers that the danger had been eliminated. The head of the creature was said to resemble that of a woman.
Harpy eagle.
When the Spanish explorers heard of this legend, they found it hard to believe, but many Native Americans swore by its truth. It was later discovered that the creature they were referring to was actually a species of eagle found in certain areas of South and Central America, called the Harpy Eagle or “human-faced eagle.”
The Harpy Eagle is one of the largest and most powerful birds of prey in the world, with an adult body length of over 3.3 feet (1 meter) and a wingspan of up to 8.2 feet (2.5 meters). Its feathers are a mix of black, gray, and white, resembling a formal coat.
It eats snakes, monkeys, and sloths. It has the strongest grip of any bird and can carry prey that weighs more than 18 kg (40 lbs). Its appearance is quite different from other eagles, especially its face. Today, the Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama and is known for its formidable size and strength.
It usually perches on high places to survey the ground and branches, and when it spots prey, it swoops down to grab it. With its incredible strength, it can easily lift a small child, although capturing an adult requires much more effort.
References
Martin Torodash. 1974. “Balboa Historiography.” Terrae Incognitae 6.1
Francisco López de Gómara. Medina del Campo. 1553. Historia General de las Indias. Online Book.
Kurt A Raaflaub.; Richard J. A. Talbert. 2009. Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies. John Wiley & Sons.
March 13, 2023
Tatlin’s Tower: Russian Answer to the Eiffel Tower
Tatlin’s Tower was a concept structure designed by the Soviet avant-garde artist Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin (1895–1956). He came up with this design for a massive memorial honoring the Third International. That’s why Tatlin’s Tower is also known as the Monument to the Third Communist International. After the October Revolution of 1917, the city of Petrograd-Leningrad made plans to build a towering monument to commemorate the event.
The world’s leading workers and peasant communist organization (Comintern) were to be honored by this iron edifice’s presence. This seven-story revolving iron structure was meant to house the highest Comintern officials. However, the Tatlin’s Tower memorial was never built because the Soviet government became less receptive to avant-gardism in the late 1920s.
Tatlin’s Tower’s Background
The art historian Nikolay Punin collaborated with V. Y. Tatlin on the structure. As early as 1919, the Department of Fine Arts of the People’s Commissariat for Education (a.k.a, IZO-Narkompros) tasked Vladimir Tatlin with coordinating a cultural initiative. Vladimir Tatlin was authorized by the department to create a proposal for the memorial to the Third International. Tatlin got to work right away and completed the job shortly after. Then, the “Creative Collective” of V. Y. Tatlin, I. A. Meerzon, M. P. Vinogradov, and T. M. Shapiro refined the idea further and constructed a memorial prototype of Tatlin’s Tower.
In 1917, Lenin ordered the destruction of imperial monuments and the construction of revolutionary ones. When Vladimir Tatlin was employed at the IZO Narkompros, preparations were made to start construction on such a monument. While putting into action Lenin’s idea of monumental propaganda, Tatlin was intimately involved in the details of the project.
The tower he built for the Third International was his personal contribution to the success of communist goals. The progressive ideals of communism served as inspiration for Tatlin’s work. And his tower reflected this with its boldness in terms of both architecture and design.
Was It Possible to Build Tatlin’s Tower?
Many people consider the monument to be the pinnacle of constructivist architecture, despite the fact that it could not be built, at least at that time. While Tatlin’s Tower was crucial to Soviet propaganda efforts, it was never constructed.
Because it was the time of the Russian Civil War. It was doubted that the tower could ever be built. There wasn’t even enough steel in post-revolutionary Russia anymore. There were not enough homes for people, and the government was in disarray. It was also highly questioned whether or not the structure could withstand any significant amount of weight.
Like the Eiffel Tower, it was an emblem of the nation’s ambitions and a challenge to the contemporary world. With today’s construction technology, it is now possible to build inclined, tall structures like Tatlin’s Tower.
There is a great deal of data accessible, but the precise size of the structure remains elusive. Tatlin thought of it as an engineer and built several versions, but many of its features were drawn from ideological models, and their transformation into substance is speculative at best. Tatlin undoubtedly planned on painting his structure, but we don’t know what colors he had in mind.
Tatlin’s Tower’s Design
The Tatlin’s Tower was a 1,312 feet (400 meters) tall monument standing at an inclination of 23.5 degrees. The structure represented the ideal world, or the Great Utopia. The tower’s celestial symbology required its body to be slanted perpendicular to the Earth’s axis. A cube, a pyramid, a cylinder, and a sphere were some of the simple geometric entities etched in the structure. Their axis rotations were in sync with Earth’s.
Tatlin’s Tower’s height compared to other towers such as the Eiffel Tower.
The concept for the memorial originated from the organic integration of architectural, sculptural, and picturesque elements. It was meant to usher in a new era of monumental buildings that fused aesthetic and practical concerns. The Tatlin’s Tower’s design reflects this idea by featuring three enormous glass chambers built along a maze of vertical rods and swirls. Each chamber is stacked on top of the next and surrounded by a unique shape that complements the others.
The tower’s design involved two slanted metal spirals of different geometric forms that were stacked atop one another and perfectly connected. The overall design elements of the tower were inspired by the Eiffel Tower, which was the tallest at the time (984 ft; 300 m). The floors of the tower were able to rotate on their axis thanks to some mechanical systems.
The whole thing crawls and oscillates like a steel snake, constrained and structured by the one common action of all the other components, which is to “rise above the ground.”
The Rotating Floors of the Tower
1. The biggest structure, located on the base floor, was cube-shaped and rotated at a pace of one turn per year; the architect had planned it specifically for huge gatherings.
2. Above it on the second floor stood a pyramid-shaped structure that turned once per month to house the International’s ruling organizations.
3. On the third floor, the information center, publication house, printing press, and telegraph office were all supposed to be housed in this cylinder-shaped section, which rotated once per day.
4. On the fourth floor, we had a globe (or hemisphere) that turned at a rate of one circle per hour. While this body’s purpose remains unknown, it is known that the structure was intended to contain not only the legislative, administrative, and communication officials but also the creative community.
Even though the memorial was meant to cross the Neva River, this is rarely reflected in the restorations of the structure. Tatlin envisioned it as a memorial to global communism; it would provide housing for a global government, its spirals would end global strife, and its axis would point to the North Star. Today’s replicas no longer represent this attitude because of the societal environment they exist in.
The Idea Behind Tatlin’s Tower
The Tower of Babel. (Image, Combusken, CC BY-SA 3.0)
The idea for Tatlin’s Tower came about as a way to symbolize the coming together of a world that had become split during the building of the Tower of Babel. This is similar to the motivation behind the Tokyo Tower of Babel. If considered real, the Tower of Babel was estimated to be 985 feet (300 m) tall. Tatlin’s Tower is even taller than this.
As well as being the dwelling place of the enlightened, Tatlin’s Tower also served as a connection between the heavenly realms and the terrestrial plane. It was both the home of the “wise” and a physical representation of the world tree, which is the foundation of the cosmos.
The Tatlin’s Tower was topped with enormous radio antennas. And some letters would be projected onto the sky using a specialized searchlight device that has a range of miles. This is similar to how it works in the Batman series. Radio signals and searchlight beams, designed to cast luminous words into the skies, act as an extension of the structure upwards.
The Tatlin’s Tower’s large glass exterior was intended to keep the interiors cooler. The original design for the structure called for it to be 1,312 feet (400 meters) tall and lean at an angle of 23.5 degrees. Glass and metals were selected as the primary building components.
A gigantic screen showing global news is mounted on the axis of the top spherical portion, with projector lamps situated at its center. You can think of the radio, the screen, and the cables not only as parts of a structure, but also as parts of an idea. The tower’s height (400 m) is a factor of Earth’s meridian, and it is exactly 100,000 times smaller.
The spiral shape of the framework is a metaphor for dynamism. It represents the trajectory of humanity set free—a dream detached from the pressures of the material world. The tower’s general look is also dynamic, as it is constantly transformed by the movement of its components.
In addition to the electric lifts connecting the floors, Tatlin’s Tower was also designed to feature a garage for motorbikes and cars that would bear the monument’s brand as they entered and exited the building. The monument itself is essentially the most physically demanding place to travel because you are lifted, lowered, and transported against your will by artificial means.
The Exhibition of the Tower
A reconstruction of the Tatlin’s Tower. (Photo by mac morrison CC BY 2.0, edited from original).
At the 1920 Eighth Congress of Soviets, held in the House of Soviets, a model of Tatlin’s Tower was unveiled for the first time. The model was 20 feet (6 meters) tall. There were several foreign exhibitions for the tower’s model. And there have been numerous newspaper and print photo spreads featuring Tatlin’s Tower. But other people like Arkady Averchenko also mocked the undertaking in his 1923 “Monumental”.
Beginning in 1919, Vladimir Tatlin envisioned a massive, 400-meter-tall memorial to the October Revolution (then the Comintern) in St. Petersburg. This endeavor had the blessing of the Fine Arts of the People’s Commissariat.
In the basement of the old Academy of Arts building in Petrograd, Tatlin and his helpers got to work on constructing a model. The components included wood, plywood, twine, tin, and metal fixings. Exhibits of the model (which was reportedly about 5 to 6 meters in height) and accompanying sketches were held on November 8, 1920, in the workshop. The model was presented to the public from November 8 to December 1, 1920.
The model of Tatlin’s Tower was situated on a paper-covered spherical platform. There was a lever hidden beneath the platform that operated the interior translucent forms. The model was displayed in Moscow’s House of Unions in December 1920. It then vanished after apparently being moved to the Tretyakov Museum. Only a handful of photos of Tatlin’s Tower were kept.
The Soviet pavilion at the 1924 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts commissioned Vladimir Tatlin to construct a replica of the tower. It was completed on February 1, 1925. But for some reason, Tatlin was not permitted to travel to Paris with his masterpiece.
Tatlin believed that the model was safe in the Russian Museum until the end of his life. But it was later discovered to have vanished from there, too. A third, more streamlined copy of Tatlin’s Tower, called the “isoinstallation,” was constructed in 1925 by art students for the May Day parade in Leningrad. The tower’s form was unfinished, leaving an “exposed” summit for the attachment of banners. Even this prototype has perished over time.
The Tower Awards organized by the Stas Namin Center, around 2000s. (Image, Центр Стаса Намина, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Tatlin’s Tower Today
Tatlin’s Tower served as inspiration for the Chinese visual artist Ai Weiwei’s Fountain of Light monument, which is on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Today, the Tatlin Tower model can be found in the following locations:
- The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow;
- The exhibition hall of the Savitsky School of Art in Penza (Russia);
- The Stockholm Museum of Art, Sweden;
- The Royal Academy in London: the model was built to 1/42nd scale in November 2011;
- The Centre Pompidou in Paris: The 13.8 feet (4.2 meters) high replica is housed in the Musée national d’art moderne. Made in 1979 for the show “Paris-Moscow, 1900-1930;”
- The main dining room of the University of Oxford.
Another contemporary residence of the Tatlin’s Tower model is the house named “Patriarch,” located in Moscow at 15 Ermolaevsky Lane. This model was created by the architect S. B. Tkachenko.
The proposed SCA Arena in St. Petersburg inspired by Tatlin’s Tower. (Coop Himmelb(l)au)
The Tatlin’s Tower also served as inspiration for the Austrian firm that won the design challenge to create the SCA Arena in St. Petersburg.
References
The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915-1932 by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Amazon.
(PDF) Tatlin’s Tower: Monument to Revolution by Norbert Lynto: Reviews by Stephen Bury – Academia.edu
Art and Literature Under the Bolsheviks: The crisis of renewal 1917-1924 – Brandon Taylor – Google Books
Tatlin, Thames & Hudson, 1988, London, AbeBooks.
March 8, 2023
Ville Contemporaine: An Efficient City for 3 Million People
March 7, 2023
How Did the Idea of the Crusade Come About?
At the beginning of 1095, the Synod of the Church, headed by Pope Urban II, met in Piacenza. Hundreds of bishops came to the Italian city to talk about the papal reform. The goal of the reform was to stop secular authorities from meddling in the Church’s life and to raise the status of the clergy. The Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Komnenos sent a delegation to the same council to ask for help against the Seljuk Turks.
At the time, the Seljuk Turks were powerful Asian conquerors who had already taken over many Byzantine lands in Asia Minor and Armenia and were almost to Constantinople. In a preaching delivered in Piacenza, Urban II urged the Latins to help the Eastern Christians and the Byzantine emperor free themselves from the oppression of the Muslims.
Pope Urban II Calls for a Holy Army
Urban at Clermont (14th-century miniature).
After the synod in Piacenza, the pope traveled with a retinue of prelates to northern Italy and France, where he paid a special visit to the abbey of Cluny, a stronghold of ecclesiastical change and the place where he had served as abbot.
Along with Count Raymond of Toulouse, he conferred with the local priest, Adhemar of Le Puy, in Saint-Gilles and in Le Puy-en-Velais. At Le Puy, Pope Urban II made the decision to call a church council, which met in Clermont on November 27 and featured the renowned preaching he would later give. Since there were so many people in attendance, Pope Francis gave his address to the gathering in the countryside, far from the confines of the city.
Urban II, after again detailing the plight of Eastern Christians, urged the audience to combine against the “pagans,” put an end to the fratricidal wars, and travel East to free their Christian brethren and retake their rightful lands. As a surprise, the pope also referenced Jerusalem in his statement, calling on Christians to free the sacred city and its sites, along with Constantinople.
With cries of “God wills it!” (“Deus vult!”) Seized by pious impulse, thousands of people responded to the pontiff’s call. Adhemar of Le Puy’s acceptance of the cross from the hands of the pontiff established a precedent. That was such a thoughtful and lovely gesture. The prelate was chosen to serve as the pope’s representative in the eventual military.
Christians listening to the pope’s homily pledged to join the “Holy army” and march to the East to battle heretics, and many of them sewed red crosses on their right shoulders to show their devotion. The Pope has promised those who take part in the upcoming campaign a pardon, putting them under the protection of the Church and giving them special rights.
Was the Pope’s First Crusade Speech Real?
Pope Urban II preaching the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
The First Crusade, as it would come to be known, thus starts. We are still attempting, more than 900 years later, to figure out what the pope said in his homily. There are four distinct versions of the Pope’s address to the Council of Clermont, and they all seem to have been penned after the fall of Jerusalem in the First Crusade.
What really happened? Do we know if the pope’s response to the Byzantium emperor’s pleadings was premeditated or impromptu? How do the pope’s goals and those of the common people line up? It’s possible that the solutions to these queries can be discovered by looking at the context in which these events occurred.
The Relationship Between Pope Urban II’s Call and the Church Reform Movement
Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099, Émile Signol.
It is impossible to think about Pope Urban II’s call without thinking about the spiritual renewal that the Latin Church went through in the second half of the 11th century. At this time, the Reformed movement began as a response to the fact that the church was becoming more secular, that its authority was being mixed with that of the world, and that its moral authority was falling as a result.
At that time, the Church still had a lot of feudalistic tendencies. For example, bishops got land from secular sovereigns, especially the German emperor, in exchange for agreeing to be their vassals. The same emperor also thought it was possible to choose abbots and bishops, and the papacy was dependent on secular authorities.
The aim of the Reformers, who opposed such tendencies, was to purify and spiritually renew the Church and to strengthen the power and authority of the papacy.
They called for the freedom of the church (libertas ecclesiae)—that is, for the complete liberation of the church from the administration of the laity by the distribution of church offices, for the displacement of the secular aristocracy from the sphere of church administration.
It cannot be said that this program of freeing the Church from the influence of secular power was shared by most of the highest Western prelates. Many bishops of the Christian West resisted change, and the monastic world, which relied on the authority of the Holy See, became the agent of reform.
Inspired by monastic ideals, the leaders of the movement demanded the restoration of church order and strict adherence to church discipline and sought to restore the Church’s lost spiritual control over the minds and souls of the faithful.
Entire abbeys were removed from the authority of local bishops and placed under the direct authority of the Pope, the Vicar of St. Peter. The Congregation of Cluny, directly subordinated to the pontiff and attracting both reformers and ascetics, was the main support of the papacy in its rivalry with secular power, and Clunian abbots became frequent guests in the Roman Curia.
Under Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085), who actually inspired the ecclesiastical transformation, the reform movement evolved into a struggle for investiture (the right to appoint to church offices), a conflict between the German emperor and the Roman pope over supremacy so characteristic of the entire Middle Ages.
In the Dictate of the Pope of 1074, Gregory VII justified the pontiff’s spiritual leadership over the entire Christian world and asserted to himself the right to appoint bishops, convene councils, exercise supreme judicial power, etc.
The struggle for investiture began as a discussion of reform but quickly developed into a direct confrontation between secular and spiritual authority, so that Pope Gregory VII first conditionally and then actually deposed the German Emperor Henry IV by excommunicating him.
The Pope’s Effort to Make Turcophobia Acceptable
Pope Urban II preaching at the Council of Clermont, Jean Colombe.
Even though Urban II was a devoted follower of the Cloister Reformation and a strict Gregorian, the fight between the pope and the emperor, between “priesthood” and “kingdom,” did not end. When Urban II became Pope, not all German bishops accepted his authority. In fact, most of Germany and northern and central Italy, including Rome, sided with the anti-pope Clement III.
Urban II reached out to both the West and Byzantium for help during this time. The pope had been in talks with Alexius I Komnenos about improving ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople, and even about obtaining armed support in the fight against the Turks, since the very beginning of his papacy.
Urban II definitely had a plan, but he didn’t have the courage to ask the Eastern Christians for help until November 1095, after the success of the Cluniac Reforms. After the council in Piacenza, Henry IV’s son Conrad, who had turned against his own father, became a vassal of Urban II while traveling through France.
Urban II called on people to protect Christians and give them back their land. He also led the Christian world, even though he didn’t recognize Henry IV as emperor.
Against this background, the pontiff was almost at the top of secular and spiritual power, and his preaching at the Council of Clermont was an important political move in the fight for investiture. So, the fight for the liberation of the Latin Church (libertas ecclesiae) and the conflict between the papacy and the emperor led to the desire to free the Eastern Church and start the Crusades.
A map of the routes of the major leaders of the First Crusade.
Cluniac Reformers, led by Urban II, shifted their focus from achieving Church freedom to freeing their Eastern Christian brothers and sisters. Thus, the struggle for the liberation of the Latin Church (libertas ecclesiae) and the conflict between the papacy and the emperor set the stage for the subsequent struggle for the freedom of the Eastern Church and the commencement of the crusading movement.
In the wake of the battle for the freedom of the Church, Urban II led the Cluniac Reformers to also fight for the freedom of their Eastern Christian brothers and sisters. Cluniac Reformers, led by Urban II, fought for the freedom of Eastern Christians as a natural extension of their fight for the freedom of the Church.
In his speech at the Council of Clermont, Urban II did not fail to speak of the sufferings that the Eastern Church is experiencing because of foreigners.
The Pope wished to influence his hearers and make his appeal more persuasive, and to this end, he described the misery of the Eastern Christians: Muslims conquer Christian lands, destroying everything with fire and sword, obstructing pilgrims, destroying churches, and mocking Christian shrines: “They overturn altars, profaning them with their impurities; they circumcise Christians, pouring the blood of circumcision on altars or baptismal fonts.
“Your brothers who live in the East,” the pope said in his speech, “are in dire need of your participation, and you must hasten to help them, for, as many of you have heard, the Turks have attacked them and conquered the Romanian territories as far as the shores of the Mediterranean.” In his preaching, Urban II linked the two themes of the need to help Byzantium and the insult to Christian sanctuaries. Thus, the coming expedition to the East was seen as “The work of God.”
“The Greatest Way to Show Love for Friends Is to Die for Them” (John 15:13)
The Siege of Jerusalem as depicted in a medieval manuscript.
The very idea of liberating the Eastern Church from the Turks was expressed by the pope in the language of Christian ethics, speaking of Eastern and Western Christians as “friends” and “brothers,” saying, “Our brothers, members of the body of Christ, are beaten, oppressed, and oppressed. Your half-brothers are born of one mother. Your sons are of the same Christ and the same Church.”
The war for their deliverance was seen as a good thing because, in the words of Urban II, “The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them” (John 15:13). In his preaching, the pope viewed aid to the East as an expression of love for one’s neighbor, the central ethical value proclaimed by Christianity. The pope invited the laity, especially the knights, to go to the East and fight with arms in their hands against the Muslim oppressors of Christians.
Was this exactly the kind of support Byzantium expected from the West? The emperor was indeed asking for military aid. The fact is that the Byzantine Empire had to constantly fight against many enemies: the advance of the Seljuk Turks into Asia Minor and the raids of the Pechenegs and Cumans. To do this, she needed somewhere to recruit new soldiers for her army.
She often recruited them from Western knights, especially the bellicose Normans—the descendants of the Vikings—who had chosen the Archangel Michael, the leader of the heavenly army, as their patron. Seeking happiness in foreign lands, the Normans served the pope and the Byzantine emperor with equal fervor, but very soon they began to pursue their own policies and drove the Byzantines out of southern Italy.
A painting depicting the Battle of Manzikert on display at the Istanbul Military Museum.
After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, in which the Seljuk Turks inflicted a serious defeat on Byzantium, it had to make considerable territorial concessions. In addition, she was forced to defend herself against the Norman princes who ruled in Southern Italy, the former mercenaries of the empire, who now posed a threat to her.
Under these circumstances, Alexius sought an ally in the pope and hoped for help from Western knights to fight against her enemies. According to Western chroniclers, the Byzantine emperor supposedly wrote, exaggerating the colors, about the outrages of the Turks in Byzantium and the oppression of Christian pilgrims to Count Robert I of Flanders, who in 1090 made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and, returning from Jerusalem, stopped in Constantinople, promising Alexei to send 500 mercenaries.
Byzantium Had Its Own Major Problems
Aftermath of Manzikert.
In fact, the idea to ask the pope to call for Western soldiers to serve the emperor might have arisen even earlier. It is known that in 1074, as a result of an exchange of embassies between Rome and Constantinople, Gregory VII personally urged the Western Knights to go to the aid of the “Christian empire”.
He promised that he himself, as “commander and pontiff” (dux et pontificus), would lead an army and go to the East to fight against the enemies of Christ and reach the Holy Sepulchre.
But these plans were not to be fulfilled: the pope quarreled with the Eastern Roman Empire and even approved the invasion of Byzantium by the Normans.
In 1089, a new round of negotiations began between the Pope and the Greeks, during which both sides tried to enlist each other’s support (the Pope against the Emperor and the Grand Duke against the Normans), and already at the church councils in Piacenza and Clermont, the Pontiff was exhorting the West to liberate the Christian East.
Let us stress: Byzantium did not call for a crusade; the emperor was only interested in military support for the empire from the West. The Byzantine state’s war with the Turks was of a defensive nature; it did not take the form of a religious war.
None of the Eastern Christians demanded that they be liberated, and neither were the pilgrims oppressed by the Seljuk Turks. But the ill-informed Latins took almost literally the stories of Byzantine and Western travelers about the oppression of Christians, and in the mind of the pope, under the influence of Byzantine requests for mercenaries, the idea was born of an entirely new armed expedition to the East by Western knights, which, he said, would be a service for Christ and a defense of the Christian faith and Christians.
Bibliography
Asbridge, Thomas (2012). The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781849837705.
Barker, Ernest (1923). The Crusades. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-84983-688-3.
Cahen, Claude (1969). “Chapter V. The Turkish Invasion: The Selchükids.” In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades: I. The First Hundred Years. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 99-132.
Cahen, Claude (1968). Pre-Ottoman Turkey. Taplinger Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1597404563.
Becker, Alfons (1988). Papst Urban II. (1088-1099) (in German). Stuttgart: A. Hiersemann. ISBN 9783777288024.
March 7, 2023
Hotel Attraction: A 1908 Mega Tall Hotel in New York City
March 6, 2023
Akanbe: Meaning and Origin of the Facial Gesture
The akanbe, akanbee, or akkanbee is a way to show disdain by pulling down the lower eyelid and sticking out the tongue toward the target. These days, akanbe usually just entails showing one’s tongue to another person and is sometimes misunderstood to mean just the act of showing your tongue. One of the most famous akanbe-ish expressions is from Albert Einstein, when he stuck out his tongue for the media.
Meaning of Akanbe
In Katai Tayama’s Inaka Kyōshi (“Country Teacher”), the facial gesture is mentioned in the sentence “some male students look back and show their red eyes.” The “red eyes” or 赤い目 reads as “Akaime” and with an accent the M consonant can be easily replaced by the B consonant. So, that could be how the term originated in the first place. And the literal meaning of akanbe could be “red eyes.”
In its original context, akanbe meant to expose the red part at the back of the lower eyelids, hence the original word akaime or “red eyes.” However, some people today take the part “bee” in Akanbe or Akanbee as a newborn term for “tongue” and use it as a synonym for sticking one’s tongue out like a spoiled child.
Jessie in the Pokémon doing an akanbe by pulling down her eyelid and sticking her tongue out.
In addition to being an insult, sticking one’s tongue out briefly can also be a way to cover up shame. Although akanbe is frequently used in Japan, it still has a childlike quality.
Origin of Akanbe
The earliest known use of akanbe is as an “ochi” (punch line). This ochi is part of an Edo era (1603–1868) rakugo (a Japanese sit-down comedy) story named “Konnyaku mondou” (蒟蒻問答). In the story, the owner of a konnyaku (yam cake) store does an akanbe at a monastery. And the austere monks mistake the gesture for a holy Buddha saying and pay homage to him. The Buddhist concept of the “third eye,” also known as the “wise eye,” might be at the root of this misunderstanding.
Akanbe is also called bekako or bekkanko in the Kansai dialect. And in Natsume Sōseki’s 1906 novel Botchan, there’s a statement that goes something like “I showed it by doing bekkanko [akanbe] with my index finger.”
Akanbe in Other Countries
Koreans
In Korean, akanbe is called 메롱 (mae ron). And by sticking out the tongue while making a prolonged vocalization of “mae” or “me”, the Koreans express the gesture in the same way as the Japanese (tongue out with “bee” in Japanese).
Tibetans
Tibetans stick their tongues out in the same way.
Tibetans stick their tongues out in the same way as in akanbe. This time, however, the gesture is employed as a respectful salutation.
The gesture of extending one’s tongue is used both as a welcome and as a sign of respect in traditional Tibetan society. Tibetan legend attributes this practice to a ruthless king who reigned in the 9th century and was rumored to have a dark tongue. People began thrusting their lips out as an indication that they were different from this tyrannical king and did not want to be confused with him.
In the Rest of the World
The facial expression is widely used in other parts of the world. And most of the users are actually unaware of this. Just like in Europe and the Americas, the akanbe is used most often with the emoticon “:-P” ( 😛 ) or “:P” in the rest of the world. It is a left-side-up face where the colon (:) is the eyes, the hyphen (-) is the nose, and the letter P is the mouth with its tongue sticking out.
Akanbe in Comics
“Acambeder” as a parody of Darth Vader.
In the children’s science fiction manga “Doraemon,” and “Crayon Shin-chan”, a character called “Acambeder” (アカンベーダー) appeared as a parody of Darth Vader.
Miscellaneous Facts About Akanbe
Einstein stuck his tongue out with a similar expression.
- In 1951, Albert Einstein did a similar gesture for his pictures taken for the media.
- Bekataro, a character from Japanese folklore, is known for his akanbe gesture.
- A female southern elephant seal named “Maruko,” who was kept at the ISE Sea Paradise (formerly Futami Sea Paradise) aquarium was able to perform the art of akanbe. She stayed in the aquarium from 1989 to 2013 for 24 years, which is a world record for the species.
- In the “Jungle Kurobee” animated series when the protagonist uses magic, he poses akanbe with the shout of “Uraurabekkangko.” There is also a character named aka-bee in the series.
- In the sci-fi anime TV series “Yatterman,” the character “Dokurobei” appears in the show with an akanbe expression.
March 4, 2023
Yubikiri: The Pinky Swear’s Origin
Yubikiri (ゆびきり), or pinky swear, is a Japanese hand gesture that has been adopted by various cultures across the world. Yubikiri literally means “finger-cutting.” And it has been used to swear loyalty to one’s word since early modern Japan in the 16th century. Those taking part swear at one another while hooking their pinkies together. The swears that are repeated in unison to affirm each other’s promises include various threats. In Japanese culture, during the yubikiri the parties can say things like “Pinky swear, whoever lies will be made to swallow a thousand needles.“
The Origin of Yubikiri: Pinky Swear
The yubikiri and pinky swear have their origins in an ancient Japanese punishment for breaking a law or agreement, where the offender’s hand or finger would be severed. The pinky finger was often the first to be cut, as it would still allow the hand to function.
In modern times, people intertwine their pinky fingers during yubikiri or pinky swear to symbolize this act. This hand gesture makes it appear as though their pinky fingers have been severed. This is why the term “yubikiri” translates to “finger cutting” (指切り). Whoever breaches the pinky swear should have their finger severed as a result.
This tradition seems to be a relatively recent invention in other parts of the world. In the United States, the yubikiri gesture has been found in dictionaries as “pinky swear” since the 19th century. The term “pinky swear” was included as early as in the 1860 edition of John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms:
Pinky, pinky bow-bell,
Whoever tells a lie
Will sink down to the bad place
And never rise up again.
– John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren making a pinky promise during his 2019 campaign. (Image: Elizabeth Warren Flickr)
Once the fingers are hooked, the South Korean pinky swear is completed by bringing the thumbs together. After attaching their pinkies, they stamp each other in Taiwan. In Vietnam, yubikiri, or pinky promise, is performed with the index finger. A Thailand mascot is called “Nong Kiaw Koy,” which translates to “Little Sister Pinky Promise.”
The phrase “piggy promise” is special to Belfast, Northern Ireland. “Gurin giurello” is the Italian term for a yubikiri custom with identical roots. This act is called “Gatti fu” in the Marathi language of Maharashtra, India. In the Tokyo region, people say “Finger-cutting, biting, and whoever is lying are thrown into the cauldron of hell.“
History of Yubikiri
Emperor Kanmu (735-806) on his throne during his reign.
The penalty of amputation was first applied by the Office of the Prosecutor General in the Heian period (794–1185), and in the early Kamakura period (1185–1333), finger amputation was imposed on royal aristocrats who had taken part in “friendly fire.”
Thieves, offenders of the “Sennin decrees,” and Christians were all subject to finger amputation until the early Edo era (1603–1867). Although the practice of severing fingers was outlawed during the Edo era (1603–1867), it appears to have persisted in the form of yubitsume, or “finger shortening,” as a form of private practice.
In addition, the Ashikaga shogunate’s “Sennin decrees,” established on Eisho 9 or 1512, stipulate that those who violate the law should be punished with physical punishment, that “men should have their necks and women should have their fingers cut.” The Azuma Mirror (“Mirror of the East”) of the end of the 12th century in the Kamakura period describes that those who fought against each other (killing allies in internecine warfare) during the war were punished with finger cutting (yubikiri).
Yubikiri in Geishas
In the past, it was common practice for prostitutes to permanently mark their affection for a client by severing their pinky fingers (yubitsume) or hair or by tattooing the client’s name onto their arms. An account of this practice can be found in the play Seigetsu Soga of 1683: “I myself have been familiar with Juro-sama since the period of the Shinzo clan, and I have done the Yubikiri.“
Yubikiri in Yakuza
Similar to the finger cutting done by prostitutes during the Edo era, the Yakuza utilized a “finger shortening” punishment called yubitsume. It is still a relatively common discipline among the Yakuza. For Yakuzas, cutting off the little finger is to demonstrate the “proof of determination not to hide and return to the original state thereafter.” Though, Yakuzas have begun to hide their cut fingers recently.
Yubikiri in the Roman Empire
Ancient Roman male and female figures shaking hands under the watchful eye of a goddess.
“Promissio” (“act of promising”) was a type of oral contract in Latin used among Romans and Germanians in the Roman Empire. The term was derived from the fact that the parties shook hands with their right hands extended to each other while raising claims and debts to conclude a contract. In the term, “pro” means “before” and “missio” means “put.” Over time, this tradition became the meaning of a contract.
In Japan, formalities were not as important in the conclusion of contracts as they were in their signing. But yubikiri was a rare example of this. And in ancient times, the fingers were called hands (“te”). That makes yubikiri mean “hand cutting” instead of “finger cutting.” And it is said that yubikiri gave rise to the word “contract” (“tekiri” or “chigiri”) with an accent today. The word “kiri 契り(hand cutting = tearing)” means pledge, vow, and promise today.
Yubikiri or Pinky Swear Today
The act of making promises by yubikiri or pinky swear is still practiced among children today. As a sign of a vow to keep a promise, children combine their fingers by mainly bending their little fingers and hooking each other.
And children say and do many different things when making a vow. When pointing at a snake or lizard, they say the finger will rot if it is not cut. So, the index finger and thumb of both hands make a ring, and the other child “cuts” the ring with his or her index finger. Examples of this yubikiri are especially known in Tokyo, Fukushima, and Kanagawa prefectures. And it seems that it was actually followed over a wider region in the past.
March 3, 2023
Yubitsume: A Japanese Way of Reflection, Arbitration, and Protest
Yubitsume (“finger shortening”) is the act of amputating a finger with a sharp knife or tantō. This gesture of remorse, protest, or apology is commonly seen among Japanese gang members such as the Yakuza. The ritual is also known as otoshimae. Yubitsume involves decapitating the tip of one’s left pinky finger. Wrapping the severed part and presenting it to the immediate superior, known as an oyabun, is the next step. If the offenders persist in their wrongdoings, further amputations may be made until they have no pinky finger remaining. After that, the right pinky is up next.
Origin of Yubitsume
The yubitsume originated in the Bakuto, an 18th-century gambling gang that served as a forerunner to the Yakuza. Losing one’s little finger was viewed as a fair substitute for being unable to pay off a gambling debt. Since the little finger is the strongest on the hilt of the sword in Japanese swordsmanship, losing it would have made the person or samurai weaker in battle and more reliant on the protection of a superior like Bakuto or Yakuza.
Names like “Ichika” show that gang members often treat each other like pseudo-families. Since they are not a true family, any sign of devotion must be greeted with an equal and opposite demonstration of love. This demonstration must be done in a “visible” way, just like this ritual. Historically practiced only by the Yakuza, yubitsume has since given way to the more common practice of paying hefty fines.
History of Yubitsume
A member of the Yakuza displays his hands, which are missing most of the pinkies. Fingers are cut off by yubitsume as a sign of loyalty.
Yubitsume, also called “yubi o tobasu” or “finger flying,” is a self-harming ritual that has been used as a promise sign since ancient times. But the oldest known reference to Yubitsume is from the early 17th century, during the Edo period (1603–1867).
Having one’s fingers severed as a pledge is depicted in the Japanese poet Ihara Saikaku’s “Budo Denraiki,” wherein a man named Shushudayu Izumikawa, who suspected his wife of adultery, stripped her naked and severed her fingers, stating, “If you do not have a secret husband, you must let go of the five fingers by yourself in the oath of all deities.”
Prostitutes in the Yoshiwara district were known to demonstrate their “single-mindedness” by severing their own pinky fingers and sending them to their patrons.
There have been instances where a finger made of rice flour (shinko) or the finger of a decapitated man was sent to the patron under the guise of the person’s own finger. An established prostitute (oiran) criticized such conduct as “unfashionable” and said, “If you want to leave, just leave.” Desperate whores who knew they would never be pledged to a man would swear allegiance to the man they were with or to the man they later fell in love with.
Implementation of Yubitsume
A man’s hand after yubitsume, in which the top two joints of the pinky finger have been amputated. (Image: Nesnad, CC BY-SA 4.0)
To perform yubitsume, typically the left hand is positioned on the chopping block with the side of the palm facing down. A topical anesthetic or cold water is used to dull the finger before it is amputated. After that, the finger is amputated from an individual joint. Now the proprietor uses a tantō or other sharp knife to personally sever the finger.
In most cases of yubitsume, only the ring finger and little finger will be removed. Based on the severity of the offense, the finger may be removed just above the joint or the entire foremost phalanx may be severed. Finally, a towel is used to present the cut finger to the insulted party’s head (oyabun) with the utmost respect.
Repeat offenders have the next pinky finger joint removed. If one pinky finger is already gone, the right pinky or the top phalanx of the left ring finger can be amputated as well. Many times, the first phalanxes to be removed are the ones closest to the top in order to keep the hand from becoming useless.
Yubitsume has devastating consequences. In addition to the obvious pain and trauma, losing a finger completely changes one’s professional and personal life. It can be seen as an indication of frailty or treachery in the yakuza and, as a consequence, lead to a fall in social standing.
While tantōs, typical short blades, were frequently used for yubitsume in the past, hammers and chisels eventually became the tools of choice. But yubitsume is associated with high rates of bleeding, infection, and permanent impairment or deformity. Now, a fine has often taken the place of this kind of ceremonial self-mutilation.
The Purpose of the Yubitsume Ritual
This Yakuza member is missing his left pinky and ring finger. (Photo: Anton Kusters)
To keep up their samurai image, the Yakuza still cut off fingers as part of the ritual. Each phalanx of the finger represents atonement for a mistake. But a yakuza still has to perform hara-kiri for a major wrongdoing.
Reflection
The yubitsume ritual was created by Japanese gangs as a punishment for their members who had disobeyed the rules of the organization. The ratio of yubitsume is usually “three sun and three bu” which is 1.31 inches or 3.33 cm.
Up until the Shōwa period (1926–1989), Japanese swords were the primary tool of choice for gangs. As a punishment, amputating the little finger reduced one’s hold on the handle of the sword significantly. The yubitsume implies deep remorse to the extent that you offer your opponent what is important as a Yakuza.
Another fact about the ritual is that no matter how much they cut, the gang members never use more than three fingers of their dominant hand. This is to leave the rest of the fingers for things like chopsticks and pencils.
One Yakuza member testified in 2015 that they would perform yubitsume if they were out of money. And since they can get stitches right away, the hospital roofs were a convenient place to perform the ritual. The former members also testified that the fingers were stored in glass bottles with formalin.
Arbitration
Sometimes a person can perform yubitsume in order to show one’s earnestness, resolve a situation the person is not personally responsible for, or bring peace between warring gangs. The term “living fingers” is used to describe the fingers amputated for this goal. This is as opposed to “death fingers,” which are cut as a sign of remorse.
Protest
In Japan and Korea, far-right and nationalist groups favor yubitsume as a way of protesting. The Koreans employed yubitsume in the past to oppose the annexation of Korea by Japan. In the present, yubitsume was used in the movement to protest the creation of Takeshima Day. The ritual is also used for lawmakers seen as anti-Japanese.
As a form of protest, severed fingertips are sometimes delivered to the protest site.
Is Yubitsume Still Performed Today?
After being victimized by the ritual several times, a Yakuza member lost his left pinky finger completely. (Photo: Anton Kusters)
Today, the gangs, including the Yakuza, don’t perform yubitsume as often as they used to. Because swords are no longer used in fights, it does little good to leave a person disabled and still expect them to do their jobs at their best. The ritual is still considered a serious action in the eyes of gang members. Because of that, the person who committed yubitsume must always be forgiven by his boss.
Today, a person who has violated a gang rule will sometimes willingly subject themselves to yubitsume as a sign of regret in the hopes that they will be spared a more severe penalty than finger cutting.
According to police data from 1971, at least one finger joint was missing from 42% of bakuto, 45% of gurentai, and 30% of tekiya members. In 1994, statistics from the police database showed that this figure had fallen to 33%. The practice of yubitsume is fading away among today’s gangs. They are increasingly relying on monetary sanctions to convey the idea of shame.
The Reasons for the Decline in Yubitsume
The yubitsume is now halfway out of use as a means to resign from a gang group or to show regret, as stated above. This is in part because it is banned by the Anti-Boryokudan Law and other laws.
The decline of yubitsume might be caused by the strengthening of police rules under the Anti-Gang Legislation but also by the collapse of the inflated economy, which has had a significant impact on criminal groups. Since cutting a finger does not bring in a cent, yubitsume has been increasingly replaced by making a compensation payment to the gangs. This is surely more lucrative than cutting a finger.
Finger Prostheses
In order to conceal their Yakuza membership, many Yakuzas today use prosthetic fingers. Japanese gangs like the Yakuza can request yubitsume from people who want to leave the organization. And to better reintegrate into society, former Yakuza members often attach caps or prosthetic fingers to their amputated fingers. And more recently, it has become possible to have the cut fingers surgically transplanted.
Many members (both current and retired) of the Yakuza sport artificial fingertips to avoid drawing notice and scorn in their civilian lives after being given yubitsume upon leaving the organization. Approximately $2,700 is required to purchase a wax prosthesis that is made to look as realistic as possible. Hair from the client’s other fingers is also used if the absent joint is hairy. A prosthetist can complete a finger phalanx in as little as five working hours after an imprint is taken.
Is Yubitsume Legal?
Boryokudan (“violence group“) is commonly referred to as the Yakuza, and Sections 20 and 21 of the Anti-Boryokudan Law (Anti-Gang Legislation) make it illegal for boryokudan members to force other gang members into yubitsuming themselves. This includes providing tools for the ritual. The ritual makes it more difficult for the victims to quit the gang or rejoin society.
In the past, former gang leaders who were found to have forced less powerful gang members to do yubitsume were arrested on charges of harm or intimidation.
A member of a named organized crime group, such as the Yakuza, who coerces others to yubitsume themselves may be issued a stop and desist order by the Public Safety Commission. The violators of the law face a maximum of one year in jail and/or a punishment of up to 500,000 yen ($3,700).
In 1993, when the Japanese government conducted an inspection, they found that about 45 percent of Yakuza members had done yubitsume. Furthermore, 15 percent of participants repeated the routine at least twice. Yubitsume is not only practiced by outlaws but also by regular members of society. Geisha Chish Takaoka severed her middle finger out of loyalty to her lover in 1915. From then on, she was known as the “Nine-Fingered Geisha.”
Yubitsume in Popular Culture
A man performing yubitsume in the manga “Bucho Shima Kousaku.”
Yubitsume in Literature
- In the novel Neuromancer by William Gibson, 1984
- In the novel Kamikaze by Canadian author Michael Slade, 2006.
Movies and TV Shows
Yubitsume is a common theme type in Yakuza-eiga (Yakuza films) and the following Western movies and TV shows:
- The Yakuza by Sydney Pollack, 1974.
- Black Rain by Ridley Scott, 1989
- The Outsider, 2018
- The Man in the High Castle (season 4, episode 10), 2019
- The British TV series Giri/Haji (season 1, episodes 4 & 8), 2019
- The American TV series Tokyo Vice (several episodes of season 1), 2022
- The American TV series Miami Vice “The Rising Sun of Death” (season 4, episode 9), 1987.
Yubitsume in Video Games
Yubitsume is also commonly encountered in Sega’s popular video game series with the title Yakuza. These video games include 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon and the older Yakuza 0.
Meanwhile, there’s also a dice game called Yubitsume in which players lose a finger for every roll they don’t win.
Miscellaneous Facts About Yubitsume
- Kei Sato’s character, Tokudaiji, in the film “The Wicked Reporter 2,” is a peacemaker who stops fistfights between rival gang members by performing yubitsume on his own fingers.
- The Kansai region of Japan uses the word “yubitsume” to refer to the experience of having a finger trapped in a door or similar object. Stickers reading “Yubizume ni chuui” (ゆびづめにごちゅうい) used to be affixed to the doors of trains in the Kansai region, including subways. However, this term was not widely known outside of the Kansai region.
- There was a widespread shift in the 1980s toward the use of simpler phrases like “Doa ni go chūi” (“Note the door”, ドアにごちゅうい). Kyoto Bus, unlike many other Kansai-region transit firms, continues to use the term “yubitsume” (指づめ) and has no intentions to do otherwise in the foreseeable future.
March 2, 2023
Greek Fire: A Secret Weapon Stopped the Arab Invasion of Europe
March 1, 2023