When we settled down in Chentang, it was past noon. We dropped our bags and went our separate ways around town. Chentang is a border town, and all roads and buildings are made of stone. Another companion and I wandered around the slender alleys of Chentang for a long time, and finally saw a piece of flat land, which was a rare piece of flat land in Chentang, which was located halfway up the mountain.

My companion and I hadn't even stepped out of the alley when we saw a couple of teenage boys giggling past us. The boys were all holding a slender stick, and one of them turned around and waved it at us in protest.

On the flat ground at the entrance of the alley, a group of teenage boys had already gathered, and from time to time there was a whooshing sound coming from the crowd, followed by bamboo arrows flying not far away.

It was then that my companion and I saw that the boys were together and were comparing bows and arrows. What surprised me and my companions even more was that these boys were playing with all the straight bows, which are the legendary straight bows. Most of the common people's understanding of the bow is the curved bow seen in movies, TV series or sports competitions, but the straight bow is not well known. In various historical sources, there are few descriptions of straight bows. Among the famous generals of the past dynasties, even if it is a vernacular wild history folklore, very few people use a straight bow. The straight bow is actually made of a very tough wooden stick, and the bowstring is directly stretched on the straight stick, which is also called a straight bow because of its resemblance to a word. The difficulty of using a bowstring to bend a wooden stick and relying on the elastic force of the wooden stick to fire an arrow can be imagined. This kind of bow is easy to carry and has a lot of concealment, but it is much more demanding to use than a curved bow. First of all, the strength of the arm and wrist is more demanding, otherwise the bow will not be able to be pulled at all. Therefore, even the most powerful people in history knew that this kind of straight bow was powerful, but they could not equip the army. In Chen Tang, it was surprising to see so many little boys skillfully using straight bows at once. At the same time, he is full of curiosity about the origin and national traditions of the Sherpas.

The gathering of these little boys was not organized by anyone, and it was not even a competition. They didn't have an arrow target, and they got together purely for games, each with a bow and an arrow in hand, and tried their heads at an empty drink bottle that they saw not far away, or simply a stone. If you shoot, you will be happy, but if you don't shoot, you will not be disappointed. Then a swarm of swarms ran over to pick up the arrows and shot them at another target they had found. These arrows do not have arrowheads, and the shaft is equipped with a ball at the top, so that if someone accidentally shoots a person or livestock, it will not cause harm to people or livestock.

Back at the residence, the landlord told us that the Sherpas had been farming in the summer and hunting in the winter for generations, and almost every man was a good hunter. At the end of summer ploughing each year and at the beginning of the hunting season, a ceremony is held. There are many programs at the ceremony, among which there is an archery competition. A good archer is very respectable. Although the government has banned hunting in recent years, this traditional festival and ritual of the Sherpa people has continued. Boys play with bows and arrows, which they inherited from older generations. Eun told the teacher that the festival ended a few days ago, and if we had come a few days earlier, we would have seen the Sherpa festival in full swing. I asked if this straight bow was used by all Sherpas? Eun gave the teacher a strange look at me, and said Is there any difference between a bow and an arrow?

Later, when we entered the Karmagou from Chentang, we hired a Sherpa to be our guide. On the way from Dingjie to Chentang, we received a lot of warnings not to enter the Karma Valley, saying that the ditch was very dangerous, and there were bears, wolves and snow leopards. Even when we entered the Karma Valley, we still had lingering palpitations and asked the guide if we would encounter those dangerous animals. The guide replied proudly: We are not afraid of them, they are afraid of us. Along the way, the guide often shouted loudly, and the sound shook the valley. The guide told us that he was warning the animals that we were coming, and that they should stay away. As she said this, the young Sherpa looked confident.

Confidence comes from strength. I think of the children who used the bow and arrow as if they were part of themselves, and the innate endowment and training from an early age, the Sherpas were undoubtedly the masters of this land, and they deserved this confidence and pride.