Abstract: The word “Archery” has five independent but interrelated definitions: (1) a hunting tool or a weapon for war; (2) a shooting behavior for hunting or for attack in war; (3) a game or archery in sports competition; (4) the carrier of traditional etiquette education; (5) derivative recreational activities, such as Touhu (a traditional Chinese entertainment activity during feast in ancient times). In previous studies on archery, the five definitions have long been interwoven and difficult to be differentiated. The reason why archery has rich forms lies in its complex symbolic organizational pattern. Therefore, study on its symbol-meaning organizational pattern is the necessary path to the study of game-sport cultural mechanism. Or more appropriately, the semiotic study of game culture mechanism is the key to answer the question “how archery became a Tao”.

Key words: sports, game, archery etiquette, game culture, semiotics