A New Ring Rooted in Ming Dynasty Design: The Yuanbao

The Yuanbao ring (元寶, named for its resemblance to the traditional Chinese ingot) is one of the most widely represented styles among surviving Ming dynasty thumb rings, found across collections from the Beijing and Taipei Palace Museums to regional museums in Nanjing and Chengdu. It occupies a distinct middle ground in the history of thumb ring design. The base of the ring carries forward the cylindrical form later associated with the Manchu ring, while the upper profile retains the lower, more open silhouette of the lipped rings that preceded it by nearly two thousand years. In practice, this means the Yuanbao engages the bowstring much as its much older predecessors did, even as its overall shape points toward what came later.

Our version of this ring uses a slightly elliptical opening rather than a circular one, a refinement we settled on after testing both. The elliptical shape gives the thumb more room to bend sideways within the ring, and allows a more comfortable distribution of force on the knuckle. This design feels somewhere between a shallow hook ring and a Manchu ring, benefiting from a slightly bent thumb and a gentle twist of the wrist to balance the string. While a more advanced technique than some ring designs, it is extremely comfortable once mastered, with a fluid, intuitive release.

Refining the Gao Ying Style: What Changed in Rev. 2.0

Gao Ying's archery has drawn renewed attention over the past several years, due in large part to the thorough translation and analysis by Jie Tian and Justin Ma in The Way of Archery. Their work paired Gao Ying's original writing with clear explanations and demonstrations, and it gave practitioners a real entry point into a tradition that had mostly existed in fragments before.

When we first developed this ring, good Gao Ying style rings simply weren't available. Most rings on the market followed Korean conventions instead, which sit and release quite differently and load the thumb in their own particular way. We went back to the illustrations and descriptions in the book and built our interpretation to match Gao's "Four Victory Ring" as closely as we could. We were the first to bring this style to market, and we're glad to see it's since become a more common option. We still think ours is worth a close look.

This style of ring suits what's often called the shallow-hook technique, where the thumb stays minimally curled through the draw. The release angle on this design is more aggressive than most, which gives it a notably crisp let-off, but the two-pronged guard does a good job of shielding the string contact, which means it also masks some of the feedback you'd otherwise feel. Archers newer to ring shooting should be careful not to over-curl the thumb as a result. This is a ring that rewards a light touch, so newer shooters may want to start with a more forgiving design first.

The rev. 2.0 version improves the fit and feel considerably. The original had a smooth internal taper that, under load, tended to squeeze the knuckle more than we liked. Since the shallow-hook draw puts a larger share of the load on the knuckle rather than the thumb pad, that pressure mattered more here than it would on other styles. The new internal shape is contoured to cradle the sides of the knuckle directly, which spreads the load more evenly and makes a real difference in comfort over a full session.

Polished Finishes Now Available on Titanium and Stainless Steel

Our titanium and stainless steel rings are now available with a polished finish, a step up from the textured, tumbled finish these rings previously carried. The polish isn't quite the mirror finish found on our jeweler grade rings, such as our bronze or silver rings, but it's close, and represents a meaningful upgrade for anyone who prefers a refined look in a metal ring.