The repeating crossbow combined the actions of spanning the bow, placing the bolt, and shooting into a one-handed movement, thus allowing for a much higher rate of fire than a normal crossbow. ( September 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. According to the Tiangong Kaiwu, also written during the 17th century, the repeating crossbow is only useful against robbers. The functions of the repeating crossbow listed in the text are primarily non-military: tiger hunting, defending fortified houses, and usage by timid men and women. The Wubei Zhi, written during the 17th century, says that it was favored by people in the southeast but lacked in strength and its bolts tended not to harm anyone. Īlthough the repeating crossbow has been used throughout Chinese history and is attested as late as 19th century Qing dynasty in battle against the Japanese, it was generally not regarded as an important military weapon. ĭuring the Ming dynasty, repeating crossbows were used on ships. This misconception is based on a record attributing improvements to the multiple bolt crossbows to him. The invention of the repeating crossbow has often been attributed to Zhuge Liang, but he in fact had nothing to do with it. Amidst the obviously great confusion the rebels fired back furiously in self-defense, decimating each other before Yang's forces came up and largely exterminated them. Directed into the enemy's heavily obscured formation, their repeating crossbows (powered by linkage with the wheels) fired repeatedly in random directions, inflicting heavy casualties. Then, deploying them into a fighting formation, he exploited the wind to engulf the enemy with clouds of lime dust, blinding them, before setting rags on the tails of the horses pulling these driverless artillery wagons alight. Yang's solution was to load several tens of wagons with sacks of lime and mount automatic crossbows on others.

180 when Yang Xuan, Grand Protector of Lingling, attempted to suppress heavy rebel activity with badly inadequate forces.

In 180 AD, Yang Xuan used a type of repeating crossbow powered by the movement of wheels: Although handheld repeating crossbows were generally weak and required additional poison, probably aconite, for lethality, much larger mounted versions appeared during the Ming dynasty. The Ming repeating crossbow uses an arming mechanism that requires its user to push a rear lever upwards and downwards back and forth. Unlike repeating crossbows of later eras, the ancient double-shot repeating crossbow uses a pistol grip and a rear-pulling mechanism for arming. This is corroborated by the earliest archaeological evidence of repeating crossbows, which was excavated from a Chu burial site at Tomb 47 at Qinjiazui, Hubei Province, and has been dated to the 4th century BC, during the Warring States Period (475 - 220 BC). Complete Classics Collection of Ancient ChinaĪccording to the Wu-Yue Chunqiu (history of the Wu-Yue War), written in the Eastern Han dynasty, the repeating crossbow was invented during the Warring States Period by a Mr. The earliest archaeological evidence of the repeating crossbow is found in the state of Chu, but it uses a pistol grip that is different from the later and more commonly known Ming dynasty design.Īlthough the repeating crossbow was in use throughout most of Chinese history until the late Qing dynasty, it was generally regarded as a non-military weapon suited for women, defending households against robbers. The repeating crossbow ( Chinese: 連弩 pinyin: Lián Nǔ), also known as the repeater crossbow, and the Zhuge crossbow ( Chinese: 諸葛弩 pinyin: Zhūgě nǔ, also romanized Chu-ko-nu) due to its association with the Three Kingdoms-era strategist Zhuge Liang (181–234 AD), is a crossbow invented during the Warring States period in China that combined the bow spanning, bolt placing, and shooting actions into one motion. The earliest extant repeating crossbow, a double-shot repeating crossbow excavated from a tomb of the State of Chu, 4th century BC

Automatic crossbow pistol