Why were crossbows invented

Chinese Chuangzi Nu stationary windlass device with triple-bow arcuballista. The earliest evidence of crossbows in ancient China and neighboring territories points to at least the 6th Century BC, and Sir Joseph Needham states in his Science and Civilisation in China that it is not possible to determine precisely which of the East Asian peoples invented the weapon. A bronze crossbow trigger mechanism and butt plate that were mass-produced in the Warring States period BC.

Image credit: Wikipedia. If you look at the linguistic origins of the word, it derives from outside China by their then neighbors, who were often hired as marksmen mercenaries. In spite of that, most of the evidence in terms of records and finds of crossbow remains are from China itself. Textual evidence of crossbows also dates back pretty far.

The earliest Chinese document mentioning the crossbow is found in scripts from the 4th to 3rd Centuries BC, attributed to the followers of Mozi. This particular reference makes mention of the use of a giant crossbow in the 6th to 5th Centuries BC, which is right around the late Spring and Autumn Period.

Additionally, there is undoubted evidence that the weapon was used for military purposes during the Warring States period in the second half of the 4th Century BC and onwards. Archaeologists have located bronze crossbow bolts that date back as early as the mid—5th Century BC in Yutaishan, Hubei, and a Kingdom of Chu burial site. Archaeologists have also located crossbows in Tomb at Saobatang, Hunan, and have dated them back to the mid—4th Century BC.

Chinese repeating crossbow with pull lever and automatic reload magazine. This is where the controvery sparks up, because some historians attribute the design of the repeating crossbow to a famous military advisor named Zhuge Liang — AD.

At a minimum, Zhuge Liang improved the design of the repeating crossbow and made a version that shot two to three bolts at once, and was used in massed formations. Allowing for a higher rate of fire than a normal crossbow, the Zhuge crossbow utilized a bolt-containing magazine on top of the bow with a rectangular lever moved forward and backward to work the mechanism.

Pushing and pulling the lever back and forth would simultaneously drop a bolt into place, pull the string back, and release the bolt. Such action put quite a bit of wear on the string, unfortunately.

The bow string for the Zhuge crossbow consisted of animal sinew twisted into a cord of suitable strength, often reinforced with quills from bird feathers, preferably from swans or ducks. Wondering what the range was of these early crossbows? The Chinese repeating crossbow had a range of approximately feet, and an effective range of feet.

A miniature guard wielding a handheld crossbow from the top balcony of a model watchtower, made of glazed earthenware during the Eastern Han era 25— AD of China, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image credit: PericlesofAthens.

Within years of that battle, by the s BC, the crossbow was very well developed and widely used for warfare and hunting in China. Of course, many of these references are to giant crossbows, but even the handheld crossbow was in early use in China and other parts of East Asia.

Dating back to the 4th Century BC, handheld crossbow usage can be found in textual records. As far as archaeological finds go, the Terracotta Army buried in the tomb of Qin Shihuang from roughly — BC were discovered to have handheld crossbows with complex bronze trigger mechanisms. The subsequent Han Dynasty BC to AD had specimens similar to those found on the Terracotta Army, and the crossbowmen described in the Qin and Han dynasty learned drill formations and were even mounted as cavalry units.

Writers during the Han Dynasty attributed much of the success in battles against the Xiongnu to massed crossbow volleys. Korean warriors from Joseon dynasty with crossbows. The repeating crossbow was introduced to Korea by King Sejong — , who saw the weapon and was impressed by its mechanism during a trip to China. In Korea, the weapon was called sunogung. The latest use of the crossbow in East Asia, or at least the repeating crossbow, was as late as the Sino-Japanese war of to Photographs from that war show repeating crossbows as common weapons among Qing Dynasty troops.

After that period, the crossbow quickly fell out of fashion as other firearms proved more accurate and had greater range and capabilities in battle. Europe also utilized crossbows early on, with the earliest reasonbly reliable date pointing to sometime during the 5th Century BC in ancient Greece. A Greek katapeltikon. Greek historian Diodorus Siculus describes the invention of a mechanical arrow-shooting catapult, called a katapeltikon , used by a Greek task force in BC.

This would have been a large siege machine, used to tear down the defenses of a city or town in preparation for invasion. He provides a detailed description of the weapon, along with a drawing, in his technical treatise Belopoeica.

This is quite unlike the later Roman and medieval crossbows, and utilized an elaborate slider mechanism to span the weapon. This weapon is believed to have been quite heavy, and required the use of a prop of some sort to keep it standing. It might have been mounted on a defensive wall or held up using a portable prop such as an early monopod. In siege warfare, larger versions of gastraphetes called oxybeles were commonly used. Later, these would be supplanted by the early ballistae that would also develop into smaller versions to replace even the gastraphetes.

Even more advanced forms of the gastraphetes are described by a third Greek author, Biton from the 2nd Century BC. These bows featured a winched pull-back system, and were capable of throwing two projectiles at the same time. So many rhinoceros were slaughtered for this purpose that the animal was largely wiped out in China and rhinoceros hide had to be imported.

Can you tell from these pictures what other kind of materials were used to make armor and shields? General with bow source. General with armor and shield source.

As in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, military equipment was often embellished in ways that served no utilitarian functions. What can you infer from the style and craftsmanship of the armor, shields, and quivers shown below? To the left is an illustration of a general wearing a helmet and armor and carrying a quiver.

Armored officer seen from rear source Below are diagrams of the front and back of a shield left and armor for horses right. The face on the shield depicts a demon king. Shield, front and back source. Horse armor source.

Crossbow and arrows source. Illustration from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms source. Crossbow arming methods. Bow of a crossbow is made of wood, iron or steel. Crossbow was used in wars and for hunting and is still in use today as a sport weapon and in hunt. It is not known for sure when the first crossbows appeared.

It is speculated that the Chinese made the first crossbows before the 6th century BC and it is know for sure that they used them during the Warring States period in the 4th century BC.

The earliest handheld crossbow stocks with a bronze trigger were found in Tombs 3 and 12 at Qufu, Shandong, capital of the State of Lu and date from 6th century BC. Repeating crossbows that could fire more bolts without the need to feed the crossbow by hand, were first mentioned in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, were found in in Tomb 47 at Qinjiazui, Hubei Province, and originate from the 4th century BC. Chinese also used crossbow catapults at the same time.

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