Equipment of a Ming soldier — Crossbowman

Basic equipment

Nu Jian Tong (弩箭筒, lit. 'Crossbow arrow cylinder')

Drawing of a Jian Tong, from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Nu Jian Tong was a quiver for crossbow arrow.

Shang Nu Xian Yao Ban (上弩弦腰絆, lit. 'Crossbow stringing belt')

Drawing of a Shang Nu Xian Yao Ban, from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Shang Nu Xian Yao Ban was a crossbow stringer.

Xue Nu Jian Dao (削弩箭刀, lit. 'Crossbow arrow trimming knife')

Xue Nu Jian Dao, from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Xue Nu Jian Dao was a short knife used to trim arrow shaft.

Xue Nu Jian Dao Shao (削弩箭刀鞘, lit. 'Crossbow arrow trimming knife scabbard')

Drawing of a Xue Nu Jian Dao Shao, from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Xue Nu Jian Dao Shao was the scabbard of Xue Nu Jian Dao.

Nu Jian Duan (弩箭端, crossbow arrow straightener)

Drawing of a Nu Jian Duan, from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Nu Jian Duan was an arrow straightener for crossbow.

Sheng Yao Hu (盛藥壺, lit 'Poison-storing pot')

Drawing of a Sheng Yao Hu (left), from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Sheng Yao Hu was a bottle made of tin, used to store arrow poison.

Xi Ban (膝絆, lit. 'Knee-belt') and Jiao Suo (腳索, lit. 'Leg-rope')

Drawing of Jiao Suo (left) and Xi Ban (right), from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Knee stirrup and foot stirrup were used to span Jue Zhang Nu (蹶張弩).

Extra equipment for heavy crossbow

These equipment were specifically designed for Yao Kai Nu (腰開弩).

Jian Tong (箭筒, lit. 'Arrow cylinder')

Drawing of a Jian Tong, from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Jian Tong was identical to standard crossbow quiver, except that it was longer and was designed to be hanged below the left armpit, due to the fact that standard belt quiver got in the way of reloading Yao Kai Nu as the crossbowman had to sit down to reload.

Yao Gou (腰鈎, lit. 'Waist-hook') and Yao Ban (腰絆, lit. 'Waist-belt')

Drawing of Yao Ban (left) and Yao Gou (right), from 'Jue Zhang Xin Fa (《蹶張心法》)'.

Belt-hook spanning devise was required to span Yao Kai Nu.