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| Drawing of a Jing Lan, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. |
Jing Lan (井闌, lit. 'Water well lining') wa sthe last of the 'Classic Trio' of Chinese siege engine. It was an immobile wooden tower, usually constructed just outside of enemy fortifications during a siege, so that archers on the tower could attack enemy troops stationed on the wall.
A tried-and-true weapon, the design of Jing Lan remained essentially unchanged throughout the ages. Nevertheless, the proliferation of gunpowder weaponry during Ming period rendered this weapon less effective than before.
They call an immovable tower an "engine"?
ReplyDeleteWell, not exactly, I call it that ;P.
ReplyDeleteA lot of siege engine such as the counterweight trebuchet, are immobile too.