13 May 2022

Fei Qiang (飛鎗) and Fei Jian (飛箭)

Chinese tension springald
Drawing of Fei Qiang (left) and Fei Jian (right), from 'Shou Yu Quan Shu (《守圉全書》)'.
Fei Qiang (飛鎗, lit. 'Flying spear') and Fei Jian (飛箭, lit. 'Flying arrow') are two interesting siege engines found in seventeenth century siege defence treatise Shou Yu Quan Shu (《守圉全書》). Both siege engines are completely identical save for the fact that Fei Qiang launches a single spear-sized projectile, while Fei Jian launches about a dozen arrows at the same time. 

Spring engine
Drawing of a tension springald, from Roberto Valturio's De Re Militari.
What is especially unusual about Fei Qiang and Fei Jian is that they are highly reminiscence of the so-called tension springald (also known as "spring engine" by Sir Ralph William Frankland-Payne-Gallwey in The Book of the Crossbow) that utilises elastic potential energy stored by bending its single wooden arm that, when released, will strike at the projectile(s) placed on a separate rack and propel them forward with great force. In fact, since Han Lin (韓霖), the author of Shou Yu Quan Shu, had a strong Catholic background, this knowledge might very well be passed to him by Western missionaries.

5 comments:

  1. This is the artillery version of a toy known in the East Mediterranean a "string-less bow" for lack of a better name. To shoot with it, one must hold the thinner springy end of the wooden stave along with the projectile (which often rests in a forked tip either natural or carved on a flat wood stave)
    I always wondered why since it's so easy to do that on a scaled-up version all versions recorded prefer impact with the projectile. Is there any advantage I can't see?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you happen to have any picture of the toy?
      Unfortunately given that this weapon wasn't something normally used by the Chinese, I seriously have no idea why it is designed that way.

      Delete
    2. In English there is a quite closely related variant which seems to be called a "whip bow". Here are some links.
      https://youtu.be/qHzJkPRmx8k?t=985
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsfmKFDuaLU
      https://www.instructables.com/How-To-Make-A-Survival-Whip-Bow/

      The difference with the version I used to play as a child is that there was no string in the contraption but the top "nocking tip" was forked (either a natural fork or a split/cut one). The dart was arrow-shaped with a small crossbar fitted right on the point of balance. To shoot, you pull and hold the rear end of the dart (with the same hand you'd draw a bowstring) Your other hand resists (again like holding half bow-stave) You had to bend this flexible "half-bow" until you could "anchor" the rear tip of the dart on the tip of your nose.
      If you got the springiness and proportions of dart and "half-bow stick" correct, you could shoot almost straight ahead while aiming with the fore hand holding the bow steady about 45 degrees downwards (to the soil).
      In Greek it's called κορακοδόξαρο-"korakodoxaro"= Crow-bow/Raven-bow.
      A few kids used string like the whip bow you see in the links but IMHO this variant is terribly inaccurate.
      I've seen Palestinian kids use something similar in a documentary about the conflict in Gaza.
      Hope all this help.

      Delete
    3. The whip arrow you show me is more similar to another weapon, the Bian jian. You can find about it in my blog too.

      Delete
  2. Yes, I see. I made a sketch of a two-handed version of what I am talking about. I hope this makes it clear enough https://imgur.com/gallery/rZ1PRG2

    ReplyDelete

< > Home

Random Quotes & Trivia

GREAT MING MILITARY © , All Rights Reserved. BLOG DESIGN BY Sadaf F K.