MINOR UPDATE OCTOBER 2, 2024
Credited with the invention of crossbow, the Chinese were keen on tinkering with their crossbow and coming out with ever more efficient and powerful designs. Apart from repeating crossbow, which was invented as early as 4th century BC, Chinese bowyers also created another unique crossbow design—the multiprod crossbow, sometimes also known as multiple bow arcuballista. The weapon mounted multiple prods to extend the draw length (and powerstroke) of the crossbow, thus getting more power out of the same draw weight. It was also more efficient and portable than a single prod crossbow of equal power.
There were several variants of multiprod crossbow in use during Tang and Song period, which will be detailed below:
Shuang Gong Chuan Nu (雙弓床弩, lit. 'Double-prod bed crossbow')
Also known as Liang Gong Nu (兩弓弩, lit. 'Two prod crossbow') during Tang period, this crossbow had two prods mounted facing opposite directions of each other. It was spanned by a simple windlass.Da He Chan Nu (大合蟬弩, lit. 'Great combined cicada crossbow')
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| Drawing of a Da He Chan Nu, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
