Repeating crossbow
Ballesta de repetición
- Date
- century IV a.C. · confidence medium
- Place
- Qinjiazui, Jiangling, Hubei, China
- Credited to
- State of Chu
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
A crossbow with a magazine of bolts on the stock that reloads and fires by moving a lever, allowing rapid successive shots. The oldest surviving example comes from a Chu tomb; the later version was attributed to Zhuge Liang.
The traditional attribution to Zhuge Liang (3rd century) corresponds to an improvement, not the invention.
What it led to
- wall defence with saturation fire
- civil and military weapon in use until the late 19th century