Did you know that the crossbow was actually invented in 700 BC? The crossbow was invented in Ancient China during the Zhou dynasty, just about the year 700 BC. A Chinese text, from around 200 BC, credits Mr. Ch’in of Ch’u for creating the crossbow. It consisted of a horizontally mounted bow, with a stock and trigger added. The crossbow is derived from the horizontally mounted bow-trap used by other civilizations around the same time. They had a range of up to 650 feet. The crossbow had a firing mechanism, which was so complicated that it would have been nearly impossible for an enemy to understand how it worked, thus reducing the chance that the crossbow could be copied by hostile civilizations.
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'The History of a Crossbow '
The crossbow was not invented as an instrument of war, but as a peacemaking device. It was invented to calm the battles between states at the end of the Zhou dynasty. The idea was that if someone appeared with a more advanced and more powerful weapon, everyone else would stop fighting and obey the people with the crossbow. The crossbow was considered so advanced that around 200 BC, a law was passed to prevent people from taking crossbows out of China, for fear that enemies would copy them. Crossbows and trigger were mass-produced so much that, in about 157 BC, a prince named Liang Hsiao Wang was in charge of regiments that had 50,000 men and several hundred thousand crossbows. Some crossbows were so big that they needed several men to ready them for firing. And, in the eleventh century, rapid-firing crossbows were developed that could fire 20 arrows in 15 seconds. The Chinese used the crossbow in battle as late as 1895. By then, of course, modem firearms had outdated it. The crossbow is now used as a weapon for hunting, and for target practice at archery ranges.
Modem crossbows have many metal parts, and are very lightweight. A slightly modified version of the Chinese crossbow trigger mechanism is used in modern handguns. The Ancient Chinese invented many things, but I think one of the most important of all is the crossbow. Crossbows have changed a lot from when it was first invented by Mr. Ch’in. Originally, the crossbow was made of bronze and now it is made from carbon materials. At first the crossbow was used for warfare and peace. Now they are used for hunting purposes. Crossbows have changed a lot since they were first invented.
