Ancient Chinese Inventions

    The use of the bow and arrow for hunting and for war dates back to the Paleolithic period in Africa, Asia, and Europe. It was widely used in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Americas, and Europe until the introduction of gunpowder. However, over two thousand years ago in China, the crossbow was invented as an innovation to the basic longbow that extended the use of mechanical hand-held weapons throughout the world and which revolutionized warfare.

   Chinese literary records (such as The Romance of Wu and Yue) place the invention of the crossbow in China during the Warring States Period (475-221BC) in the kingdom of Chu about 500 BC. However, many contemporary writers, such as for example Yang Hong and Zhu Fenghan, contend the that the often cited inventor improved upon a trigger mechanism, and that the crossbow may have existed from the seventh century BC or even much earlier. Some archeological evidence indicates that the crossbow was developed in China during the Copper Age around 2000 BC.