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Lot Essay
The Shouyang crossbow mechanism is exceptional for its elaborate gold and silver-inlaid decoration and its excellent state of preservation. The great majority of early bronze crossbow mechanisms are plain and undecorated, and the Shouyang example is one of only two known examples featuring such lavish inlaid decoration. The other example is the celebrated inlaid mechanism excavated from the Han-dynasty tomb of the King of Sishui at Daqingdun, Jiangsu province, now in Nanjing Museum, and frequently described as the 'First of All Crossbows' (Tianxia di yi nu). (Fig. 1) On the Nanjing example, the top of the crossbow case also depicts a golden arrow in pursuit of two geese in flight.
The deliberate choice of cranes, geese, deer, leopard, and the White Tiger situates the Shouyang crossbow within a long literary and practical tradition of avian and game hunting with bows and crossbows. Han and Wei–Jin texts repeatedly document such pursuits: Pan Yue in his She Zhi Fu [Rhapsody on Shooting the Pheasant] describes the pheasant hunt; Ban Gu’s Xi Du Fu [Rhapsody on the Western Capital] extols the magnificence of the imperial hunt, including the summoning of waterfowl and the felling of paired swans; while other sources refer to the accurate shooting of quail, ducks, and swans. These practices trace back to the older art of yishe, shooting an arrow strung with a rope at birds in flight, in which the goose ranked among the most valued quarry. The texts in Zhou Li [Rites of Zhou] defines the liuqin (six birds) of goose, duck, quail, pheasant, dove and pigeon as table fare, underscoring that the principal objects of hunting were edible fowl. Set in this larger historical context, the inlay on the present mechanism reads not merely as ornament, but also as a dense emblem linking martial skill, auspicious creatures, and elite leisure. For an in-depth discussion on the evolvement of decorations on crossbows, see Jhong Ya-syun, Serpents and Splendid Birds: On the Decoration of Crossbows, The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, Taipei, January 2023, pp. 24-37.
The invention of the crossbow (nu) can be traced to the early Warring States period, circa 475-376 BC. By the Han dynasty its form and trigger mechanics had become standardized. The complete weapon comprises three principal elements: the trigger mechanism (nuji), the wooden stock (mubi), and the bow stave (gong). The Han crossbow typically integrates six interlinked parts: the 'tooth' (ya), the 'sighting block' (wangshan), the trigger or 'hanging knife' (xuandao), the coupling hook (gouxin), a pair of pivots (shu), and the housing or case (guo). The ya and wangshan are most often cast as a single unit; the xuandao governs release; the gouxin links the tooth and sight assembly to the trigger; the two pivots secure the mechanism to the stock; and the housing encloses the assembly. To cock and load, the archer draws the string back until it catches on the ya; an arrow is laid in the channel along the top of the stock and aligned with the wangshan; a pull on the xuandao retracts the ya, releasing the string and propelling the arrow. The crossbow was the most formidable long-range projectile weapon in early China.
The deliberate choice of cranes, geese, deer, leopard, and the White Tiger situates the Shouyang crossbow within a long literary and practical tradition of avian and game hunting with bows and crossbows. Han and Wei–Jin texts repeatedly document such pursuits: Pan Yue in his She Zhi Fu [Rhapsody on Shooting the Pheasant] describes the pheasant hunt; Ban Gu’s Xi Du Fu [Rhapsody on the Western Capital] extols the magnificence of the imperial hunt, including the summoning of waterfowl and the felling of paired swans; while other sources refer to the accurate shooting of quail, ducks, and swans. These practices trace back to the older art of yishe, shooting an arrow strung with a rope at birds in flight, in which the goose ranked among the most valued quarry. The texts in Zhou Li [Rites of Zhou] defines the liuqin (six birds) of goose, duck, quail, pheasant, dove and pigeon as table fare, underscoring that the principal objects of hunting were edible fowl. Set in this larger historical context, the inlay on the present mechanism reads not merely as ornament, but also as a dense emblem linking martial skill, auspicious creatures, and elite leisure. For an in-depth discussion on the evolvement of decorations on crossbows, see Jhong Ya-syun, Serpents and Splendid Birds: On the Decoration of Crossbows, The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, Taipei, January 2023, pp. 24-37.
The invention of the crossbow (nu) can be traced to the early Warring States period, circa 475-376 BC. By the Han dynasty its form and trigger mechanics had become standardized. The complete weapon comprises three principal elements: the trigger mechanism (nuji), the wooden stock (mubi), and the bow stave (gong). The Han crossbow typically integrates six interlinked parts: the 'tooth' (ya), the 'sighting block' (wangshan), the trigger or 'hanging knife' (xuandao), the coupling hook (gouxin), a pair of pivots (shu), and the housing or case (guo). The ya and wangshan are most often cast as a single unit; the xuandao governs release; the gouxin links the tooth and sight assembly to the trigger; the two pivots secure the mechanism to the stock; and the housing encloses the assembly. To cock and load, the archer draws the string back until it catches on the ya; an arrow is laid in the channel along the top of the stock and aligned with the wangshan; a pull on the xuandao retracts the ya, releasing the string and propelling the arrow. The crossbow was the most formidable long-range projectile weapon in early China.