Miniature Chu-ke nu Chinese Repeating Crossbow is now FOR SALE!
The Chinese repeating crossbow. Quite a legend. Online research shows that it originates to the 4th century.
A very famous Chinese strategist, Zhuge Liang (226-481 AD) is believed to have “upgraded” an earlier design from a tomb dating 4th Century BC.
This new design was able to fire multiple arrows (bolts) in succession, was last used in mass formations which helped shape the China-Japan war of 1894. It was named after Zhuge because of his improvements. You can see it spelled a couple of different ways; or “Chu-ke nu” or “Chu-ko-nu”, the first being correct. It literally means “Zhuge Crossbow”
The weapons were very common among the Manchurian troops, and can be seen in photographs from that era.
It was introduce to the Koreans in 1418, and was given the name “sunogung”. Everyone seems to be impressed by it’s mechanism and ease of firing. This rapid firing design is why it was so impressive.