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Title
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Eighth Year of Yongping Runan Prefecture Crossbow Mechanism
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Collection Location
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Shanghai Museum
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Date
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Eastern Han Dynasty, 65CE
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Location
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Runan prefecture (found between modern day Henan province and Anwei province)
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Description
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This crossbow mechanism casing held by the Shanghai museum is dated to 65CE. It was unearthed between the Henan and Anwei provinces.
This mechanism casing, or guo (郭) is made of bronze and it would usually hold most of the typical parts of a Chinese crossbow mechanism. This specimen is missing its sight and nut, or wangshan (望山) and ya (牙); its trigger, or xuandao (悬刀); its sear, or gouxin (钩心), which would have connected the sight and nut and the trigger; and its two bronze axle pins which would have held the mechanism together within the guo. The top surface of the bronze casing has a groove that goes down the middle which would continue onto the wooden stock of the crossbow. This groove would be where the arrow rests during drawing and aiming.
There is engraving on the top surface of the guo which, at the angle it is presented in in the photo, cannot be clearly made out. However, given that the museum has been able to date the casing to a specific date and triangulate its location of manufacture, it is likely that there is information about the manufacture date and location of the crossbow mechanism included in the engraving. This information could alternatively have also been derived from archaeological context.
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Source
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Shanghai Museum
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Crossbow Top Measurements
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Measurements not listed
