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Title
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“Two Wild Geese with One Arrow” Gold and Silver Inlay Bronze Crossbow Mechanism
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Collection Location
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Nanjing Museum
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Date
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Western Han Dynasty (202BCE-9CE)
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Location
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Daqingdun Imperial Tomb, Jiangsu Province
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Description
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This bronze crossbow mechanism held by the Nanjing museum is dated to the western Han dynasty. It was unearthed in the Daqingdun imperial tombs in modern day Jiangsu province.
The mechanism is made of bronze and it comprises most of the typical parts of a Chinese crossbow mechanism. The long rectangular protrusion at the top of the mechanism is the sight, or wangshan (望山). The two small hooks sticking out in front of the sight are a part of the same component as the wangshan and serve as the nut, or ya (牙). The rectangular handle at the bottom of the mechanism is the trigger, or xuandao (悬刀), and within the bronze casing, or guo (郭) there is a sear, or gouxin (钩心) connecting the sight and nut and the trigger. The mechanism is held together by two bronze axle pins. 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. The surface of the mechanism has been slightly corroded and oxidised.
The mechanism is beautifully inlaid with gold and silver. This technique involves first making an engraving of the design, then using the silver is the base of the inlay, with thin golden strips used to fill in the designs themselves. The delicate technique means that it is easy for the inlay to erode, however, this specimen is remarkably well preserved, with most of the design maintaining its integrity.
On the top surface of the bronze casing near the rear end of the mechanism, the image of a wild boar and tiger fighting is inlaid into the bronze. There are two birds above the beasts, and they are bracketed by swirl designs that likely represent foliage. Along the sides of the mechanism are geometric designs, leading into mirrored images of a hunting dog chasing a deer on either side of the casing’s front edges. Within the groove where the arrow would rest during drawing, an image of an arrow pointing towards two wild geese is inlaid in the bronze. This imagery references the phrase “一箭双雕”, which translates to “to hit two hawks with one arrow”, or “two birds with one stone”. In this case, the hawks have been replaced with wild geese as a hunting target.
There is inlaid decoration on the mechanism pieces as well. A Zhuque (a kind of mythical vermillion bird in Chinese culture) is inlaid on one side of the sight, on the other an Azure dragon, and on top a bird design. On the side faces of the nut the design of running deer is inlaid, while the tops of the nut are inlaid with mirror designs of long necked herons. The ends of the bronze pins that hold the mechanism within the bronze casing are inlaid with designs of deer in various states of movement.
Interestingly, although it would not have been seen when in use as the crossbow mechanism would be embedded into a slot, the sides of the bronze casing have engravings as well. These engravings are just engravings, without any inlay, these engravings can potentially be thought of as “draft” designs. It is not clear why they were made by the craftsman, but they could have potentially been practice engravings or simple mistakes.
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Source
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Nanjing Museum
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Crossbow Top Measurements
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Measurements not listed
