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Chinese Siege Catapults and Trebuchets

Type Object Region China Time c. -400–1600

A system of siege-throwing machines developed in China from the Warring States through the Ming and Qing, including traction trebuchets and counterwe…

Timeline

  1. c. -400–-200Cities of the Warring States polities · ChinaDuring the Warring States period, siege machines appeared that used human traction to swing an arm and hurl stone projectiles; texts and later military manuals called them paoche or tou shiji, used for breaching cities and suppressing defenses.
  2. c. 1200–1300Xiangyang · HubeiAround the Song–Yuan transition, counterweight trebuchets (huihui pao) were deployed on a large scale in sieges such as Xiangyang, with range and destructive power far exceeding earlier traction types, and they spread to Western Asia and Europe through the Mongol conquests.

Sources