▁tra ction ▁tre buch ets ▁called ▁" be am - s ling ▁mang onel ▁machines ". ▁From ▁a ▁practical ▁perspective , ▁a ▁mang onel ▁has ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁describe ▁anything ▁from ▁a ▁t ors ion ▁engine ▁like ▁the ▁on ager , ▁to ▁a ▁tra ction ▁tre buch et , ▁to ▁a ▁counter weight ▁tre buch et ▁depending ▁on ▁the ▁user ' s ▁bias . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁The ▁mang onel ▁is ▁thought ▁to ▁have ▁origin ated ▁in ▁ancient ▁China . ▁T ors ion - based ▁sie ge ▁weapons ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁ball ista ▁and ▁on ager ▁are ▁not ▁known ▁to ▁have ▁been ▁used ▁in ▁China . ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁recorded ▁use ▁of ▁mang on els ▁was ▁in ▁ancient ▁China . ▁They ▁were ▁probably ▁used ▁by ▁the ▁Moh ists ▁as ▁early ▁as ▁ 4 th ▁century ▁BC , ▁descri ptions ▁of ▁which ▁can ▁be ▁found ▁in ▁the ▁M oj ing ▁( comp iled ▁in ▁the ▁ 4 th ▁century ▁BC ). ▁In ▁Chapter ▁ 1 4 ▁of ▁the ▁M oj ing , ▁the ▁mang onel ▁is ▁described ▁hur ling ▁h ollow ed ▁out ▁logs ▁filled ▁with ▁burning ▁char co al ▁at ▁enemy ▁troops . ▁The ▁mang onel ▁was ▁carried ▁west ward ▁by ▁the ▁Av ars ▁and ▁appeared ▁next ▁in ▁the ▁eastern ▁Mediter rane an ▁by ▁the ▁late ▁ 6 th ▁century ▁AD , ▁where ▁it ▁replaced ▁t ors ion ▁power ed ▁sie ge ▁engines ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁ball ista ▁and ▁on ager ▁due ▁to ▁its ▁simpler ▁design ▁and ▁faster ▁rate ▁of ▁fire . ▁The