It is clear from surviving inventory lists in Gansu and Xinjiang that the crossbow was greatly favored by the Han dynasty. For example, in one batch of slips there are only two mentions of bows, but thirty mentions of crossbows. Crossbows were mass-produced in state armories with designs improving as time went on, such as the use of a mulberry wood stock and brass. Such crossbows during the Song Dynasty in 1068 AD could pierce a tree at 140 paces. Crossbows were used in numbers as large as 50,000 starting from the Qin dynasty and upwards of several hundred thousand during the Han. According to one authority, the crossbow had become "nothing less than the standard weapon of the Han armies", by the second century BC. Han soldiers were required to arm a crossbow with a draw weight equivalent of to qualify as an entry-level crossbowman, while it was claimed that a few elite troops were capable of arming crossbows with a draw-weight in excess of by the hands-and-feet method.
it is clear from surviving inventory lists in gansu and xinjiang that the crossbow was greatly favored by the han dynasty for example in one batch of slips there are only two mentions of bows but thirty mentions of crossbows crossbows were mass-produced in state armories with designs improving as time went on such as the use of a mulberry wood stock and brass such crossbows during the song dynasty in 1068 ad could pierce a tree at 140 paces crossbows were used in numbers as large as 50000 starting from the qin dynasty and upwards of several hundred thousand during the han according to one authority the crossbow had become "nothing less than the standard weapon of the han armies" by the second century bc han soldiers were required to arm a crossbow with a draw weight equivalent of to qualify as an entry-level crossbowman while it was claimed that a few elite troops were capable of arming crossbows with a draw-weight in excess of by the hands-and-feet method