ten-arrow bow machine

Kong Ming’s ten-arrow bow machine is a multiple-projectile weapon whose design outlives its inventor. Kong Ming reveals the plans on his deathbed, entrusting them to Jiang Wei; later, the completed device proves effective against Sima Shi’s troops at Yangping Pass, even as it cannot turn Jiang Wei’s wider invasion into victory.

Design and Transmission

As Kong Ming lies dying, he gives Jiang Wei secret military formulae and also entrusts him with plans for a bow capable of firing ten arrows at a time. The weapon is not yet developed: Kong Ming says he has designed it but has never had time to build and test it. He therefore directs Jiang Wei to have it made and tested, passing on an unfinished military project alongside the knowledge needed to carry forward his strategic work.

The transfer makes the machine both a practical design and part of Kong Ming’s legacy. His warning that Yinping may soon become a source of trouble accompanies the plans, linking the bequest to the continuing defense of Shu rather than to a completed victory. The machine’s later appearance confirms that Jiang Wei’s forces have turned the design into a functioning weapon.

Use at Yangping Pass

During Jiang Wei’s invasion of Wei, Sima Shi confronts him at Yangping Pass. After the two commanders charge at one another and Sima Shi withdraws, Jiang Wei occupies the fort at the pass. When Sima Shi approaches, the ten-arrow bow machines fire from its defenses at an unprecedented rate. The narrative emphasizes that Kong Ming’s proposed weapon has been built and works: Sima Shi loses countless men to its arrows.

The device’s immediate tactical effect is substantial, but its success does not decide the campaign. Jiang Wei’s invasion has already encountered severe difficulties: the forts lack enough water to withstand sieges, and Wei’s commanders repeatedly outmaneuver the Shu army. Despite the losses inflicted by the machines, Jiang Wei loses tens of thousands of men overall and retreats to Hanzhong. Sima Shi and the other Wei commanders return to Luoyang.

Legacy and Limits

The machine gives material form to the continuity between Kong Ming’s plans and Jiang Wei’s later command. A design that its originator could not finish becomes operational after his death, and for a moment it shifts the cost of the invasion onto the attacking Wei forces. Yet the contrast between its effectiveness at the pass and the disastrous outcome of the expedition keeps the weapon’s significance bounded: technical success can inflict heavy losses without overcoming shortages, strategic reversals, or the broader conditions of war.

Its role is therefore neither merely a final invention nor a miraculous solution. It is a bequest that survives its maker, is put to use by his successor, and demonstrates both the reach and the limits of inherited military ingenuity.