Records of Armament and Provisions, Volume 85

Page 15

Shape the two sides so they are slightly wide and the tips of the stave original: dan (擔); the limb or prod of the crossbow slightly narrower, forming a tapered shape like a kidney. Completely shave away the inner pith original: zhuhuang (竹黃); literally "bamboo yellow," the soft, silica-rich inner lining of the bamboo. If a stave is too weak, it is because the carving resulted in uneven thickness. Use the removal of the pith as your limit; do not damage the bamboo flesh original: zhurou (竹肉); the dense, fibrous structural part of the bamboo. If the flesh remains intact, you will avoid the flaw of uneven thickness.

Next, use a half-round file original: banbian yuan cuo (半邊員銼) to flatten the center of the stave. Across a length of approximately six inches in the middle, shave the thickness down by half, leaving the other half remaining.

The second stave layer the crossbow limb is constructed by stacking multiple bamboo slats of varying lengths should be two fen approximately 0.6 centimeters shorter at each end than the first layer, and the two tips should be narrower by four fen. If they are not narrowed, the string will slip off when the arrow is discharged. In the middle six-inch section of this second layer, also shave away half the thickness and retain half.

The third stave layer should be four fen shorter at each end than the second layer, and the two tips should be even narrower and more pointed. In the middle six-inch section, again shave away half the thickness and retain half.

The fourth stave layer should be two cun and four fen approximately 7.7 centimeters shorter at each end than the third layer. From the fourth layer through to the fifth and sixth layers, the middle section...