He collected a beautifully crafted ancient crossbow.
Tips
history
China was a pioneer in crossbow technology. By the Warring States period (475–221 BC), Chinese armies deployed massed crossbow units with standardized bronze trigger mechanisms — a military innovation centuries ahead of Europe.
弓 underneath is the bow radical, a curved-bow pictograph. It pins the meaning to a weapon: 弩 is a crossbow, a mechanical bow with a stock and trigger. It groups with 弦 (string), 张 (draw a bow), and 弹 (shoot a pellet).
奴 on top supplies the reading, shifting tone from nú to nǔ. The same phonetic surfaces in 努 (exert) and 怒 (angry), all clustered around the nu syllable family. In 弩 it gives the sound while the bow below carries the meaning.
