The traction trebuchet first emerged in ancient China, likely used by the Mohists as early as the 4th century BCE, with descriptions preserved in the Mozi. These machines stood about 17 ft tall, used cart wheels for their fulcrums, and hurled stones up to 300 ft. Positioned on defensive walls, they sometimes launched burning logs to destroy enemy siege works. During the Han dynasty, long periods of peace led to their decline, but they reappeared in the turbulent Three Kingdoms era and by 573 were even mounted on ships. In the Tang period, the engineer Jiang Xingben improved their design, and by the Song dynasty, they were employed in naval battles, sometimes hurling bombs of lime and sulphur. From China, the traction trebuchet spread west by the 6th–7th centuries CE, reaching the Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, and Avars. By the late 6th century, it began replacing torsion-powered ballistae in the eastern Mediterranean due to its simplicity, faster rate of fire, and safety. Accounts from 586 describe Avaro-Slav attacks on Thessaloniki, while by 653 Arabs used them on ships in Sudan. In the 8th–12th centuries, they appeared in Frankish, Saxon, and Indian warfare. Although effective for anti-personnel roles, they rarely breached stone walls without other siege methods. Over time, larger models emerged, such as the 11th-century Seljuk machine requiring 400 pullers, but by the 12th century in Europe and the 13th in China, counterweight trebuchets began to replace them. The counterweight trebuchet's origins are debated. The earliest confirmed description comes from 1187 in a work by al-Tarsusi, but earlier hints exist from the 11th and 12th centuries. Some historians argue that by the 1120s, both Muslim and European forces were experimenting with such machines. Early designs featured fixed, hanging, or hinged counterweights, with hinged types achieving the greatest range. By the 1210s–1230s, counterweight trebuchets were a standard part of siege warfare in Europe and the Islamic world. In China, no certain record exists until 1268, when the Mongols, unable to take Fancheng and Xiangyang, brought in Persian engineers Ismail and Al-aud-Din to build massive hinged counterweight machines known as Huihui trebuchets. These could launch enormous stones, sometimes creating craters several feet deep. The design quickly spread across East and Southeast Asia, marking the end of the traction trebuchet as the primary siege engine.

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Trebuchet