19th century Chinese Repeating crossbow

A scarce Chinese repeating crossbow ‘Cho-Ko-Nu’ dating to the 19th century. These unusual weapons seem to be peculiar to China, and had a long lifespan being recorded as used over 200 years ago, up to the 19thc. The ingenious mechanism allows the weapon to be easily drawn by the iron looped handle, simultaneously drawing the string and feeding two bolts from the overhead magazine. The end of the action pushes the handle down which releases the string and fires the two bolts. All in one action, to be repeated. This example has lots of dark age patina, the bow is from thick stout bamboo, the rest from wood and iron. The bowstring is a replacement for the original sinew, there are minor losses and wear overall. A rare survival