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So, Z.Su#34 cites a video of Cannon Shogi being played on Zillions-of-Games. This game was created in 1998 and features a Copper Cannon, which moves like a Vao. This game uses diagrammatic pieces and does not use Chinese characters, though the video is on a Chinese website. Then @gbtami mentions calling the diagonal xiangi cannon 弩, though he doesn't supply any context to indicate who exactly it is who uses this name, and not knowing anything @gbtami, I do not know whether he is Chinese himself. He expresses disapproval of a character that looks something like someone wearing a hat. Z.Su#34 recommends the crossbow character and the bow character. I agree that this is a good choice, and I have also made bow pieces.

In terms of appearance, I do like these better than the arrow character, and using a bow for one side and a crossbow for the other fits in with how some sets use slightly different characters for the pieces on each side. So this is a viable option, though it is a suggestion someone made on Discord and not an established practice among the Chinese. While I do favor the appearance of the bow character, the arrow character also means vow, and that is what led me to favor it.