Chinese History – Xiang Yu (232 - 202 BC)

Translated and Authored by Jonathan Wu.
Edited by Tuyet Wu

Xiang Yu was born into a noble family from the former state of Chu, which had ceased to exist when Qi Shi Huang, the first Emperor unified the country. While Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were leading peasant uprisings against the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu killed the prefect of Wu (now Xuzhou in Jiangzu Province) and organized troops to join the rebellion.

Around the same time, a peasant called Liu Bang led an uprising in Jiang Su Province. After Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were killed in battle, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang formed the main force in the battle against the Qin government. For a while, they fought under the banner of King Huai of Chu.

In 208 BC while Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were planning the capture of the Qin capital Xian Yang, an urgent message came from the city of Julu, a city under siege for nearly a month by the Qin troops. A large army was sent to relieve Julu with Xiang Yu as second in command under a veteran political leader, Song Yi.

When the troops reached An Yang, Song Yi ordered the troops to stop. Song Yi wanted to wait for the Qin army to weaken by exhausting themselves. Therefore, Song Yi and his troops camped in the cold and wet weather for forty-six days. However, the troops were short on food supply within a few days. Xiang Yu was furious due to Song Yi’s lack of concern for the troops and their conditions. As a result, during a morning conference with Song Yi, Xiang Yu killed Song Yi. All of the remaining generals were in awe and elected Xiang Yu as their new leader.

The vanguard of Xiang Yu’s army, however, was unable to raise the siege, thus Xiang Yu sent the entire army into battle. After crossing the river Zhang, Xiang Yu ordered all boats to be ruined. Within three days, all of the military supplies were prepared and all of the cooking utensils were smashed, which drove the troops further into battle.

After Xiang Yu’s troops raised the siege and the Qin generals had surrendered, Xiang Yu went on to conquer a vast territory of land, which covered five former states. Xiang Yu also divided the Qin Empire in fiefs for his generals, and gave himself the title of Overlord of Conqueror. Which as a result, banished King Huai of Chu.

In the meantime, Liu Bang moved his forces to Han Zhong and began training an army. In the year 206 B.C., Xiang Yu moved his forces to Xin Feng and Hong Meng, taking up tactical positions opposite of Liu Bang. Then, Xiang Yu’s advisor Fan Zheng, informed Xiang Yu to invite Liu Bang to a banquet and have him assassinated by Xiang Yu’s cousin, Xiang Zhuang. However, the plot was discovered before the banquet, and Xiang Zhuang was stopped by his father Xiang Bo and Fan Kuai.

In the same year, Xiang Yu proclaimed himself Prince of Western Chu (Xi Chu Ba Wang) and entitled eighteen Warlords of Chu. Liu Bang was given the title Prince of Han (Han Wang) and moved into the lands of Ba-Shu (Yizhou). While leaving, Liu Bang left behind his father and wife who were captured by Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu did not stay in Xian Yang; he left three former Qin Generals: Zhang Han, Sima Xin, and Dong Yi to guard the Liang and Yong provinces, and then returned to his Capital, Peng.

Liu Bang strengthened his forces and sent Han Xin and Zhang Liang to retake the two provinces from Xiang Yu’s three generals. They moved their troops secretly past Chen Chang and launched surprise attacks on the Chu forces.

Zhang Han, Sima Xin, and Dong Yi surrendered to Liu Bang, and the Han forces reclaimed Xian Yang. Simultaneously, Tian Rong was discontent with Xiang Yu and initiated a revolt; he joined forces with the Prince of Zhao and attacked Chu.

Xiang Yu led his forces east to crush the revolt. Meanwhile, he ordered the Prince of Jiu Jiang, Ying Bu, to escort the Chu Emperor (former King of Chu) to Peng and assassinated him along the way.

When the news spread that the Emperor was dead, Liu Bang used it as an excuse to ally with Warlords against Xiang Yu.

In the year 205 B.C., Liu Bang attacked Peng with 560.000 troops, while Xiang Yu was battling against the traitors in his Kingdom. Xiang Yu quickly returned with his army and slaughtered the Han army.

Liu Bang escaped to Rong Yang, and Xiao He quickly sent reinforcements. Liu Bang realized that he could not match Xiang Yu’s strength and ability, and thus sent Han Xin to attack Wei, Zhao, Yan, and Qi.

Within a year, Han Xin conquered the four territories and surrounded the remaining Chu army. Ying Bu and Peng Yue both left Xiang Yu and joined Liu Bang, causing Xiang Yu to lose his power in the east. During the siege on Xiang Yu’s camp, Xiang Yu used Liu Bang’s wife and father to force Liu Bang to surrender. However, Xiang Yu was deceived by Liu Bang’s offer of peace and foolishly returned the captives to Liu Bang.

In the year 202 B.C., Liu Bang signed a treaty with Xiang Yu. They agreed that the West would belong to the Han, and the East would belong to the Chu. Xiang Yu began to lead his troops back to Peng, but Liu Bang had sent Han Xin and Peng Yue to trap Xiang Yu’s army.

They trapped Xiang Yu at He Xia. As result, Liu Bang’s forces surrounded Xiang Yu’s army while Xiang Yu was sitting in his tent with his concubine Lady Yu. Suddenly, he heard the sound of songs from Chu, his homeland, coming from the besiegers. “Can it be that Han has conquered Chu, that they have so many men of Chu with them?” he exclaimed. Xiang Yu sat late into the night drinking with Lady Yu and singing this melancholic song:

“My strength uprooted mountains,
My spirit overstepped the world;
But the times are against me,
And my horse can gallop no more
When he can gallop on more
What can I do?
And what is to become of Lady Yu.”

He sang it repeatedly until tears ran down his retainers’ cheeks. He then dashed out of the tent and gathered his remaining forces in an attempt to break through enemy lines. When they reached the Wu Jiang River, Xiang Yu gave up and turned around. He summoned a good friend and bade him to cut off his head, on which there was a high price. Thus, Xiang Yu’s life ended, and the Han was victorious.

 

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