Xiang Yu

Crushed the main Qin army at the Battle of Julu, proclaimed himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and was defeated at Gaixia in the Chu–Han Contention.

Life

Son of a general's family

Xiang Yu was the grandson of Xiang Yan, a famed general of the State of Chu, and rose up against Qin in Wuzhong with his uncle Xiang Liang. At the Battle of Julu in 207 BCE he burned his boats and smashed his cooking pots, won nine battles out of nine and routed the Qin generals Zhang Han and Wang Li. When the generals of the other lords entered his camp gate, they all advanced on their knees and dared not look up at him.

Julu and Pengcheng

After entering Guanzhong he buried 200,000 surrendered troops alive, burned the palaces of Xianyang, enfeoffed eighteen lords and proclaimed himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, with his capital at Pengcheng. The unfair division of fiefs led the lords to rebel one after another. In 205 BCE he marched back to Pengcheng with 30,000 elite troops and crushed Liu Bang's 560,000-strong coalition, a classic case of the few defeating the many.

Lament at Gaixia

But he was stubborn and self-willed, and after Fan Zeng left he had no chief strategist. During the Chu–Han stalemate his supply lines were repeatedly cut by Peng Yue, and he was finally encircled at Gaixia. Hearing Chu songs on all sides at night, he composed the "Song of Gaixia" and bade farewell to Consort Yu. Breaking out to the Wu River, he refused to cross it and cut his own throat, aged only thirty-one.

Legacy

Xiang Yu is regarded as one of the bravest generals in Chinese history, and Sima Qian made an exception by placing him among the "Basic Annals." His defeat is often attributed to political shortsightedness and an inability to make use of talent, and "The Hegemon-King Bids Farewell to His Concubine" and his "Suicide at the Wu River" became themes endlessly revisited in later literature and opera.

Major works & achievements

• Crushed the main Qin army at the Battle of Julu
• Routed 560,000 with 30,000 at the Battle of Pengcheng

Did you know? Li Qingzhao's lines "To this day we remember Xiang Yu, who would not cross back to Jiangdong" are about him.

Key dates

• 209 BCERose in arms with Xiang Liang
• 207 BCEBattle of Julu; burned the boats
• 206 BCEEntered Guanzhong and proclaimed himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu
• 205 BCERouted the Han army at the Battle of Pengcheng
• 203 BCEPeace of the Hong Canal
• 202 BCEDefeated at the Battle of Gaixia; cut his own throat at the Wu River