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Zhang Liang, courtesy name Zifang, was a Chinese military strategist and politician who lived in the early Western Han dynasty. He is also known as one of the "Three Heroes of the early Han dynasty" (漢初三傑), along with Han Xin (韓信) and Xiao He. Zhang Liang contributed greatly to the establishment of the Han dynasty. After his death, he was honoured with the posthumous title "Marquis Wencheng" by Emperor Qianshao. Zhang Liang is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.
The Chu–Han Contention (楚漢相爭), also known as the Chu–Han War (楚漢戰爭), was an interregnum in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the Qin were overthrown by rebel forces in 206 BCE, the empire was divided into the Eighteen Kingdoms ruled by rebel leaders and former Qin generals according to Xiang Yu, the rebel leader. A civil war soon broke out, most prominently between two major contending powers – Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, who were respectively the rulers of the Chu and Han kingdoms. Some of the other kingdoms also waged war among themselves but these were largely insignificant compared to the main conflict between Chu and Han. The war ended with a Han victory at the Battle of Gaixia in 202 BCE, during which Xiang Yu committed suicide after having made a last stand. Liu subsequently proclaimed himself emperor of the newly established Han dynasty.
Xiang Yu, born Xiang Ji, was the Hegemon-King of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period of China. A noble of the state of Chu, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynasty, destroying their last remnants and becoming a powerful warlord. He was granted the title of "Duke of Lu" (魯公) by King Huai II of the restoring Chu state in 208 BC. The following year, he led the Chu forces to victory at the Battle of Julu against the Qin armies led by Zhang Han. After the fall of Qin, Xiang Yu was enthroned as the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" (西楚霸王) and ruled a vast area spanning central and eastern China, with Pengcheng as his capital. He engaged Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, in a long struggle for power, known as the Chu–Han Contention, which concluded with his eventual defeat at the Battle of Gaixia and his suicide.
Zhang Han was a Chinese military general of the Qin dynasty. When uprisings erupted throughout China during the reign of Qin Er Shi, Zhang Han led the Qin armies and successfully quelled several of these rebel forces. In 207 BC, Zhang Han was defeated by Xiang Yu of Chu at the Battle of Julu, after which he surrendered along with his 200,000 troops. He was conferred the title "King of Yong" (雍王) by Xiang Yu and given part of the lands in Guanzhong as his fief when Xiang split the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms after the fall of the Qin dynasty. Zhang Han's territory was conquered by Liu Bang in 206 BC, and he committed suicide a year later.
Chu was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and Autumn period. At the end of the Warring States period it was destroyed by the Qin in 223 BC during the Qin's wars of unification.
Wu Guang was a leader of the first rebellion against the Qin dynasty during the reign of the Second Qin Emperor.
Emperor Yi of Chu, also known as King Huai II of Chu before receiving his de jure emperor title, personal name Xiong Xin, was the ruler of the revived Chu state in the late Qin dynasty. He was a grandson of King Huai of Chu. In 223 BC, during the Warring States period, the Chu state was conquered by the Qin state, which unified the various Chinese feudal states in a series of wars and established the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. In 209 BC, when rebellions broke out throughout China to overthrow the Qin dynasty, the Chu state was revived as an insurgent state against Qin imperial rule. Xiong Xin was discovered by Xiang Liang, a rebel leader who descended from a famous Chu general, Xiang Yan, and installed on the Chu throne as "King Huai II of Chu". However, Xiong Xin was a puppet ruler because power was concentrated in Xiang Liang's hands, and while he was able to assert his power after Xiang Liang was killed in battle, eventually Xiang Liang's nephew, Xiang Yu, would concentrate power in his own hands through a coup against King Huai II's general Song Yi during the Battle of Julu. In 206 BC, the Qin dynasty was overthrown by the rebels, after which Xiang Yu, who was the de facto leader of all the rebel forces, divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms. He promoted King Huai II to a more "honourable" title – Emperor Yi of Chu – and made him the nominal sovereign ruler over all the Eighteen Kingdoms. Xiang Yu then had Emperor Yi relocated to Chen County and secretly ordered Ying Bu to assassinate the emperor during the journey.
The Feast at Swan Goose Gate, also known as the Banquet at Hongmen, Hongmen Banquet, Hongmen Feast and other similar renditions, was a historical event that took place in 206 BC at Swan Goose Gate outside Xianyang, the capital of the Qin dynasty. Its location in present-day China is roughly at Hongmenbao Village, Xinfeng Town, Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi. The main parties involved in the banquet were Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, two prominent leaders of insurgent forces who rebelled against the Qin dynasty from 209 BC to 206 BC.
The Three Qins refer to three of the Eighteen Kingdoms, the short-lived power-sharing arrangement formed in 206 BC after the collapse of the Qin dynasty. The three kingdoms were located in Guanzhong Plain, the heartland of the Qin Empire.
The Battle of Julu was fought in Julu in 207 BC primarily between forces of the Qin dynasty and the insurgent state of Chu. The Qin commander was Zhang Han, while the Chu leader was Xiang Yu. The battle concluded with a decisive victory for the rebels over the larger Qin army. The battle marked the decline of Qin military power as the bulk of the Qin armies were destroyed in this battle.
Song Yi was a Chinese official who served in the insurgent Chu kingdom during the final years of the Qin dynasty.
Qin's wars of unification were a series of military campaigns launched in the late third century BC by the state of Qin against the other six states remaining in China – Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi. Between 247 and 221 BC, Qin had developed into the most powerful of China's Seven Warring States that coalesced in the wake of the declining Zhou dynasty, which had been reduced to a weak and merely ceremonial position during the Warring States period. In 230 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, began the sequence of campaigns that would bring the Warring States period to a close, setting out to conquer each of the six states one by one. This was completed in 221 BC with the fall of Qi, which further led to a more centralised form of government replacing the fengjian system of the Zhou dynasty. Ying Zheng declared himself the First Emperor – or Shi Huangdi – of a unified China under the Qin dynasty.
Fan Zeng was an adviser to the warlord Xiang Yu, who fought for supremacy with Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, during the Chu–Han Contention.
Zhongli Mo was a military general who served the warlord Xiang Yu during the Chu–Han Contention, a power struggle between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty. His name is sometimes incorrectly written and pronounced as "Zhongli Mei".
Xiang Zhuang was a younger cousin of Xiang Yu, the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu". He fought on Chu's side as a military general during the Chu–Han Contention, a power struggle for supremacy over China between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty. Little is known about Xiang Zhuang, except for his role at the Feast at Hong Gate in 206 BC.
Xiang Chan, courtesy name Bo, better known as Xiang Bo, was a noble of the Chu state of the Seven Warring States. He was an uncle of the warlord Xiang Yu, who competed with Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, for supremacy over China in the Chu–Han Contention.
Gong Ao was a ruler of the Kingdom of Linjiang of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu–Han Contention, an interregnum between the Qin dynasty and the Han dynasty.
The Battle of Pengcheng was fought in Pengcheng in April 205 BC between the kingdoms of Western Chu and Han, led by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang respectively. The Han forces were unprepared and suffered heavy losses. Several of Liu Bang's family members were captured and some of his allies defected to Chu as a result of his defeat.
Ying Bu was a Chinese military general, monarch, politician, and warlord who lived during the early Han dynasty. He was a native of Lu County. In his early life under the Qin dynasty, Ying Bu was convicted and sentenced to qing, so he was also called Qing Bu (黥布). He was then sent to Mount Li to perform hard labour by constructing Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. He later escaped with some men and became the leader of a bandit gang. Ying Bu participated in the insurrection against the Qin dynasty after the Dazexiang Uprising broke out in 209 BC. After the uprising failed, he became part of a rebel force led by Xiang Liang. He assisted Xiang Liang's nephew and successor Xiang Yu in overthrowing the Qin dynasty. After the fall of Qin, he initially fought on Xiang Yu's side in the Chu–Han Contention, a power struggle for supremacy over China between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. However, later, he defected to Liu Bang's side and helped Liu defeat Xiang Yu and become the emperor. During this period of time, Ying Bu held the title "King of Jiujiang". In c.August 203, Liu Bang appointed Ying Bu as a vassal king and granted him the title "King of Huainan". In 196 BC, Ying Bu rebelled against the Han dynasty but was defeated and killed.
Kuaiji Commandery, formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu, which became known as "Kuaiji" from this role. The initial territory ran from the south bank of the Yangtze through most of modern Zhejiang to an indeterminate border among the free people of Minyue. Wu and Wuxing commanderies were later formed between the Yangtze and the north shore of Hangzhou Bay; the administration of the remainder of Kuaiji Commandery was then removed to the site of the former Yue capital in modern Shaoxing's Yuecheng District, which also became known as Kuaiji from this role. By the Tang, Hangzhou was also separated and Kuaiji ran from a little north of the Zhe River in the west to Ningbo in the east.
References
- Sima, Qian. Records of the Grand Historian.