The Chu-Han Contention

The Fall of Qin

With Qin Shi Huang's death in 210 BCE, the strong man who had unified China was gone. His sons were not up to their fathers' task, and the rise of Qin Er Shi in 210 BCE to the throne sparked a variety of rebellions. The first was in 209 BCE, which was put down by the Qin armies. However, this rebellion inspired a variety of others, and by the end of the year, most of the Qin Empire was in open rebellion, often led by those who claimed to be successors to the states that Qin had conquered to form the Empire.

Liu Bang

Liu Bang

Liu Bang was one such rebel leader. Nominally an underling of the state of Chu, Liu Bang was the one to march on the Qin capital in 206 BCE, forcing the surrender of Emperor Ziying (Qin Er Shi had been killed off and removed from the throne after his incompetence became clear). This marked the end of the Qin Empire, but not of the end of the chaos in China.

Said to be born in 256 BCE, Liu Bang was not from a noble family. Raised as a peasant, he had little time for the mannerisms and customs of the nobility. He rose to some prominence in his own little corner of the world, but when some slaves that he was tasked with escorting to construct Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum escaped, he freed the rest of them and became a fugitive to avoid the death sentence.

In 209 BCE with the first rebellions against the Qin, Liu Bang returned to his hometown of Pei County, and following the murder of the local magistrate by the civilians, declared himself Duke of Pei. In 208 BCE, Liu Bang swore himself to the service of Chu, and was granted the title of Marquis of Wu'an. At this point he was given an army and tasked with attacking Qin. To up the stakes, the King of Chu declared that the one who reached the capital first would be given the title of King of Guanzhong. The main contenders were Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, a general of Chu.

Liu Bang arrived first, and Ziying surrendered to him. By rights he should have been raised as King of Guanzhong as promised. However, Xiang Yu arriving second, was not content. He had the larger army, and the better connections, coming from a prestigious military family of the old Kingdom of Chu. At an event called the Feast at Hong Gate, he attempted to have Liu Bang assassinated several times, but each time was foiled.

Liu Bang, begging the use of the latrine, fled with his men west.

Xiang Yu

The opposite number of Liu Bang during the Chu-Han contention, Xiang Yu was a general and nobleman. Following the flight of Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, the strongest of the various warlords who had cropped up, broke the former Qin Empire into 18 parts, declaring himself ruler of 'Western Chu'. Liu Bang was instead relocated to Hanzhong in modern day Shaanxi, and given the title King of Han.

Modern day Hanzhong Prefecture

Xiang Yu was an able general, though cruel and rather ruthless (the accuracy of the stories of his cruelty are difficult to take at face value, however, due to his defeat by Liu Bang). Unlike Liu Bang who relied on more able advisers and generals, Xiang Yu instead tended to rely on his own ability. Where Liu Bang was charismatic, Xiang Yu was competent.

Xiang Yu

The Chu-Han Contention

When Liu Bei arrived in Han Zhong, he had the galley roads (wooden planks cut into the sides of the cliffs) destroyed, both to prevent future assaults into his territory and to convince Xiang Yu that he was content in his position.

When the new state of Qi rose in rebellion against Xiang Yu's hegemony in 206 BCE, Liu Bang seized the opportunity. At the behest of his general Han Xin he attacked Guanzhong, defeating the three former Qin generals who ruled there. 

In response to this, Xiang Yu sent an army against Liu Bang, and declared Zheng Chang as King of Hán. In the following year, Liu Bang moved against the states occupying the modern province of Henan, and the kings of Sai, Di and Henan all surrendered to him. However, Zheng Chang did not, and was defeated by Liu Bang's general Han Xin, and replaced by him as King of Hán.

The defeat of the Qi rebellion in the same year allowed Xiang Yu to concentrate on his Western border. However, by failing to appease the people and allowing his army to loot and plunder the state of Qi, he encouraged more rebellions, leaving a dangerous situation on his northern flank.

Seizing advantage of this, Liu Bang advanced on the Chu capital of Pengcheng with a large force and captured it. Official records state that he had an army of 550,000 with him on his march, raised from his own reserves and those of the surrendered kings. 

Hearing of the fall of Pancheng, Xiang Yu rushed back with a force of 30,000, surprising Liu Bang with a sudden attack and inflicting large casualties on Liu Bang's forces, and inducing Liu Bang to withdraw with only a small bodyguard. In the confusion, he also captured Liu Bang's family.

Following this battle, many of the surrendered kings defected to Chu. Things were looking pretty bleak for Liu Bang.

In the latter half of 205 BCE, Liu Bang's general Han Xin managed to open a northern front against Xiang Yu in a series of battles that saw Han Xin crowned as acting King of Qi in 204 BCE. Liu Bang, then besieged in Xiangyang (near modern day Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province) managed to sleuth his way out of the siege, spreading rumours that made Xiang Yu dismiss some of his able advisers, before attacking Chenggao (also near modern day Zhengzhou). Combined with the successes of Han Xin in the north, this forced Xiang Yu to the negotiating table, where Liu Bang and Xiang Yu agreed to split China between them along an East-West axis. This is known as the treaty of Hong Canal which was signed in late 204 BCE.

In 203 BCE, whilst Xiang Yu was retreating eastwards, Liu Bang broke the treaty and attacked, requesting aid from his allies Han Xin and Peng Yue to form a three pronged attack on Xiang Yu. However, his allies did not mobilise their troops, and Liu Bang was defeated in the battle of Guiling (near modern day Zhoukou in Henan Province). 

Forced to retreat, Liu Bang sent messengers to Han Xin and Peng Yue, promising them titles if they assisted him. And so, in 202 BCE, armies advancing along three routes led by Han Xin, Peng Yue and Liu Bang attacked Xiang Yu again, trapping him in Gaixia (near Suzhou, Anhui province). Han Xin instructed his men to sing Chu folk songs to create the impression that Chu had already fallen to Han forces.

Many of Xiang Yu's deserted him as supplies ran low and morale plummeted. Even Xiang Yu's favourite concubine committed suicide, blaming herself for his defeat (She had been captured and used as bait to draw Xiang Yu into the trap). Finally, with 26 loyal retainers Xiang Yu broke out of the encirclement, and reached the north bank of the Wu river, where he made a last stand as his retainers were sent across the river, killing several Han soldiers before committing suicide.

With his death, Western Chu surrendered to Liu Bang, allowing him to unify China again and declaring the beginning of the Han Dynasty in 202 BCE, with his capital in Chang'an (modern day Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province). 

Next Week: IT'S FINALLY TIME! THE BIG (well one of them anyway) ONE! THE ONE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE HAN DYNASTY!