The Story of Warrior Xiang Yu

By the end of the Qin Dynasty, China had fallen into chaos. Several forces were vying for control. (In 209 BC) Peasant rebellions erupted throughout the land, plunging China into a state of anarchy.

Xiang Yu—born 232 BC—was a descendant of an aristocratic General family. In his youth, Xiang Yu was instructed in scholarly arts, swordsmanship, and war strategies. But once he had understood the basics, he refused to learn more. Xiang Yu was a giant in his physical appearance. No one could bend his arms and he was said to have been able to lift 1000 pounds.

King Huai of Chu appointed Xiang Yu as a second-in-command General. Xiang Yu, filled with exuberant zest for action, ended up killing the first-in-command while fighting a battle at Julu. This left other generals horror-stricken, but no one dared to oppose him. Xiang Yu did not win his battles with fine strategy but instead with brutality.

Meanwhile, the king placed Liu Bang in command of another army. The king declared that who ever would win victory over Guanzhong—the heartland of Qin—would be granted the title of "King of Guanzhong".

When Xiang Yu heard, while he fought in the Battle of Julu, that Liu Bang was victorious and had become "King of Guanzhong," he went berserk. He led his rebellion army into the defeated former Qin Metropolis, killed the former ruler and his family. He claimed the title, "King of Guanzhong"; depredated and burned the palaces and the most important library of the Qin. Wherever he went, were bodies and ruins.

But the King approved Liu Bang as the King of Guanzhong.

Now Xiang Yu saw in Liu Bang as his main rival. It would be decided between the two who would rule China. Xiang Yu was the most powerful conqueror. He ordered to kill the Emperor, divide the country into kingdoms, and bask in power as a de facto leader of China.

Wars between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang lasted five years. In the end, one man—Han Xin—who served Liu Bang as leading general, thought of a strategy to defeat Xiang Yu. Han Xin's strategy worked. Liu Bang's armies attacked Xiang Yu from three sides. With Xiang Yu's army trapped, Liu got his troops to sing songs from the Chu region to make Xiang Yu and his men falsely think their homeland had been fully conquered. This broke their morale. Finally Xiang Yu lost his men in the Battle of Gaixia and cut his own throat at the banks of Wu River.

Liu Bang went on to found the Han Dynasty, considered China's first "Golden Age." The expression "The songs of Chu coming from all sides" became a popular Chinese saying meaning, "besieged on all sides."

The Chinese remember Xiang Xu as a courageous yet brutal warrior.