Warrior emperor Xiang Yu 项羽 is one of the most enigmatic, fascinating personalities in Chinese history. I often wondered what to make of him and was excited that we were going to visit Suqian, Xiang Yu's hometown 项王故里 during our 7 day visit of Jiangsu.
Xiang Yu's life is the subject of operas, TV serials and movies.
Xiang Yu hometown is now a shrine, a museum dedicated to his memory.
项王故里 is located in the city of Suqian. The town is located between the Old Yellow River and Jinghang Yunhe canal.
The monument was originally erected in 1703 here at Wutong Lane, Xiaxiang County where Xiang Yu was born. Over the years, additional structures were built to commemorate the warrior-king. The current grand reconstruction costing USD700 million was completed in 2012.
The old well of Xiang Yu's home.
This 古槐 tree at Xiang Yu's home is said to be personally planted by the future emperor - that makes this leafy lush tree which is still thriving and sprouting new leaves every year more than 2,000 years old.
Xiang Yu (232 BC - 202 BC) was of noble birth, his father a general but he was orphaned as a child. His parents were killed in the war with the Qin Dynasty. Around 209 BC, Xiang Yu led rebels to overthrow the Qin Dynasty, the first unified empire of China.
In 206 BC, Qin Dynasty China broke up into many little kingdoms vying for power. Xiang Yu executed the last Qin emperor. He buried 200,000 captured Qin soldiers alive and earned the unsavoury reputation of a tyrant and ruthless hegemon.
Following the chaos after the fall of Qin, two most powerful kingdoms, Han and Western Chu emerged. Han led by Liu Bang and Western Chu led by Xiang Yu were engaged in fierce fighting to reunify China under themselves (the great war lasted from 206 BC to 202 BC).
Liu Bang and Xiang Xu had a complicated relationship going back to when they were allies, both fighting to bring down the Qin Dynasty. At that time, Xiang Yu made a vow that as long as he was alive, he will never let anyone kill Liu Bang. It's a promise Xiang Yu kept, at the cost of his own death at the hands of Liu Bang.
After many battles, Liu Bang gained the upper hand in the Western Chu - Han war. The war had numerous twists and turns, but two episodes stood out.
The feared hegemon was tender and loyal towards his consort, Yu. When Liu Bang's forces surrounded Xiang Yu, consort Yu 虞姬 committed suicide. She wanted Xiang Yu to focus on the battle with Liu Bang and not be distracted by the need to ensure her safety.
Consort Yu performed a last dance for emperor Xiang Yu, then killed herself with a sword.
This sad event is the subject of the opera Farewell My Concubine 霸王別姬.
Xiang Yu managed to escape Liu Bang's siege but had only 28 calvary troops left.
During their escape, Xiang Yu asked a farmer for directions. Recognising that it was Xiang Yu the tyrant, the farmer pointed Xiang Yu in the direction of a deadend (a swamp).
Consequently, Xiang Yu and his men were mired in a swamp, and cornered by Liu Bang's forces at Wujiang River 烏江 (near modern day Hexian 和縣 in Anhui province).
Xiang Yu had the chance to escape across the river by boat but he decided to stay with his men in their last stand. Despite his loyal men's pleading for him to leave, and live to fight another day, Xiang Yu gave his place on the boat to his loyal steed.
Greatly outnumbered, Xiang Yu and his men were annihilated.
Xiang Yu's body was mutilated because Liu Bang had placed a reward on Xiang Yu's head. There was a deadly stampede among Han soldiers for a piece of Xiang Yu's body to claim the award.
Xiang Yu was only 30 years old when he died but his legacy (albeit a controversial one) will live on in eternity.
Was Xiang Yu a hero, a man of honour, or did his naivety caused the end of his own kingdom and untold suffering of his subjects. Historians have been debating this for 2,000 years, and will continue for many more years.
The great war ended, and the victorious Liu Bang founded the Han Dynasty which ruled China for 400 years from 202 BC to 220 AD, the longest reigning dynasty of imperial China.
If you are interested in Chinese history, Xiang Yu's hometown is definitely worth a visit when you visit Jiangsu.
Hometown of King Xiang 项王故里
Address: Sucheng District, Suqian, Jiangsu China 223865
A brief introduction to Liu Bang founder of the Han Dynasty which lasted more than 400 years
An excellent write up and I’ll add this to my travel list, look forward to a lot more articles like this. I have always been interested in Chinese history but am limited by my handicap in the language. Please consider writing one on Nuerhaci, its on my bucket list to visit his birth place :)
ReplyDeletesuggest you find a history influencer called 穆金荣 on YouTube or WeChat. He had a few videos explaining why Liu Bang won the war while Xiangyu lose the war.
ReplyDeleteHe focused on people management style between Liu and Xiang and somehow this influence the flow of talents into their factions.