45 Facts About Han Xin

Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the early Han dynasty", along with Zhang Liang and Xiao He.

Han Xin is best remembered as one of the most brilliant military commanders in Chinese history, renowned for his exceptional strategic intellect and tactical mastery.

However, Liu Bang feared Han Xin's growing influence and gradually reduced his authority, demoting him to "Marquis of Huaiyin" in late 202 BCE.

In early 196 BCE, Han Xin was accused of participating in a rebellion, lured into a trap and executed on Empress Lu Zhi's orders.

Han Xin was born in Huaiyin, which was an area of Chu during the warring states.

At one point, she cooked and ate very early in the morning, so that when Han Xin arrived, there was no more food.

Han Xin understood that he was no longer welcome and never visited them again.

Han Xin did so for all the dozen days that she had laundry to do.

Han Xin was incredibly delighted and promised to heavily repay her for her kindness.

Several years later, after becoming the King of Chu, Han Xin returned to his hometown.

Han Xin found the woman who fed him and rewarded her with 1,000 taels of gold.

In 209 BC, Han Xin joined Xiang Liang's rebel army when rebellions erupted throughout China to overthrow the Qin dynasty.

Han Xin continued serving Xiang Yu after Xiang Liang was killed in action at the Battle of Dingtao.

Han Xin was not placed in high regard and worked as a "langzhong".

Han Xin constantly proposed strategies to Xiang Yu but was ignored.

In 206 BC, Han Xin deserted Xiang Yu's army and went to join Liu Bang.

Han Xin figured that despite both Xiahou Ying and Xiao He having recommended him to Liu Bang, Liu Bang did not use him, so he saw no reason to stay and deserted.

When Xiao He heard that Han Xin had left, he immediately rushed to personally find Han Xin and bring him back, and did not manage to inform Liu Bang in time.

Xiao He eventually caught up with Han Xin and managed to persuade Han Xin to go back with him.

Han Xin ordered some soldiers to pretend to repair the gallery roads linking Guanzhong and Hanzhong, while sending another army to secretly pass through Chencang and make a surprise attack on Zhang Han.

Zhang Han was caught off guard and the Han forces emerged victorious, proceeding to take over Sima Xin and Dong Yi's kingdoms.

When Xiang Yu died in 202 BCE, Zhongli Mo came to Han Xin and requested refuge.

Chen Ping proposed to lure Han Xin into meeting, on a pretext of Liu Bang touring the Yunmeng Marshes.

Han Xin sent this message out to all warlords across the land.

When Han Xin heard that Gaozu was heading towards the land of Chu, his first instinct was to rebel, but he decided he had committed no crime and stayed put.

Han Xin then met Zhongli Mo to decide their next course of action, and brought up this idea.

Zhongli Mo then promptly slit his own throat, but not before claiming Han Xin would follow soon after.

Han Xin brought Zhongli Mo's severed head to Gaozu and explained his innocence, but Gaozu ordered Han to be arrested.

Hence, Han Xin claimed to be ill and stayed at home most of the time to reduce Gaozu's suspicions.

Around 197 BCE, Chen Xi met Han Xin before leaving for Julu, where Han Xin promptly pulled him aside, dismissing all nearby servants.

Han Xin promised to aid Chen Xi from inside the capital if Chen Xi were to start an uprising against the Han dynasty.

Not long after, Chen Xi rebelled and Gaozu personally led an army to suppress the rebellion, while Han Xin claimed sickness and stayed behind.

Xiao He managed to persuade Han Xin into coming to Changle Palace, where the Empress lived, and he was bound and executed as soon as he stepped through the doors.

Han Xin's clan was exterminated on the Empress's orders as well.

Some Chinese idioms and sayings originating from the events in Han Xin's life are listed as follows:.

Han Xin's descendants are said to have fled to the area of modern Guangdong and Guangxi and changed their name to Wei.

I've been to Huaiyin, and the locals told me that when Han Xin was still a commoner, his ambition was very different from ordinary people's.

However, Han Xin did not change himself for the better.

Many people would think that Han Xin was the first person to propose the grand plan for unifying China: he started his plan together with Gaozu in Hanzhong, conquered the Three Qins, led a northern campaign to attack the kingdoms of Wei, Dai, Zhao, Yan and Qi, moved south to destroy Chu in Gaixia.

Lu Wan was merely Gaozu's neighbour, yet he was appointed King of Yan, while Han Xin only received the title of a marquis and could only have audiences with Gaozu.

When Gaozu was at war with Xiang Yu in Xingyang, Han Xin had just conquered the Qi kingdom and did not turn back to support Gaozu because he saw more danger of losing more soldiers if he went for saving lives of people at Pengcheng.

Besides, during the Battle of Guling, Han Xin did not keep his promise to help Gaozu, and caused Gaozu to lose the battle.

Since then, Gaozu had the intention of killing Han Xin but did not do so as he was not yet powerful enough.

The narration alleged Han Xin to organized his troops into groups of 3,5,7 soldiers and observed the remainders as 2,3,2 respectively.

The correct estimation of troop strength allowed Han Xin to won the battle.