43 Facts About Xiang Yu

Xiang Yu is referred to as the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" or simply "Hegemon-King".

The first claimed that Xiang Yu was from the House of Mi, the royal family of the Chu state.

Xiang Yu's ancestors were granted Xiang County as their fief by the king of Chu and had since adopted Xiang as their family name.

The other account claimed that Xiang Yu was a descendant of a noble clan from the Lu state and his family had served in the Chu army for generations.

Xiang Yu's grandfather, Xiang Yan, was a general who was killed in action while leading Chu forces to resist an invasion by the Qin state in 223 BC.

Xiang Yu was born in 232 BC during the late Warring States period when the Qin state started conquering the other six major states.

Xiang Yu was raised by his uncle, Xiang Liang, because his father died early.

Xiang Yu had a double pupil in one eye just like the mythical Emperor Shun and Duke Wen of Jin.

Xiang Yu was thus seen as an extraordinary person because his unique double pupil was a mark of a king or sage in Chinese tradition.

Xiang Liang was disappointed with his nephew, who showed no sign of motivation or apparent talent apart from his great strength, so he gave up and let Xiang Yu decide his own future.

When Xiang Yu grew older, Xiang Liang killed someone so they fled to the Wu region to evade the authorities.

Later that year, after Xiang Yu Liang was killed at Dingtao against Qin forces, control over the Chu rebel group's armed forces fell into the hands of King Huai II and his close aides.

Song Yi and Xiang Yu headed to Anyang, some distance away from Julu Commandery, where the Zhao forces had retreated to after their defeat at Handan.

Frustrated at Song Yi's inaction, Xiang Yu took him by surprise during a meeting, accused him of treason, and killed him.

Xiang Yu then sent a messenger to report the situation to King Huai II, who reluctantly approved his command.

When Xiang Yu met them at the entrance of his camp, the other rebel leaders were so fearful of him that they sank to their knees and did not dare to look up at him.

Xiang Yu did not trust the 200,000 surrendered Qin soldiers and saw them as a liability, so he ordered them to be buried alive at Xin'an while sparing Zhang Han and his deputies Sima Xin and Dong Yi.

Cao Wushang, one of Liu Bang's subordinates, sent a messenger to see Xiang Yu, saying that Liu Bang would be King of Guanzhong in accordance with King Huai II's earlier promise, while Ziying would be appointed as Liu Bang's chancellor.

At the time, Xiang Yu had about 400,000 troops while Liu Bang had only a quarter of that number.

However, Xiang Yu later listened to his uncle Xiang Bo and decided to spare Liu Bang, allowing Liu Bang to escape halfway during the feast.

In 206 BC, Xiang Yu paid no attention to Liu Bang's presumptive title and led his troops into Xianyang, where he executed Ziying and his family, and ordered the destruction of the Epang Palace by fire.

Xiang Yu declared himself "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" and ruled nine commanderies in the former Liang and Chu states, with his kingdom's capital at Pengcheng.

Xiang Yu did not award titles to some rebel leaders who had not supported him earlier but had contributed to the overthrow of the Qin dynasty.

In late 206 BC, Xiang Yu executed Han Cheng, the King of Han, and replaced him with Zheng Chang.

At the time, Xiang Yu was away on a campaign in the Qi territories against Tian Rong and did not pay much attention to Liu Bang's invasion.

Ji Xin, one of Liu Bang's subordinates who resembled his lord in appearance, disguised himself as Liu Bang and pretended to surrender to Xiang Yu, buying time for Liu Bang to escape.

When Xiang Yu learnt that he had been fooled, he had Ji Xin burnt to death.

Liu Bang remarked that since he and Xiang Yu had become oath brothers earlier in a ceremony in 208 BC, Xiang Yu would, in the eyes of everyone, be deemed guilty of patricide if he killed Liu Bang's father.

Xiang Yu released Liu Bang's father and other hostages he had captured earlier.

The morale of Xiang Yu's forces plummeted and many of them deserted.

The next morning, Xiang Yu led about 800 of his remaining elite horsemen on a desperate attempt to break out of the siege, with 5,000 enemy troops in pursuit.

Xiang Yu retreated to the bank of the Wu River, where the ferryman at the ford had prepared a boat for him to cross the river to the Jiangdong region where Xiang Yu's hometown was.

However, Xiang Yu replied that he was too ashamed to return home and face the people because all the 8,000 men from Jiangdong he had first brought along into battle had all perished.

Xiang Yu refused to cross the river and ordered his remaining men to dismount while asking the ferryman to take his warhorse, Zhui, back home.

Xiang Yu preferred to depend on his personal abilities as opposed to learning with humility from others.

In Sima Qian's view, Xiang Yu had not only failed to recognise his own shortcomings, but failed to make attempts to correct his mistakes.

Sima Qian felt that it was ridiculous for Xiang Yu to attribute his downfall to Heaven's will instead of his personal failures.

Xiang Yu became an example for Confucianists to advocate the idea that leaders should rule with benevolence and not govern by instilling fear in the people.

Xiang Yu's ambitions ended with the collapse of Western Chu, his defeat by Liu Bang, and his death at an early age.

Xiang Yu was neither able to make good use of capable generals nor able to support Emperor Yi of Chu; he showed no mercy at all in battle.

Until now, we still remember Xiang Yu, who refused to return to Jiangdong.

Xiang Yu is popularly viewed as a leader who possessed great courage but lacked wisdom, and his character is aptly summarised using the Chinese idiom, meaning "has courage but lacks tactics", or "foolhardy".

Researchers emphasised Xiang Yu's strategic thinking, while exploiting any opportunities to launch a surprise attack in the morning under the cover of darkness, as Xiang Yu was outstanding in this regard.