The Stories of a Successful Emperor and a Failure hero
8 min readCompared with Liu Bang，Xiang Yu had all the good qualities of a noble gentleman.He was extremely manly:big，strong and skillful of martial art.He was an excellent generalat that time.His fatal weakness was his short temper and selfconceit.”Pride goes before a fall.”His failure was a disastrous one which ended him.
Xiang Yu began his military career at a right time.Qin Shihuang died in 210 BC.The Second Emperor was an idiot，unable to control the situation.Soon，riots broke out everywhere throughout the empire because the vast majority of the people had suffered too much under the severe rigidity of the Qin’s government.
The next year，in 209 BC，just after Qin II ascended the throne，the first peasant uprising broke out.It was led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.Although it was put down in half a year，it caused catastrophe for the Qin’s rule.People were deserting the Qin government.Everywhere，soldiers were mutinying against their superiors and the authorities.
The remnant aristocrats living in those States，which were formerly conquered by Qin，began to revive their former States and established their own Governments.
Xiang Yu was an unknown person who lived during the time of unrest.He was the grandson of a famous aristocraticgeneral in the former State of Chu.Chu was conquered by Qin in 223 BC.He was ambitious when he was very young.It was said that once he saw Qin Shihuang sitting proudly in his royal sedan and marching his army in a huge parade.He said with confidence:”I’11 replace this guy.”Liu Bang，his future rival，said similar words when he saw the First Emperor:”A big man should live that way.”
Taking advantage of the turmoil in the land，Xiang Yu killed the local official in his home town.With the help fromhis uncle Xiang Liang，he organized an army with the intention of destroying the Qin government.In 208 BC he installed the grandson of the late ruler of the former State of Chu as the King of Chu，using him as a puppet to attract the patriotic remnants of the former State of Chu.Thousands of men answered his call and joined his army.Altogether with his newly formed army about eight thousand strong men，Xiang Yu marched northwest and occupied a large territory in the Qin Empire.
There was Chinese saying”Rivals meet in a narrow road.” .Liu Bang was a peasant.When he was young，he was lazy and he loved drinking and womanizing.He seemed to be a never-do-well man.He didn’t like working，nordid he read seriously.Yet，he was ambitious，though he didn’t know how to realize his dream.
He joined the Qin army as an ordinary soldier.He rose to the rank of an officer in charge of a town called Si Shang in Jiangsu Province，a very low position at the time.One day he was ordered to escort a group of conscripted workers to march north to help build the tomb for the First Emperor.On the route to the tomb site，many conscripted workers ran away，leaving very few workers to escort.He thought that all of them would have run away by the time they reached the north，and the Qin Authority would punish him.If he could not reach thedestination on time he would also be punished for insubordination.Since he would most probably be punished one way or another，he decided to rebel against the Qin Authority.He established a base in the bush and became a bandit.
Many country folks joined him.Most of his followers were rough plebeians.In order to gain personal worship，as most Chinese rulers did，he created the myth of”Gaozu Killing the Snake”.The story goes as the following：One day Liu Bang got drunk，he left behind his men while walking through a forest.All ofa sudden，the troops stopped，because there was a huge snake lying across the road.
Nobody dared to get near.They reported this to their commander Liu Bang.Halfdrunk，Liu dashed toward the serpent.
He cut it into two halves with his sword.His men praised him and said that he was a dragon so he was able to kill the snake.
In Chinese superstition，the dragon was the totem ofthe emperor.They believed that he was the future emperor，so they would follow him shine and rain.
With his followers he joined Xiang Yu’s army.Hoping to destroy the Qin Authority as quickly as possible，the King of Chu encouraged every one to march west to Xianyang，the capital of the Qin.He also proclaimed that whoever captured the Qin capital first would become the ruler of that region.
It was a free competition.Liu Bang found a short way and went to the Qin capital swiftly.He captured it before any of the other groups.
Xiang Yu，while marching westward towards Xian Yang，received bad news that his uncle Xiang Liang was wounded in the battle with the Qin army，dying soon after.Xiang Yu turned North to meet the Qin army which was commanded by Zhang Han who was the general in charge of building the Great Wall.
With victory in sight，the Qin general Zhang Han pushed northward in order to destroy the Kingdom of Zhao，another rebellious State formed recently by the royal remnants of the former State of Zhao.The Qin’s army surrounded Ju Lu the main city near the Zhao capital of Han Dan.
Xiang Yu ordered a general to relieve the siege，an effort which was unsuccessful.Then，Xiang Yu decided that he should personally lead the rescue expedition.After crossing the Zhang He，he gave the following orders：
（1）All the boats were to be broken and sunk in the river；
（2）All the cooking vessels were to be destroyed；
（3）All the houses along the river band were to be burned.
He told his troops that they were going to a battle of no return.They were either going to win or die.Each soldier was only allowed to have three days worth of provisions.
They fought battle after battle with the Qin army.After the 9th battle Xiang Yu finally defeated them.Thus Xiang Yu’s march to Xian Yang was delayed.
On hearing that Xiang Yu was approaching the capital，Liu Bang，taking all the treasures that he could find from the Qin’s treasury，led his troops north from the capital in order to avoid a collision with oncoming Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu eventually arrived at the capital.He was very angry as he missed the fame for being the first to capture theQin capital.He was further infuriated by the news that all the treasures were taken away by Liu Bang.He ordered his troops to kill all the royal members of the Qin Court.Even the infant ruler of the Qin could not escape the butchering by the victors.
Xiang Yu also ordered all the buildings in the capital，including the palaces，to be set ablaze.The capital was razed to the ground and thus marked the fall of the Qin dynasty.That was the year 206 BC.
After this，Xiang Yu ordered his troops to prepare to attack Liu Bang.Knowing that Xiang Yu was furious and planned to attack him and knowing that he had no way to escape，Liu Bang，encouraged by his advisors，brought the treasures back to the capital and asked Xiang Yu for forgiveness.
Xiang Yu knew that Liu Bang was his single rival for the throne，so he decided to kill him.According to the arrangement of his advisor，he held a banquet at Hongmen and would slay Liu Bang on the spot.From then on the word“Hongmen Banquet” began to mean a dangerous and plotted party.
Liu Bang acted humbly and pitifully at the banquet by begging the Hero King to spare his life，which aroused thesympathy and satisfied the vanity of Xiang Yu.In order toshow his generosity，he not only forgave Liu Bang but also granted him the King in Hanzhong，so“released the tiger into the mountains”.Xiang Yu would take all the treasures back to the east，his home base.
A few months later，after the situation quieted down，a brilliant officer of Xiang Yu advised him to settle down there and use Xianyang as the capital.He told Xiang Yu that the area had many unique advantages.The only way that it could be accessed was through the narrow strip of land between the hills and the Yellow River.Under these conditions it was very easy to defend that region and he could sally forth at will from there to wage war on any eastern rivals.
Xiang Yu ignored his advice.He wanted to go back to the east where his home base was.He further emphasized that hewanted to go home in triumph to show his hometown folks of his success.Another typical element of Chinese Culture.
In 206 BC he returned to the east.He established his capital in Peng Cheng（present Tongshan city in Jiangsu province）.He installed the King of Chu as the Emperor，a puppet and entitled himself the West King of Chu.He also rewarded titles of Kings and Dukes to eighteen of other generals who had helped him to destroy the Qin Empire.Heposted them as rulers to different parts of the country.
Liu Bang was”honored”as King Han，delegated to rule the wild-west Sichuan province.The puppet Emperor got sick in 205 BC，so Xiang Yu murdered him.Liu Bang was furious.
In addition，he believed that he had prepared to fight and he had found a sound excuse.He called upon all the other Kings and Dukes to revolt against Xiang Yu and avenge the death of Emperor.A civil war begun and lasted for five years.The war mainly consisted of battles between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu.
At the beginning of the civil war，Xiang Yu was winning，for he was a brilliant military strategist.Liu Bang lost many battles to Xiang Yu and it seemed that Xiang Yu was going tocrush his rival who was no match with him（as far as military tactics were concerned）.However，Liu Bang had under his command many good military commanders，among whom Han Xin was the best general at the time.
While Liu Bang was collecting talented men to help him，Xiang Yu drove away many useful personnel.With his rude manners，arrogance and lack of political vision，the tide turned against Xiang Yu.In the end he lost the war to Liu Bang.
In 202 BC Xiang Yu was surrounded by Liu Bang’s army at Gai Xia（present Lingbi district in Anhui province）.His army was out of control，however，Xiang Yu managed to escape.
A famous Peking Opera The Mighty King Bidding Farewell to his Mistress describes the last scene of the historical hero.
Although mighty，the King Xiang Yu could no longer change the military situation and he was meeting his end.At midnight，in his army tent，Yu Ji，the great beauty at that time，sang while dancing and playing two swords with both hands.Wildly drunk，Xiang Yu also sang.Firstly，he sang about his strength and unlucky fate.He didn’t understand his failure.Then，they sang together about their love and sorrow to depart this world.Finally，Yu Ji committed suicide before the Hero King.A tragedy like Hitler’s wedding in his bunker in the last days of the Third Reich.
The famous Song Poetess Dynasty Li Qingzhao wrote the following poem to praise the Failare-hero：When alive，you should be a hero，When dead，you should be a demigod.
Today we still remember Xiang Yu，Who refused to escape to Jiang Dong.
