Overthrowing the Qin Dynasty
2 min readIn 209 BC, Liu Bang, village head of Sishui, sent a group of conscripted laborers under escortto Mount Lito build Ying Zheng’s mausoleum; however, many took to flight on the way. Fearful that he would be punished，Liu Bang led the remainder to return to Pei County（present Pei County in Jiangsu Province）.After killing the county magistrate，he became the”Duke of Pei”and formedan insurrectionary army of more than 3，000 people.
Around the same time，Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose in revolt in Dazexiang（in presentSu County of Anhui Province）and established the regime of”Zhangchu”in Chenxian（present Huaiyang County of Henan Province）.They then ordered Wu Chen to command an army to go up north；after occupying Handan（southwest of present Handan City of Hebei Province），Wu Chen made himself the “Prince of Zhao.”
Xiang Liang and his nephew Xiang Yu（232-202 BC），coming from a noble family in the extinct State of Chu，staged an uprising in Wuzhong（present Wu County of Jiangsu Province）and set up Mi Xin–grandson of King Huai of Chu（named Mi Huai）–as king，adopting the same title.Seeing Xiang Liang had vast military forces，Liu Bang went to seek his patronage.
Nevertheless，Xiang Liang who took the enemy lightly was defeated and killed by the Qin general Zhang Han in Dingtao（northwest of present Dingtao County of Shandong Province）in 208 BC.Hearing the news，Xiang Yu and Liu Bang who were attacking Chenliu（southeast of present Kaifeng City of Henan Province）immediately escorted King Huai to Pengcheng（present Xuzhou City of Jiangsu Province），and Liu Bang was granted the title of Marquis Wu’an there.
After Wu Chen was murdered by one of his subordinates，Zhao Xie–a scion of royal stock of the previous Zhao State–became the Prince of Zhao，but he was soon trapped in the besieged city of Julu（present Pingxiang County of Hebei Province）by Zhang Han who marched northward across the Yellow River following the Battle of Dingtao.
Whilst sending Xiang Yu to rescue Zhao Xie，King Huai of Chu ordered his other generals to advance on the Qin capital of Xianyang.He also agreed that the one who reached central Shaanxi first might proclaim himself king.In 206 BC，seizing the chance that the main force of Qin was pinned downin Julu，Liu Bang mounted a large-scale offensive and drove straight into the Central Shaanxi Plain.
Seeing that Liu Bang was pressing forward steadily，Zhao Gao who killed Li Siin 208 BC and acted as Chancellor himself murdered Huhai，and the emperor’s nephew Ziying was crowned king.Soon afterwards Ziying executed Zhao Gao and surrendered himself to Liu Bang who stationed his troops in Bashang（east of present Xilan）not far from Xianyang.The Qin Dynasty became extinct.
