Person232 BC – 202 BC
Xiang Yu
Also called: Hegemon-King of Western Chu, Xiang Ji
General from a noble Chu family who destroyed Qin’s main army and became Hegemon-King of Western Chu, but killed himself after losing to Liu Bang at Gaixia
Where they went
2 related events
- 1
The year after the First Emperor died, conscripts on their way to the frontier rose under Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. The revolt spread across the country and Qin collapsed fifteen years after unification.
- 2
After Qin fell, Xiang Yu of Chu and Liu Bang, King of Han, fought for the realm. Victorious at Gaixia, Liu Bang became emperor, founded the Han dynasty and made Chang’an his capital.
People who appear alongside
- Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han)195 BC
First emperor of Han (r. 202–195 BCE), a petty official from Pei who defeated Xiang Yu in the Chu–Han contention and founded the dynasty
- Chen Sheng208 BC
Peasant rebel at the end of Qin who rose with Wu Guang at Dazexiang in 209 BCE, founded Zhangchu and proclaimed himself king
- Qin Shi Huang259 BC – 210 BC
King of Qin (247–221 BCE) and first emperor (221–210 BCE) who conquered the six other states, unified China and created a centralised imperial system
Themes this person appears in
- Ancient China and India770 BC – AD 220
From the Hundred Schools of the Warring States to the unified empires of Qin and Han, and from the Buddha to the Maurya and Kushan empires — the millennium that shaped East and South Asian civilisation