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Civil war in China (206–202 BCE)
The Chu–Han Contention (楚漢相爭), also known as the Chu–Han War (楚漢戰爭), was an interregnum of civil wars in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty in 206 BCE and the establishment of the Han dynasty in 202 BCE.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “Western Chu”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Chu–Han Contention (楚漢相爭), also known as the Chu–Han War (楚漢戰爭), was an interregnum of civil wars in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty in 206 BCE and the establishment of the Han dynasty in 202 BCE.
After the Qin dynasty was overthrown, the empire was divided into the Eighteen Kingdoms, ruled by enfeoffed rebel leaders and surrendered Qin generals according to the arrangement by Xiang Yu, the hegemon warlord. Due to dissatisfaction among the rebels, wars and rebellions soon broke out, most prominently between two major powers, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, who were the rulers of the Western Chu and Han kingdoms, respectively. Other kingdoms also waged war against Chu and Han and among themselves, but these were largely insignificant compared to the Chu-Han conflict. The wars ended with a total victory to Liu Bang at the Battle of Gaixia, during which Xiang Yu committed suicide after losing all his men in a last stand. Having subdued all rival contenders, Liu Bang subsequently proclaimed himself emperor of the newly established Han dynasty.
Towards the end of the Warring States period, the western state of Qin conquered the other six states – Hán, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi – and unified China under the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE, and King Zheng of Qin declared himself the First Emperor of China. After his untimely death during the fifth imperial tour in 210 BCE, the chief eunuch Zhao Gao conspired with chancellor Li Si to install the incompetent Prince Huhai as the new emperor, forcing the suicide of the then-heir apparent Prince Fusu and purging anyone deemed disobedient in the Qin court. Due to Huhai's corrupt rule, a massive uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out in Dazexiang (modern day Yongqiao District, Anhui) in 209 BC, and lasted five months until Qin forces finally managed to crush the rebellion with a hastily organized army of penal troopers led by General Zhang Han.
Although the Dazexiang uprising had failed, other rebellions erupted consecutively over the next three years. The leaders of these rebellions were either pretenders of the former six states conquered by Qin, old noblemen and gentries who sought to revert China back to the political order of a pre-Qin decentralized federacy, or simply opportunists who wanted to exploit the chaos for self-advancement. Among them, the most notable young rebel was Xiang Yu, who descended from an aristocrat family of Chu generals and initially followed the rebellion of his uncle Xiang Liang, wanting to revive the Chu state with the exiled King Huai II as its nominal ruler. Another notable Chu rebel leader was Liu Bang, a rural sheriff from Pei County who had formed his own rebel group with his associates, many of whom, like Liu, were local civil servants within the Qin bureaucracy before the rebellion. Liu Bang, who came from a grassroots background, had initially joined the Xiang Liang, but quickly became a rebel leader on par with the Xiang Clan within the Chu camp due to his personal charisma and willingness to befriend anyone as allies.
In August 208 BC, Xiang Liang, the supreme commander of the Chu rebels at the time, was defeated and killed in action at Dingtao by Zhang Han. In the fallout of the defeat, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang relocated King Huai II from Xuyi to a new capital in Pengcheng (彭城; present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu). In September, King Huai II ordered all the Chu leaders to attack different Qin fronts, promising them that anyone who first invaded Guanzhong, the heartland of the Qin dynasty, could lawfully claim the whole region as fief under the title "King of Guanzhong". Xiang Yu was assigned to the northern front initially as a deputy general under Song Yi, who took over the late Xiang Liang's post as supreme commander, but he soon mutinied and killed Song under the accusation of treasonous cowardice. Xiang Yu then led an outnumbered Chu forces to a surprise victory over Zhang Han's Qin army at the Battle of Julu, and after the battle controlled nine commanderies in the former Liang, and Chu territories.
While the bulk of the Qin forces were up north fighting Xiang Yu at Julu, Liu Bang led his forces west into the Guanzhong region via the Wu Pass, facing minimal resistance along the way due to his clever use of diplomacy, bribery and surprise attacks against the demoralized Qin defenders. By October 207 BCE, his army had overcome the last significant resistance in Lantian and arrived at the outskirts of the Qin capital Xianyang. Meanwhile, in the Qin royal court, Zhao Gao had committed treason by forcing King Huhai to commit suicide, and installed another prince Ziying as a puppet ruler. Ziying, however, hated Zhao Gao intensely and soon plotted with eunuchs to have him assassinated and his three clans exterminated. With Liu Bang's forces approaching unopposed, Ziying decided to surrender the capital, bringing an end to the Qin dynasty. Liu Bang treated Ziying respectfully and entered Xianyang peacefully, forbidding his troops from harming civilians and looting the capital, citing that the Qin people were also victims of the empire's tyrannical rule and thus should not be unjustly punished. He then publicly proclaimed that all harsh Qin laws were to be abolished except strict punishments for murder, harm and theft, earning him the love of the Qin citizens. His deputy Xiao He had the Qin code of law and all of its archives and government documents collected and relocated for preservation.
However, when Xiang Yu eventually arrived as well, he immediately besieged and captured the Hangu Pass garrisoned by Liu Bang's troops out of frustration that Liu Bang had the easier route and stole all the glory. Liu Bang was then pressured into ceding the Guanzhong region to Xiang Yu despite the earlier agreement between them. When Liu Bang personally visited to pay respect and apology, Xiang Yu also attempted to assassinate him at the Feast at Swan Goose Gate under the advice of Fan Zeng, but Liu Bang escaped thanks to his humble courtesy and Xiang Yu's indecisiveness when confronted by Liu Bang's brother-in-law Fan Kuai. Xiang Yu then entered Xianyang, allowing his troops to pillage and plunder the city, ordered the burning of the Epang Palace, and had all the surrendered Qin royalties executed. Later, Xiang Yu forced Liu Bang to accept the enfeoffment of the remote Bashu region (present-day Sichuan Basin), which was then very underdeveloped and mainly used as penal colonies for exiled criminals. After lobbying by Liu Bang's friend Zhang Liang, a Hán aristocrat widely respected among the rebels for previously attempting to ambush and assassinate the First Emperor in 218 BC, Xiang Yu reluctantly added the better developed Hanzhong Basin to Liu Bang's fiefs, arguing that it now fulfilled the promise of "King of Guanzhong" as Hanzhong was connected to the region via mountain passes within the Qinling Mountains. As Liu Bang's forces relocated into the new fief, Xiang Yu had his troops following them as "escort", and Liu Bang resorted to burning the gallery roads behind his convoy as a precautionary measure to prevent being attacked in the rear and as a diplomatic gesture of accepting Xiang Yu's arrangement to never return again.
Xiang Yu then divided the former Qin Empire into numerous regional states collectively known as the Eighteen Kingdoms, each ruled by either a rebel leader or a surrendered Qin general, with the Kingdom of Chu being the hegemon holding the nominal suzerain power over the other kingdoms. Xiang Yu also honoured King Huai II with a higher title, "Emperor Yi of Chu", and declared himself "Hegemon-King of Western Chu". Shortly after that, he exiled the figurehead Emperor Yi to Chen County (郴縣, present-day Chenzhou, Hunan), and secretly ordered his ally Ying Bu, the King of Jiujiang, to intercept and assassinate the emperor along the way.
Xiang Yu's arrangement of the Eighteen Kingdoms sowed significant dissatisfaction among the anti-Qin rebels as it was marred by cronyism, with many rebel leaders who were either not favored by Xiang Yu or merely absent during the appointment (as they were garrisoned far away from Guanzhong) receiving little to no fiefs at all. His enfeoffment of the Guanzhong region (which rightfully should have been Liu Bang's) to three surrendered Qin generals Zhang Han, Sima Xin and Dong Yi (collectively known as the Three Qins), who were widely seen as traitors by the Qin people after the sacking of Xianyang, essentially destabilized three of the Eighteen Kingdoms from the start. Moreover, the instigated assassination of Emperor Yi, and Xiang Yu's personal arrogance over battlefield prowess and lack of respect for those deemed beneath him further added to the dissents.
Merely six months after Qin dynasty's collapse, Tian Rong, a Qi state noble and rebel leader, was unhappy with how the Qi territories had been split among three kingdoms – Qi, Jiaodong and Jibei, collectively known as the Three Qis – and himself not receiving anything due to grudges with Xiang Yu, so he waged war against the other kingdoms. He killed Tian Shi, the King of Jiaodong, and Tian An, the King of Jibei. Tian Du, the King of Qi, was defeated by Tian Rong so he fled and joined Xiang Yu. Tian Rong gained control of the Three Qis and became the ruler of the Qi territories.
Tian Rong contacted Peng Yue, a grassroots rebel leader who also didn't go to Guanzhong to be enfeoffed and ended up with his territory claimed by Xiang Yu, and formed an alliance against Xiang Yu. At the same time, he sent troops to support Chen Yu, who had started a rebellion in the former state of Zhao. In 205 BCE, Chen Yu defeated Zhang Er, the King of Changshan, and seized control of his kingdom. Chen Yu then installed Zhao Xie, the King of Dai, as the new ruler of the Zhao territories.
Upon learning of the rebellions in Qi and Zhao, Xiang Yu led his forces north to deal with the rebels. Meanwhile, further in the north, Zang Tu, the King of Yan, killed Han Guang, the King of Liaodong, seized the latter's lands and proclaimed himself the ruler of the Yan territories.
While Xiang Yu was away and busy dealing with the northern rebellions, Liu Bang, who was never happy with the fiefs forcefully appointed to him, seized the opportunity to attack the Three Qins' territories in Guanzhong. During the few months settling in Hanzhong, Liu Bang's deputy Xiao He discovered a talented military commander named Han Xin, and convinced Liu Bang to make him the grand marshall. Han Xin proposed a strategy of pretending to reconstruct the previously burnt gallery roads in order to draw the Three Qins' attention towards the mountain passes south of Xianyang, while his main forces secretly took a western detour to invade Guanzhong through Chencang (present-day Baoji, Shaanxi) and surprise the Three Qins. The plan was a huge success, and Han Xin defeated the hastily regrouped Zhang Han, the King of Yong, in two consecutive battles.
Riding on the tide of victory, Liu Bang proceeded to conquer Longxi (the area in present-day eastern Gansu located west of Mount Long), Beidi (northeastern Gansu and Ningxia) and Shang (around present-day Yulin). He also sent his men to retrieve his family in Pei (present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu) and bring them to him from territories controlled by Western Chu.
Upon receiving news of Liu Bang's attacks, Xiang Yu sent an army to Yangjia (陽夏; present-day Taikang County, Henan) to block Liu Bang's forces; he also appointed Zheng Chang as the King of Hán to help him cover his flank.
In 205 BCE, after conquering the Three Qins in the Guanzhong region, Liu Bang advanced to the east of Hangu Pass to prepare for an attack on the Henan region. Sima Xin, the King of Sai, Dong Yi, the King of Di, and Shen Yang, the King of Henan, surrendered to Liu Bang. Zheng Chang, the King of Hán, refused to submit to Liu Bang, so Liu Bang sent Hán Xin to attack and defeat him. Liu Bang then replaced Zheng Chang with Hán Xin as the new King of Hán. Zhang Er, the former King of Changshan, joined Liu Bang after losing his domain to Zhao Xie and Chen Yu.
In April–May 205 BCE, Liu Bang attacked Henei with help from Wei Bao, the King of Western Wei. When Liu Bang received news that Xiang Yu had ordered the assassination of Emperor Yi, he held a memorial service for the emperor and accused Xiang Yu of committing regicide, using this incident as political propaganda to justify his war against Xiang Yu.
In May–June 205 BCE, Xiang Yu defeated Tian Rong at Chengyang (城陽; around present-day Ju County, Shandong). Tian Rong was killed while retreating to Pingyuan (around present-day northwestern Shandong). Although the Kingdom of Qi had surrendered, Xiang Yu still allowed his troops to plunder and loot the Qi territories. Tian Rong's younger brother, Tian Heng, made Tian Rong's son Tian Guang the new King of Qi, and continued to put up resistance against Xiang Yu.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Chu–Han Contention”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.