Xiangyu

Xiang Yu (Chinese: 項羽, pinyin: xiàng yǔ; 232-202 BCE) was a prominent general during the fall of the Qin dynasty. His name was Ji (籍), and his honorific was Yu. He was a descendant of the Chu peerage. He took command of his uncle's rebel army after he was killed by the Qin. His army was soon the most powerful of all the rebels. Xiang Yu proclaimed himself Xi Chu Ba Wang (西楚霸王), that is, Great Lord of Western Chu.

Liu Bang, was the one who later founded the Han dynasty, and was the first rebel to conquer Xianyang, the capital of Qin. But Liu Bang was forced to cede XianYang, and Ziying, the last regent of Qin, to Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu then killed Ziying and burned the palace, so that the unique copies of the "forbidden books" in the royal library they were lost forever.

The powerful Xiang Yu soon controlled all of China, but he lacked political experience. He divided the country into 18 feudal states for his own satisfaction. Because he promoted himself based on nepotism, he alienated talented people from participating in his cause. Although he thought that Liu Bang was the biggest threat to him, he missed several opportunities to eliminate him. After five years of Chu-Han's contention with Liu Bang, he soon lost all territory from him. He suffered his last defeat at Kaixia (垓下), where he lost his armies. His beloved concubine Yuji (虞姬) committed suicide next. The title of the Chinese opera Farewell My Concubine , like the film of the same name based on the same opera, is based on the aria that Xiang Yu sings to Lady Ju in his last moments.

It should be mentioned that he had great support in his homeland, but he had a feeling of not being able to face going back home. Having crossed the Wujiang (烏江口) River with eight thousand men and returning now with none of them, he felt that the shame of returning was unbearable and he decided instead to end everything at that moment. He committed suicide by the river.

His heroic death at the hands of Liu Bang has been immortalized in Historical Memoirs, making him a hero of Chinese folklore stories and poetry. Xiang Yu is depicted in Jin Guliang's Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes).