The Opportunistic Ascendance Of Wei Man In Korean Chaoxian

Prior to the ascendance of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) over the kingdoms of ancient China, the Chinese Kingdom of Yan had spread its influence past the Yalu River into the Korean Peninsula. When King Zheng of Qin (the eventual First Emperor) captured King Xi of Yan in 222 BCE, the Korean holdings of Yan were absorbed by the growing Qin Empire. The Qin Dynasty, however, did not enjoy supremacy in China for long—massive rebellions broke out in 209 BCE, toppling the Qin emperors by 206 BCE. Civil war then broke out between the successful rebellion leaders, and from the ashes came Emperor Gaozu, who killed or subjugated all of his rival warlords by 202 BCE and founded the Han Dynasty. Emperor Gaozu appointed his childhood friend, Lu Wan, as a vassal king of Yan, including control of Yan’s Korean territory. Lu Wan abandoned his kingdom, however, and defected to the nomadic Xiongnu in 195 BCE, leaving a power vacuum in Yan, especially on the Korean frontier. It was then that a mysterious figure named Wei Man (or Wiman) made his bid for power in the unclaimed Korean lands formerly held by the Kingdom of Yan.

Little is known about the origins of Wei Man. He appears to have been a man of wealth and influence in the Yan-Korean region, but we have no knowledge about how he lived before 195 BCE. Whatever the case, he reportedly had the means and charisma to raise a personal army of over 1,000 men in the aftermath of Lu Wan’s defection, and he used this force to begin taking control of the communities of Northern Korea. Knowing that he would not be able to maintain control with a small garrison of 1,000 men, Wei Man actively assimilated himself into the culture of the natives he wished to rule. He stylized his hair and his wardrobe to make himself more palatable to the Korean population, and apparently succeeded in winning over Koreans to join his army and to support his regime. To further add to his numbers, Wei Man made an effort to recruit refugees who fled from the Han Dynasty. With this coalition of his personal army, Chinese refugees, and native supporters, Wei Man gained control of a sizable chunk of northern Korea, and eventually set up his base of operations at Wangxian (modern Pyongyang). With land and power consolidated under his rule, Wei Man declared himself King of Chaoxian (or Chosŏn), named after the Chinese designation for the land located east of the Yalu River.

Wei Man’s curious rise to power was noticed by the Han government, especially by the governors of Liaodong Province, who administered Han lands that bordered Chaoxian.  Despite this awareness, the Han authorities decided not to interfere in Wei Man’s power-grab over lands that at one point had been under Chinese imperial control. Fortunately for the upstart king of Chaoxian, the early Han rulers were inwardly-focused and more intent on consolidating and enforcing their authority on the kingdoms in the heartland of their empire, rather than expanding imperial influence into the fringe frontiers or beyond. As a result, Emperor Gaozu and his immediate successors tried to keep foreign wars to a minimum, so that they could spend their time and effort on domestic politics and policy. With this philosophy in mind, the early Han emperors made peace with the Xiongnu nomads, and condoned the existence of upstart kingdoms born on the frontiers of the collapsed Qin Empire, as was the case with both the Kingdom of Southern Yue (in the Vietnam area) and Wei Man’s Kingdom of Chaoxian in Korea. The earliest Han Emperors were content to offer these frontier kingdoms peace in exchange for non-aggression pacts and some diplomatic shows of deference.

With Han recognition of his authority as king of Chaoxian, Wei Man continued to gain power, wealth and territory in Korea. He turned his regime into a hereditary monarchy that would continue to rule the kingdom of Chaoxian independently from Han authority for many more decades. The kingdom, however, would ultimately fall when Chaoxian was invaded and conquered by the expansionist Emperor Wu of Han in a war which took place from 109-108 BCE.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Emperor Kangxi on an inspection tour, painted by Wang Hui (1632–1717), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wiman  

The Bizarre Tale Of Shanyu Maodun’s Rise To Power

The Xiongnu were a coalition of ancient nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples to the north and northwest of China, who, by the late 3rd century BCE, built an empire strong enough to pose an existential threat to the Chinese Qin and Han Dynasties. The first high-chief, or Shanyu, of the Xiongnu coalition that was known to Chinese sources was Touman. He was reportedly a contemporary of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty in the late 3rd century BCE. In Touman’s day, the Xiongnu were powerful, but their dominance was not yet firmly established over the other nomadic peoples of the region. One such rival nomadic group was the Yuezhi, to whom Touman apparently sent his son, Maodun, as a diplomat or political hostage. Yet, all was not as it seemed, for Touman and Maodun had very little in the way of a father-son bond. According to Chinese sources, Touman simply wished that his unwanted son would disappear in order to make life easier for his more favored children, so when Maodun reached his destination, Touman immediately attacked the Yuezhi despite what they might do to his son. Faced with this awkward situation, Maodun reportedly stole a horse, fought his way out of Yuezhi territory, and escaped to friendly land.

While Touman may have been disappointed at the survival of his son, the majority of the Xiongnu contrastingly looked upon Maodun’s escape with awe. Perhaps the incident convinced Touman to give his son a second chance, or maybe the escape from Yuezhi hands boosted Maodun’s reputation enough to obligate the Shanyu to give his son a reward—whatever the case, Maodun was reportedly put in command of 10,000 horsemen.

The Xiongnu were known to train in horsemanship and archery from early childhood, but Maodun brought training to a new level when he was given a military command. His program, according to Chinese sources, focused primarily on horse-archery drills and the cultivation of blind obedience. To contribute to both of these goals, Maodun reportedly developed an arrow that whistled as it flew through the air. Wherever Maodun shot this whistling projectile, he expected his horse archers to immediately launch their own arrows in the same direction without any hesitation—those who wavered were reportedly executed.

Maodun’s training began innocently enough. He was said to have brought his horsemen on hunting trips, shooting his whistling arrows at wild game. It was a simple start, but the horsemen were told if they did not meet Maodun’s expectations in speed and accuracy, then they would be executed. When the archers no longer gave any pause to taking shots at whichever animal they were told to target, Maodun began to escalate his training program.

Once the hunting phase was over, Maodun started the real obedience training. As the tale goes, he first shot one of his whistling arrows in the direction of his favorite horse. Some of the archers apparently thought this may have been a trick command and decided not to shoot at their leader’s beloved steed—these men were unfortunately mistaken in their thinking and were promptly executed. Next, Maodun reportedly sent a whistling arrow in the direction of his wife. Again, some of the horsemen hesitated to loose their arrows, and were executed for their show of care. Finally, Maodun shot a whistling arrow at the most prized horse of Shanyu Touman. This time, after so many executions, all of Maodun’s horsemen launched their arrows without any hesitation.

Around the time of the massive Chinese revolt against the Qin Dynasty in 209 BCE, Shanyu Touman and his son, Maodun, reportedly went on a hunting trip. Unfortunately, no father and son bonding would occur on that trip. Instead, Maodun, who was accompanied by some of his unquestioning horsemen, enacted his long-awaited plan to seize power. The account of Grand Historian Sima Qian (c.145-90 BCE) on this incident was as follows:

“Accompanying his father, the Shanyu Touman, on a hunting expedition, he [Maodun] shot a whistling arrow at his father and every one of his followers aimed their arrows in the same direction and shot the Shanyu dead. Then Maodun executed his stepmother, his younger brother, and all the high officials of the nation who refused to take orders from him, and set himself up as the new Shanyu” (Shiji 110).

Under the leadership of the cunning and aggressive Maodun, the Xiongnu would conquer their fellow nomadic neighbors to create a great empire. During his long reign from about 209-174 BCE, Maodun greatly expanded his territory and often got the better of the Chinese Han Emperors.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Painting of Xiongnu nomads, Henan Provincial Museum, Zhengzhou, [Public Domain] via flickr.com and Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xiongnu 
• http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/xiongnu 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/xiongnu.html 
• https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/xiongnu/essay.html  

General Han Xin And The Strategic Wei River Flood

Around the year 204 BCE, or early 203 BCE, a skilled general named Han Xin led an army against the kingdom of Qi. His mission was to subjugate Qi and deliver it into the hands of Liu Bang, the King of Han, who would found the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang’s main rival at the time was Xiang Yu, the king of Chu. Although Liu Bang and Xiang Yu only claimed to be kings, they had come to dominate the other minor kingdoms of post-Qin China, with Liu bang lording over the west and Xiang Yu commanding the east. When Xiang Yu heard that his Han rivals were moving against Qi, he sent an army of Chu soldiers, led by general Long Ju, to help King Tian Guang of Qi defend the kingdom.

The forces of Qi and the army of Long Ju combined their strength and marched together to face Han Xin’s invading troops. They intercepted the Han army before it could cross the Wei River. When the two opposing forces met, the Qi and Chu soldiers observed that the river was oddly low and shallow.

The shallow water did little to encumber the Han forces as Han Xin led half of his troops into the river. Han Xin by this point had an impressive résumé—in 204 BCE, he had personally captured the kings of Wei, Zhao and Dai in battle. Yet, the forces of Qi and Chu found the army in front of them to be underwhelming—when Long Ju led some of his troops to skirmish with the Han soldiers in the river, it seemed to the Qi and Chu forces as if Han Xin had lost his nerve. Not long after the fighting began in the shallow waters of the river, the Han army began fleeing back across the river, where the rest of their troops were still waiting.

Seeing the Han army flee before him, Long Ju apparently believed he was nearing the end of a decisive victory. Eager to deliver the killing blow, Long Ju signaled for the Chu and Qi forces to cross the river and attack the wavering Han army.

Han Xin observed from his side of the river as a significant portion of the Chu and Qi forces waded into the water. Everything had gone exactly as planned—now it was time to spring his trap. Using some sort of signal, Han Xin communicated a message upriver to a group of engineers who were eagerly awaiting orders. These men were overseeing a sandbag dam in the Wei River, which they had rigged to catastrophically fail when triggered by some sort of mechanism. When Han Xin’s message arrived, the engineers collapsed the dam and let the impatient water rush violently back into the depleted Wei River.

Before the soldiers of Qi and Chu could identify the roaring sound coming from upstream, the powerful flood was already upon them. Much of the army was drowned in the flow, but those in the frontlines who had followed Long Ju to the other side of the river were now cut off from the rest of the surviving army. Han Xin and the Han army then charged against the vulnerable troops who had survived the flood and general Long Ju was slain in the resulting massacre. King Tian Guang of Qi, who was watching the catastrophe from dry land on the other side of the river, decided that the battle was lost and fled with what remained of his army. Nevertheless, Han Xin soon intercepted and captured the fleeing king and the last remnants of his troops.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Battle at the River Thi-cau, c. 18th century, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

A King Of Ancient Zhao Was Apparently Killed Because Of His Sister’s Rude Behavior

In ancient Chinese history, people often died in unusual ways and because of odd circumstances, but the fate of King Wu Chen had a peculiarity that made it stand out from other downfalls during his age. According to Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), author of the Records of the Grand Historian, King Wu Chen lost his life because his sister behaved impolitely on a road.

Wu Chen lived in one of the most chaotic times of ancient Chinese history. In 209 BCE, a commoner named Chen She began a rebellion against the Qin Dynasty. After years of suffering under the Qin regime’s strict oppression, the Chinese people were immediately drawn to Chen She’s movement. Revolts popped up in numerous Chinese regions and Chen She was able to position himself as a hegemon, or arch-rebel, acting as the leader of the resistance against the Qin Dynasty. Wu Chen, the man mentioned at the start of the article, was one of Chen She’s early followers.

After earning the arch-rebel’s admiration and trust, Wu Chen received from Chen She an army of 3,000 men, plus some advisors, and was ordered to seize control of the Zhao region. The advisors served Wu Chen well, and they convinced him to try a policy of leniency to win over Zhao. By letting Qin officials keep their titles and status, Wu Chen was reportedly able to take over thirty cities by talking them into joining the rebel cause.

Wu Chen had several skilled and ambitious advisors with him, most notably Zhang Er and Chen Yu, who would both become kings at some point in the rebellion. As the advisors liked Wu Chen more than Chen She, they argued that Wu Chen should not give away land in Zhao to another man, but rather that he should keep it all for himself. After some thought, Wu Chen agreed with his advisors and proclaimed himself to be the king of Zhao. Chen She grudgingly recognized Wu Chen’s title, but still expected the upstart king to follow the orders of the rebellion’s high command.

The king of Zhao once again consulted with his advisors on what to do. They advised Wu Chen to ignore Chen She’s demands and to focus on expanding his kingdom, thereby helping himself while also aiding the rebellion. Agreeing with his advisors, Wu Chen sent out generals to seize control of the regions of Yan, Shangdang and Changshan.

The man in charge of taking Changshan was Li Liang, perhaps one of the Zhao king’s most competent generals. While the expedition to Yan embarrassingly ended in mutiny and Wu Chen being momentarily captured, Li Liang contrastingly subjugated the region of Changshan without much fuss or issue. Pleased with the general’s results, the freed Wu Chen sent Li Liang to capture another swath of territory, this time asking him to take Taiyuan. When Li Liang arrived at his location, he realized that Qin reinforcements had already secured the area, so he headed back to Zhao to get more troops. Despite there not being any major battles, the Qin forces somehow recognized Li Liang, possibly because of military service prior to the rebellion. Whatever the case, Li Liang soon received a letter from a Qin official, claiming that if the general switched sides in the war, he would be pardoned for his part in the rebellion and would receive a good position in the Qin regime.

According to Sima Qian, Li Liang was not swayed by what he read. He continued back toward Handan, the capital of Zhao, intending to strengthen his army for the Taiyuan campaign. Even so, the letter showed Li Liang that he had another option, even if the realization was only made subconsciously.

As Li Liang neared the city of Handan, he noticed a carriage, accompanied by 100 horsemen, that was heading up the road. As the carriage was flying the royal colors of Zhao, Li Liang thought that King Wu Chen was approaching. To show deference and respect, Li Liang and his officers dismounted from their horses and bowed by the side of the road as the carriage rolled past.

Little did Li Liang know that the king was not in the carriage. Actually, it was the king’s sister, who, according to Sima Qian, was still drunk from a drinking party that she had recently attended. Not recognizing the soldiers, or noticing the high status of the their commanding general, the king’s sister only sent one of her horsemen to acknowledge Li Liang with a generic statement of royal thanks. Li Liang took this gesture to be a personal insult and even worse, he believed he had been humiliated and disgraced in front of his army and officers.

The carriage incident prompted Li Liang to rebel against the kingdom of Zhao. Both the general’s staff and common soldiers apparently sympathized with their leader, so Li Liang’s army followed him into rebellion. Li Liang sent assassins after Wu Chen’s sister and then marched the rogue army against Handan, laying siege to the city while the king was still inside. He successfully captured Handan and executed King Wu Chen. After taking the capital, Li Liang attempted to confront another Zhao army, commanded by Chen Yu, but this time he was defeated. After his defeat, Li Liang fled and joined the Qin army.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (A section from the Silk Princess painting from Dandan-oilik (Place of Houses with Ivory), a Buddhist sanctuary in Khotan; from Xinjiang, China, 7th-8th century AD. [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

The Chinese Kingmaker, Xiang Yu, Created Or Affirmed At Least Nineteen Kingdoms In The Intermission Between the Qin and Han Dynasties

Xiang Yu and his uncle, Xiang Liang, joined the rebellion started by Chen She in 209 BCE, which set in motion events that would topple the Qin Dynasty in China. Once the rebels had secured a foothold, Chen She declared himself to be the king of Chu, and several other rebel leaders similarly proclaimed themselves to be the kings of the regions they liberated. In this way, new kings emerged in regions such as Zhao, Yan, Qi and Wei. When Chen She was assassinated not long after the rebellion started, Xiang Liang became the leader of most of the rebel forces. Xiang Liang chose not to make himself the king of Chu, as Chen She had done before him, he instead placed King Huai on the throne of Chu, but kept most of the military under his own control. Xiang Liang eventually died in battle in 208 BCE, and was succeeded by his nephew, Xiang Yu.

Under the leadership of Xiang Yu, the Qin Dynasty was successfully toppled. By 206 BCE, the rebels had defeated the armies of Qin, took the capital city of Xianyang and executed the last Qin prince, Ziying. With the empire in his hands, Xiang Yu let China slip back into feudalism, presumably with the hope that he would remain a hegemon in charge of the revived monarchies of ancient China. According to the historian, Sima Qian (145-90 BCE), Xiang Yu personally crowned or formally recognized at least nineteen kings around the year 206 BCE, giving them power to govern the newly freed regions of China. These are the kings and kingdoms he is known to have created or affirmed:

1. Zhang Han was crowned king of Yong. 
2. Sima Xin was crowned the king of Sai.
3. Dong Yi was crowned the king of Di.
4. Shen Yang was crowned as king of Henan.
5. Sima Ang was made king of Yin.
6. Zhang Er was placed on the throne of Changshan.
7. Qing Bu, previously a lord of Dangyang, was appointed as king of Jiujiang.
8. Wu Rui, the lord of Po, was crowned king of Hengshan.
9. Gong Ao was crowned the king of Linjiang.
10. Xiang Yu allowed King Cheng to remain ruler of Hann (an extra “n” was added by the translators so that it is not confused with the Han Dynasty, formed by another kingdom).
11. Xiang Yu demoted King Bao from his kingdom of Wei, and instead made him king of only Western Wei.
12. Xiang Yu removed King Xie from power in Zhao and placed him on the throne of Dai.
13. Xiang Yu removed King Huang Guang from his domain of Yan and instead made him ruler of Liaodong.
14. With Huang Guang relocated, Xiang Yu made Zhang Tu the new king of Yan.
15. Tian Shi, the king of Qi, was relocated to a new domain in the kingdom of Jiaodong.
16. With Tian Shi gone, Xiang Yu crowned Tian Du as the king of Qi.
17. Tian An was crowned king of Jibei.
18. Not to be left out, Xiang Yu crowned himself the “Dictator King of Western Chu.”
19. Most importantly, Liu Bang, the Governor of Pei, was crowned as the king of Han. He killed Xiang Yu around 202 BCE and eventually became Emperor Gaozu, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. As such, all of the kingdoms listed above were eventually absorbed by the Han. 

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Photograph of a Chinese terracotta miniature, from the Historian's Hut Archives, on top of a Public Domain rubbing detail from Stone Chamber 1 on the West Wall of the Wu Family Shrine in Shandong Province, China, dated 2nd century AD during the Eastern Han Dynasty).

Sources:

Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

The Great Successes And Horrible Betrayals Of The Qin General, Zhang Han

At the time of the widespread revolts against the Qin Dynasty, in 209 BCE, Zhang Han was one of the leading generals charged with crushing the rebellion. He is first mentioned as having been stationed as a treasurer at the First Emperor of Qin’s tomb, made famous by its terracotta warriors. When the rebellion broke out, he conscripted the local laborers and set out against the rebel forces. Zhang Han formed his recruits into a fighting force and crushed a rebel army led by a man named Zhou Wen. After a series of battles, Zhou Wen ultimately committed suicide.

Zhang Han continued to march his troops against rebel forces, who were beginning to consolidate under a leader named Chen She. The Qin general broke up a rebel siege at the city of Xingyang. Chasing the momentum, Zhang Han attacked several more rebel leaders—he scattered one band led by a man named Deng Yue and shortly thereafter defeated more rebels led by a certain Wu Xu. Finally, Zhang Han marched his troops toward the most influential rebel leaders. In the resulting battle, the Qin forces killed a major rebel general named Zhang Jia, and the original agitator of the revolt, Chen She, was assassinated not too long after the battle.

Although Zhang Han had not personally killed Chen She, he would have a much more hands-on involvement in the death of Chen She’s successor, Xiang Liang. When Zhang Han’s forces moved against Xiang Liang, the rebel leader sent two of his own generals out to challenge the approaching Qin forces. The two unlucky generals, a certain Yu Fanjun and Zhu Jishi, met the Qin in battle near the region of Li. In the resulting defeat, the former rebel was killed in battle and the latter was executed when he returned to his boss.

Despite the loss, the rebel hegemon, Xiang Liang, won a string of victories against the Qin. Yet, in 208 BCE, Zhang Han received more reinforcements and attacked Xiang Liang at the city of Dingtao and killed the rebel leader. Following the victory, Zhang Han moved his forces against the region of Zhao.

In the aftermath of Dingtao, Xiang Liang’s nephew, Xiang Yu, took control of the rebel forces. He proved to be a much more deadly force than his uncle. Xiang Yu annihilated a Qin army at the city of Julu. After that victory, he positioned his army across the Zhang River from Zhang Han’s own camp at Jiyuan. By this time, the Qin general supposedly feared that he had fallen out of favor with his emperor and began to send messages proposing an alliance with Xiang Yu. Despite the messages, the rebels attacked Zhang Han at least two more times before they considered his offer. According to the Grand Historian Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), Zhang Han was accepted into the rebellion and was crowned as the rebel king of Yong. The Qin troops he had been leading, however, were not so lucky—Sima Qian wrote that 200,000 of Zhang Han’s former troops were executed.

Unfortunately for Zhang Han, his kingdom of Yong was adjacent to the kingdom of Han. In 205 BCE, Liu Bang, the future first emperor of the Han Dynasty conquered Yong, prompting Zhang Han to commit suicide.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Mausoleum Terracotta Army of the Qin Emperor, [Public Domain] via maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 
• http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_zhang_han.html 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personszhanghan.html  

A Witty Dwarf Was Said To Have Advised The Qin Emperors Of China

According to the sources of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), a certain dwarf named Actor Zhan served in the courts of the First (r. 221-210 BCE) and Second (r. 210-207 BCE) Qin Emperors of China. Zhan’s job description was something akin to the Western idea of a court jester—he navigated a fine line with his humor, joking about the emperor’s poor ideas, while staying respectful enough to keep his head intact. His goal was not only to make the emperors laugh, but to also inform them of their mistakes so that these could be corrected.

Sima Qian recorded a few tales in which Actor Zhan played a prominent role. One of the stories was set on a cold, rainy day when the First Emperor was holding a banquet in his palace. While the emperor was hearing toasts and receiving cheers to his health from the important guests, all of the guardsmen were shivering in their soaked uniforms out on the palace steps. Taking pity on the guards, Actor Zhan made a quip about how blessed a dwarf he was to be able to lounge in the comfort of the palace while brave and valiant soldiers were left to freeze in the cold downpour. Enlightened to the situation, the First Emperor directed the guards to split into shifts, so that they were not all in the rain at the same time.

In another story, the First Emperor supposedly had the bizarre idea of converting most of the land around the capital city of Xianyang into one huge royal hunting park, even to the extent of displacing military garrisons and defenses. Actor Zhan was said to have gleefully agreed with the idea, but also suggested that animal trainers would need to be brought in to teach the wildlife how to fight rebel armies. Warned that turning the whole capital region into a hunting reserve could leave Xianyang open to attack, the First Emperor decided to no longer pursue the idea.

Actor Zhan still had influence in the imperial court even after the Second Emperor seized the throne in the aftermath of the First Emperor’s death. Sometime in 210 BCE, the first year of the Second Emperor’s reign, the new emperor allegedly decided that the capital city needed some renovations. He proclaimed that he wanted all of the capital’s walls to be lacquered. Actor Zhan apparently proclaimed that it was a splendid idea. He energetically envisioned rebels slipping and sliding down the slick, shiny lacquered walls of the city. Surely the enormous manpower and expenses required to apply lacquer to the whole city would be worth such a sight. He ended his witty outburst with a joke about the gargantuan drying shed that would be needed to finish the project. After listening to Actor Zhan’s veiled criticisms, the Second Emperor decided to spruce up the city by different means.

According to Sima Qian, Actor Zhan eventually became disillusioned with the Qin emperors. Following the suicide or execution of the Second Emperor of Qin in 207 BCE, Zhan defected to the growing rebel movements. By the end of the same year, rebels executed the Third Emperor and the Qin Dynasty collapsed. Not long after the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, Actor Zhan died, presumably from natural causes.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Chinese dwarf, Chung Mow. Wood engraving, via Welcome Images, on top of A mural painting from Cave 61 at the Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu province, China, Public Domain via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

China’s First Emperor Of The Qin Dynasty Was Said To Have Been Almost Assassinated By A Blind Musician

According to the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), and the various sources he had access to, a truly great musician lived in the kingdom of Yan during the decades leading up to the creation of the Qin Dynasty, founded in 221 BCE by Qin Shihuangdi, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. The musician’s name was Gao Jianli and his instrument of choice was the lute. In the city of Ji, the capital of Yan, Gao Jianli could frequently be found in the city’s marketplace, drinking with his friends. Once the wine was flowing, the musician would take out his lute and strum whatever notes or tunes came to mind. One of Gao Jianli’s friends, a wandering swordsman named Jing Ke, would often join in by singing along with the music.

Sometime around 227 BCE, Jing Ke no longer showed up in the market to sing along with the sounds of the lute. Unfortunately, Crown Prince Dan, the heir to the Kingdom of Yan, had sent the swordsman on an ill-fated mission. Armed with the sharpest blade in the realm, and poison to coat its deadly edge, Jing Ke left Yan in order to assassinate King Zheng of Qin, the future First Emperor. Gao Jianli may have had an inkling of what had been put in motion. He was a loyal man of the kingdom of Yan, and he was even said to have been at the city’s gate, playing encouraging music on his lute, as Jing Ke departed the capital.

As King Zheng would eventually become the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Jing Ke’s mission obviously failed. After supposedly chasing the king for a few laps around his throne room, Jing Ke was eventually disarmed and executed. When King Zheng found out that the Crown Prince of Yan had organized the attack, Qin retaliated and, by 226 BCE, captured the Yan capital of Ji. In the next few years, Yan and all of the other rival kingdoms of ancient China were systematically subjugated by King Zheng, who ended his conquests in 221 BCE, marking the beginning of the Qin Dynasty.

After his homeland was defeated, Gao Jianli went into hiding. He was a known associate of Jing Ke and rightly suspected that the emperor would show little mercy to an assassin’s acquaintance. Therefore, Gao Jianli stopped playing the lute and became a laborer and a servant in the city of Songzi. Though he strictly did not play his lute in public, the musician could not stop from openly critiquing the music played by other people. Impressed by the knowledgeable criticisms, many of Gao Jiangli’s coworkers began to suspect that he had a background in music.

The mumblings of the workers eventually reached the owner of the house in which Gao Jianli was employed. One day, when the master of the house was entertaining guests, he summoned the musician to where everyone had congregated. Handing the man a spare lute, he asked Gao Jianli to play for the crowd. Unable to resist the temptation of strumming a few chords, Gao Jianli hesitantly plucked at the strings. Even though it was his first public performance in years, the musician impressed the audience. Praising Gao Jianli’s ability, the crowd cheered and poured him rounds of wine. The musician, touched by their applause, went back to his trunk, took out his personal lute and donned garments left over from his heyday in the kingdom of Yan. When he returned to the guests in his fashionable clothes and his well-used lute, he put on a masterful encore, which was moving enough to leave tears in eyes of every listener.

After that performance, Gao Jianli’s fame grew exponentially. He toured from house to house in Songzi, playing concerts for wealthy patrons who wanted to hear his music. Each successful recital increased the musician’s renown, causing Gao Jiangli’s popularity to overflow out of the city and into the surrounding provinces. Eventually, word of the musician’s skill even reached Xianyang, the capital city of the Qin Dynasty.

Impressed by the rumors, the First Emperor summoned the mysterious musician to play before the imperial court. Instead of withdrawing back into hiding, Gao Jianli decided to try his luck, hoping that his past life was either forgotten or forgiven. There is also the possibility that he was tired after years of living in the shadows and decided to stop running. Whatever the motivation, Gao Jianli packed his belongings and traveled to meet with the emperor. Unfortunately, the musician was immediately recognized by one of the emperor’s courtiers. When the First Emperor heard that the man was an associate of the assassin, Jing Ke, he ordered that Gao Jianli’s eyes be removed as punishment. The musician’s life, however, was spared because the emperor still wanted to hear the man perform.

The emperor was apparently very fond of Gao Jianli’s music and was said to have let the musician come remarkably close when he played. Although Gao Jianli had been blinded, he still could sense how near the emperor let him approach. Still bitter about the downfall of his homeland—not to mention the loss of his eyes—the blind lutist began planning his revenge. The musician was able to scavenge a heavy piece of lead and secretly attached it to the inside of his lute. With the cumbersome instrument in hand, Gao Jianli approached the emperor and, listening intently, tried to pinpoint the monarch’s exact location. When he thought the emperor was near, the blind musician swung the heavy lute with all of his might, hoping to bludgeon the tyrant to death. Unfortunately, Gao Jainli misjudged the distance and hit nothing but air. Outraged by the incident, the First Emperor had the bold musician immediately executed.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Musician statue from a Matsuoka Museum of Art in front of a 3rd-century depiction of Jing Ke's attack on King Zheng, both [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.  

The Child Who Became A Minister In The Kingdom Of Qin

Ancient China gave birth to countless intellectuals, philosophers and strategists who found employment under the rival kings leading the numerous warring Chinese states. Among the long list of advisors, bureaucrats, generals and statesmen who thrived in that war-torn time, one particular name stands out from the others—Gan Luo.

Not all that much is known about the life of Gan Luo. He can be roughly dated as living during the reign of King Zheng (the future First Emperor of China), who ascended the throne of Qin around 247 or 246 BCE. He also studied under the Qin minister, Lü Buwei, who was said to have committed suicide around 235 BCE. Therefore, Gan Luo’s entry into the Qin government can be placed loosely between those dates.

According to the sources of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (145-90 BCE), Gan Luo was only 12 years old when he began to serve the kingdom of Qin. Despite his young age, Gan Luo displayed a mind of wisdom and cunning. When Lü Buwei could not convince a man named Zhang Tang to become the next (pro-Qin) prime minister of the kingdom of Yan, the young Gan Luo succeeded where his master had failed. The child followed up that feat by traveling to the kingdom of Zhao, where he impressively convinced King Xiang to cede five cities to the kingdom of Qin. Gan Luo also worked out a deal where the kingdom of Qin would support Zhao in an upcoming war with the kingdom of Yan. In that conflict, Sima Qian claimed that Zhao seized thirty cities from Yan, of which eleven of the captured cities were then handed over to the kingdom of Qin.

After returning home from his successful mission in Zhao, King Zheng of Qin gave the boy great wealth and promoted him to a high ministerial rank. After that, Gan Luo seemingly vanished from history. Perhaps, he died shortly after returning to Qin. Or, more hopefully, he quit politics and lived a happy life of luxury, ignoring the chaotic world he lived within.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (One Hundred Children in the Long Spring, by Su Hanchen (1101–1161), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Diverse/zonghengjia.html  

The Ancient Royal Blunder Of Crown Prince Dan of Yan

In 227 BCE, the Kingdom of Qin was well on its way to becoming the sole ruling power in ancient China. In fact, the Qin leader at that time, King Zheng (r. 246-210 BCE), was only about six years away from decisively subjugating all of his rival kings and declaring himself the First Emperor of China. Consequently, King Zheng would have been seen by his contemporaries as the most threatening king, in charge of the most powerful state of the age. As such, the kings who had not already submitted to Qin rule were desperate to remove King Zheng from power.

Crown Prince Dan, son of the King of Yan, decided to take matters into his own hands and sent an assassin by the name of Jing Ke to kill the powerful monarch of Qin. Nevertheless, King Zheng was a paranoid man who benefitted from a tough network of personal security. Jing Ke, like several future assassins, did not accomplish his mission and was instead captured by the Qin. According to the first major historian of China, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), Jing Ke was gruesomely executed by being pulled apart, his limbs torn from his body. Yet, before the execution was over, King Zheng learned that it was none other than the Crown Prince of Yan who had hired the assassin.

King Zheng of Qin, like the vast majority of kings from the Warring States Period in which he lived and would eventually end, was a wrathful king who rarely forgave insults or attacks. Therefore, before the year (227 BCE) was over, King Zheng placed two of his most accomplished generals, Wang Jiang and Xia Sheng, in charge of an army meant to invade the Kingdom of Yan. When the king of Yan heard of the approaching army, he mobilized his forces and marched out to meet the approaching Qin. The state of Dai also contributed its forces to the Yan army, as the Dai also felt threatened by the ever-expanding Qin. In the end, King Zheng’s forces clashed with the armies of Yan and Dai near the Yi River and won a decisive victory.

The next year, in 226 BCE, the Qin forces were free to move about in the Kingdom of Yan. They besieged the kingdom’s capital of Ji, and once reinforcements arrived, they stormed the city. During or after the battle for the capital, the Qin general, Wang Jiang, captured Crown Prince Dan and executed him by beheading. And so, while the earlier assassin sent by the Crown Prince had failed in his mission, the army dispatched by King Zheng proved more than capable of seeking vengeance against the Kingdom of Yan.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Rubbing of a 3rd century stone thought to depict Jin Ke's attempted assassination of Emperor Shihuangdi, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Basic Annals of Qin in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.