HSIANG Y

born 232 BC, state of Ch'u, China died 202 BC, Anhwei province Pinyin Xiang Yu, original name (Wade-Giles romanization) Hsiang Chi Chinese general and leader of the rebel forces that overthrew the Ch'in dynasty (221206 BC). He was the principal contestant for control of China with Liu Pang, the founder of the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220). Hsiang Y's defeat signaled the end of the old aristocratic order in China. Hsiang Y was a member of a prominent family in Ch'u, one of the Chinese states absorbed by the Ch'in dynasty when it united China and abolished the small feudal kingdoms into which the country had been divided. When rebellions erupted against the dynasty, Hsiang Y joined the Ch'u armies led by his uncle, eventually succeeding him as supreme commander. Hsiang Y's forces captured the Ch'in capital and executed the last Ch'in emperor. Hsiang Y then attempted to restore the earlier ruling system. He gave the title of emperor to a member of the former imperial family of the state of Ch'u and divided the country among the various insurgent generals, making each a ruler of one of the old royal houses. Hsiang Y took the old territory of Ch'u and reserved for himself the title of hegemon king. Soon, however, he had the emperor executed, thus precipitating a struggle for supremacy with his rival generals, the foremost of whom was Liu Pang, who had been given control of western China. Of peasant origin, Liu was a blunt, crude man but one who knew how to win the hearts of the people. He had gradually eliminated his rivals in the west and consolidated his position. Hsiang Y, by contrast, epitomized the aristocrat. He was tall and muscular, a poet and an educated man, and a superb military tactician; yet he lacked the personal magnetism to gain and hold the loyalty of the common people. The truce that the two rivals for power concluded was violated almost immediately by Liu Pang, who also repeatedly declined Hsiang Y's offers to settle their conflict in hand-to-hand combat. In 202 Hsiang Y's forces were overwhelmed, and he chose suicide rather than capture. His heroism, especially during the final battle, has been glorified in Chinese stories and poetry.