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Xiang Yu (c. 232 – c.January 202 BC), [1] born Xiang Ji, was the Hegemon-King of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the state of Chu, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynasty, destroying their last remnants and becoming a powerful warlord.
It was one of the highlights of the power struggle between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu leading to the outbreak of the Chu–Han Contention, a violent civil war for supremacy over China which concluded with Xiang Yu's defeat and death at the Battle of Gaixia, followed by Liu Bang's establishment of the Han dynasty with himself as its founding emperor.
The opera tells the story of Xiang Yu, the self-styled "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" who battled for the unification of China with Liu Bang, the eventual founder of the Han dynasty. In the play, Xiang Yu is surrounded by Liu Bang's forces and on the verge of total defeat, so he calls forth his horse and begs it to run away for the sake of its ...
According to Sima Qian, when the anti-Qin rebel and Chu aristocrat Xiang Yu entered the already-surrendered capital Xianyang a year later in 206 BCE, the city was sacked and the palaces of Qin were burned to the ground. While Sima Qian does not mention it explicitly, it was long assumed throughout history that Epang Palace burnt with them.
This piece gives an overall view of the battle, while "The King Doffs His Armor" focused on Xiang Yu and his defeat. Ambush from Ten Sides provides a vivid depiction, in the form of musical narrative, of the fierce and stirring scenes of the battle and the desolate and solemn scenes of the defeated Xiang Yu, and ends with the triumph of the victor.
In April he used Xiang Yu's assassination of King Huai II of Chu to launch a full-scale war against Xiang Yu for control over China (see the Chu-Han Contention). In January 206, when Xiang Yu made himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, he had awarded King Huai with the title of Emperor Yi (Acting Emperor).
This strategy aimed to secure the manpower, food and wealth of northern China for Liu Bang while keeping Xiang Yu himself distracted in China's Central Plain. This was achieved by basing Liu Bang in the Central Plain in Xingyang and Chenggao, as the feud between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, two former sworn brothers, was both political and personal. [5]
Zhang Er fled to Liu Bang, the king of Han, who in August had begun his struggle against Xiang Yu for control over China by having his General-in-Chief Han Xin invade Guanzhong (the Three Qins). [7] In early 205 Zhao Xie and Chen Yu sided with Liu Bang against Xiang Yu, as they had rebelled against the Eighteen Kingdoms-arrangement of the latter.