Gaixia was the last great battle of the Chu–Han Contention, the civil war that followed the collapse of the Qin dynasty. In the winter of 203–202 BC (it is dated variously to December 203 BC or to 202 BC), a coalition led by the general Han Xin on behalf of Liu Bang, King of Han, trapped and destroyed the army of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, in what is now eastern China. Xiang Yu died soon after in a last stand at the Wu River, and within months Liu Bang made himself the first emperor of the Han dynasty.
Two rivals worn down
From 205 BC Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought a long war of attrition on the Central Plain. Meanwhile Han Xin conquered the north for Han, defeating a Chu–Qi coalition in late 204 BC and taking the state of Qi in 203 BC. Xiang Yu tried to persuade Han Xin to stay neutral and divide China three ways; Han Xin's adviser urged him to agree, warning that Liu Bang would one day destroy him, but Han Xin stayed loyal.
The traditional histories tell vivid stories of the stand-off near Xingyang: Xiang Yu threatening to cook Liu Bang's captured father, Liu Bang's mocking reply, and an ambush in which Liu Bang was wounded by hidden archers.
A broken truce
With his supplies harassed by the pro-Han warlord Peng Yue and his northern ally lost, Xiang Yu agreed in 203 BC to make peace, returning Liu Bang's father and wife and accepting a division of China along the Honggou Canal. The truce was a trick devised by Liu Bang's advisers Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. As Xiang Yu withdrew east, Liu Bang broke the agreement and pursued him, but when Han Xin and Peng Yue failed to join him, Xiang Yu turned and beat him at Guling. Liu Bang then promised Han Xin and Peng Yue kingdoms of their own, and they committed themselves fully.
Converging armies
Under Han Xin's overall command, several armies invaded Chu from the north-east, the west and the south-east and joined forces in December, an impressive feat in winter. Traditional figures of 300,000 Han against 100,000 Chu soldiers cannot be checked, but the coalition clearly outnumbered Xiang Yu. After a first defeat near Chen, the Chu army was brought to battle at Gaixia.
The battle
Han Xin's tactics have been compared with Hannibal's at the Battle of Cannae. His centre attacked, made no headway against Xiang Yu's veterans and fell back, drawing the Chu forces after it. His two wings then struck the Chu army from both sides, probably enveloping it, and the centre returned to the attack. Xiang Yu's army was badly defeated and retreated to its camp, where it was surrounded.
Songs of Chu and the Wu River
According to the traditional account, that night Han soldiers, many of them Chu men themselves, sang songs of Chu around the camp. Xiang Yu's men deserted in large numbers, and he concluded that Chu itself had gone over to the enemy. He broke out with about 800 horsemen, losing most of them in the pursuit. At the Wu River, ashamed of how many men of his homeland had died under him, he chose to fight rather than cross to safety. He is said to have killed hundreds of pursuers before cutting his own throat. Han cavalrymen fought over his body to claim the reward.
The Han dynasty
Remaining resistance was crushed by 202 BC; the town of Lu surrendered when shown Xiang Yu's head. In February Liu Bang took the throne as Emperor Gaozu, founding the Han dynasty and reuniting China under a single ruler. A popular legend later linked the battle to the invention of xiangqi, Chinese chess, whose board is divided by a "Chu River" and "Han Border", but there is no evidence for this.
On our maps
Our 200 BCE map shows the newly founded Han dynasty, a few years after Gaixia; the 300 BCE map shows China before the Qin unification.
From the atlas
Battle of Gaixia in time and on the map
Battle of Gaixia took place in 202 BCE. The nearest maps from before and after are 300 BCE and 200 BCE; compare them side by side.
Living through it, among others on this site: Antiochus III (242–187 BCE), Hannibal (247–183 BCE), Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han) (256–195 BCE) and Scipio Africanus (235–183 BCE).
Other events of the same years: Punic Wars (264–146 BCE), Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BCE) and Battle of Zama (202 BCE).
Next to it in time on this site: before, Battle of Cannae (216 BCE) and Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BCE) (214–212 BCE); after, Battle of Pydna (168 BCE) and Siege of Carthage (149–146 BCE) (149–146 BCE).
Quick answers
- When did Battle of Gaixia happen?
- In 202 BCE.
- How did the map change?
- Compare the atlas’s maps of 300 BCE and 200 BCE side by side.