The Chu–Han Contention was the four-year struggle, from 206 to 202 BCE, over who would inherit the empire left by the fallen Qin dynasty. Its two main contenders were Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, King of Han, while lesser kingdoms joined in or were swept away. Liu Bang's victory reunited China and founded the Han dynasty.
The fall of Qin
Qin had conquered its six rival states and unified China in 221 BCE, completing the wars of unification, and its king took the title of First Emperor. After Qin Shi Huang died on a tour of his realm in 210 BCE, the eunuch Zhao Gao and the chancellor Li Si placed Prince Huhai on the throne and forced the heir, Fusu, to kill himself. A rising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang began in 209 BCE. It was crushed, but other revolts followed, many aiming to restore the old states.
Two men rose to prominence in the Chu rebel camp. Xiang Yu came from a family of Chu generals and fought under his uncle, Xiang Liang. Liu Bang had been a local official in Pei County. After Xiang Liang was killed at Dingtao in 208 BCE, the nominal Chu ruler, King Huai II, promised the Qin heartland of Guanzhong to whichever commander entered it first. Xiang Yu crushed the main Qin army at Julu, but Liu Bang reached the capital, Xianyang, by October 207 BCE, and the last Qin ruler, Ziying, surrendered to him.
Xiang Yu's settlement
Xiang Yu arrived soon afterwards, stormed the Hangu Pass and forced Liu Bang to give up Guanzhong. At the Feast at Swan Goose Gate he was urged to have his rival killed but let the chance pass. His troops looted Xianyang and the Qin royal family was put to death. Xiang Yu then divided the empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms, named himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu and sent Liu Bang to the remote Bashu and Hanzhong region. The arrangement favoured his friends and left many rebels empty-handed. He also had the former King Huai II murdered.
War between Chu and Han
Within months, revolts broke out in Qi, Zhao and Yan. While Xiang Yu marched north, Liu Bang's new commander, Han Xin, made a show of rebuilding the burned mountain roads while his main force slipped into Guanzhong by a western route at Chencang and defeated the surrendered Qin generals installed there. In 205 BCE Liu Bang gathered a large coalition, said to number about 560,000 men, and seized the Chu capital, Pengcheng. Xiang Yu returned with 30,000 troops and routed him. Liu Bang's family was taken hostage, and many of his allies deserted.
Han Xin in the north
Liu Bang held Xingyang and Chenggao while Han Xin campaigned in the north. Han Xin captured the King of Western Wei at Anyi, destroyed the army of Zhao at Jingxing, and invaded Qi. At the Wei River he released a dammed stream on a crossing Chu army and killed its commander, Long Ju. Short of supplies, Xiang Yu agreed to the Treaty of Hong Canal, which divided China between Chu in the east and Han in the west, and released Liu Bang's family.
Gaixia and the founding of Han
As Xiang Yu withdrew eastwards, Liu Bang broke the truce. After a setback at Guling, he won over Han Xin and Peng Yue with promises of land, and in December 203 BCE their combined forces trapped Xiang Yu at Gaixia. Han troops sang Chu folk songs to persuade the besieged that their homeland had fallen, and many deserted. Xiang Yu broke out with a small escort, made a last stand at Wujiang on the Yangtze and took his own life. Liu Bang was soon proclaimed emperor of Han. Within a few years he turned on his helpers; Han Xin and Peng Yue were executed in 196 BCE.
Legacy
The war left a lasting imprint on Chinese culture. The river across the middle of a xiangqi board is called the "Chu river and Han border", and idioms such as "breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats" and "Chu songs on four sides" come from its episodes.
On our maps
Our 323 BCE map shows Qin before its conquest of the other states, and the 200 BCE map shows the newly founded Han empire across much of China.
From the atlas
Chu–Han Contention in time and on the map
Chu–Han Contention lasted from 206 BCE to 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), Battle of Zama (202 BCE) and Battle of Gaixia (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 Chu–Han Contention happen?
- It began in 206 BCE and ended in 202 BCE, lasting 4 years.
- How did the map change?
- Compare the atlas’s maps of 300 BCE and 200 BCE side by side.