Chen Xi (died 194BC) was a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

rebel against the first

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Empe ...

(

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

the "Emperor Gaozu" or "High Ancestor").

Life

Chen Xi came from Yuanqu, a former city in what is now Longwangmiao Village in the Mudan District of

Heze Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. History Caozhou was at the center ...

, Shandong. His early life and circumstances are not recorded,. but

came to place great trust in him and his abilities. The Chu general

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dyna ...

defeated Zhang Han at Julu (within present-day

Pingxiang County Pingxiang County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xingtai, in the south of Hebei province, China, located about from downtown Xingtai. It has a population of 280,000 residing in an area of . In the Han dynas ...

Xingtai Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

) in 207BC, effectively ending the

Qin Empire The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), the ...

. Chen joined Liu with 500 conscripts the next year, pledging his loyalty at the beginning of the internecine wars that became known as the Chu–Han Contention. Chen held Bashang ( ''Bàshàng'') near present-day

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

and was named Liu's " Guerrilla General" ( t s ''Yóují Jiāngjūn''). The 202BC

Battle of Gaixia The Battle of Gaixia was a last stand fought in December 203 BC during the Chu–Han Contention between the forces of Liu Bang (later Emperor Gaozu of Han) and Xiang Yu. The battle concluded with victory for Liu Bang, who proclaimed himself Emp ...

(near Suzhou in

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

) ended the conflict in Liu Bang's favor, and he declared the beginning of the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. Some of the other kings of the

Chinese states Ancient Chinese states () were typified by variously sized city-states and territories that existed in China prior to its unification by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BCE. In many cases these were vassal states and fiefs established in the '' fengjian'' s ...

chaffed at the restoration of imperial rule.

Zang Tu Zang Tu (died 202 BC) was a warlord who lived during the late Qin dynasty and early Han dynasty of China. Biography Zang Tu was originally a military general serving under Han Guang, the king of the Yan state. Around 207 BC, when rebellions b ...

had been named

king of Yan Prince or King of Yan () was a Chinese feudal title referring to the ancient Chinese State of Yan and to its fiefs including the capital Yanjing (located within modern Beijing). Typically, the title is translated as "King of Yan" for rulers pri ...

by Xiang Yu, secured his title by removing its previous occupant Han Guang by force, and been confirmed in Yan and

Liaodong The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River (the ...

by Liu Bang. Before the end of 202BC, however, he rebelled against the new empire and invaded its central northern commanderies, collectively known as " Dai" from a former kingdom of that name, which lay to his west in what is now northern

and Shanxi.. Chen Xi resisted Zang in Dai and helped the emperor's push into Yan, where Zang Tu was captured, executed, and replaced with the emperor's long-time comrade

Lu Wan Lu Wan (died 194 BC) was an official and vassal king of the early Han dynasty. He served under Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. Early life Lu Wan was from Feng Town (), which is in present-day Feng County, ...

. The next year in 201BC, the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

nomads A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

—who may have been allied with Zang, although this isn't recorded—invaded Dai and forced the surrender of

Han Xin Han Xin (; 231/230–196 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician who served Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the ea ...

, a former king of Han who had been moved into the north by the emperor and opted to make his capital at the exposed frontier town of Mayi (present-day

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, in 2010, a pop ...

in northern Shanxi) instead of at Jinying (present-day Taiyuan). Despite his long support of Liu Bang, Han came under suspicion of revolt and concluded an alliance with the Xiongnu chanyu

Modu Modu was an Israeli mobile phone company founded in 2007 by Dov Moran. The company invented the Modu, a modular cellular device which could be used in various other devices. Modu held the record for the world's lightest mobile phone, and it was ...

to protect himself. Learning of this arrangement, the emperor marched north in 200BC and defeated Han Xin in battle; Han was able, however, to escape into exile among the nomads; and the Xiongnu were able to defeat Liu Bang's invasion of their lands at Baideng near present-day Datong. Chen again served with distinction during this campaign, though the details are not noted in his biographies. For his service in either the Yan or Dai campaigns (the attribution varies in different chapters of the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

''), Chen Xi was enfeoffed as Marquis of Yangxia ( t s ''Yángxià Hóu'') and named a "ranking" marquis ( ''lièhóu'') rather than the usual grade. In 198BC, King Ao of Zhao was discovered to be plotting against the emperor. As he was married to the emperor's eldest daughter Princess Yuan, he was not executed but demoted to marquis status. The emperor's son Prince Ruyi was named to succeed him as king of Zhao, and in 197BC Chen Xi was sent from

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...

to act as chancellor for the young boy's realm. He was given control of most of the Han army defending what is now Shanxi and Hebei against the

to their north. Imperial envoys sent to monitor the new chancellor apparently implicated him and his officials in a range of illegal activities, which Chen discovered.. From his exile among the Xiongnu,

dispatched Wang Huang ( t s ''Wáng Huáng'') and Manqiu Chen ( ''Mànqiū Chén'') to convince Chen that he now had no choice but to rebel or be executed. In May 197BC, the death of the emperor's father brought Chen a summons to return to Chang'an to pay his respects, which he did not honor. At some time before the end of the year, Chen himself joined Wang Huang and other rebels against the Han, declaring himself the independent "

king of Dai Prince or King of Dai was an ancient and medieval Chinese title. King of Dai is sometimes used to describe the heads of the Baidi state of Dai north of the Zhou Kingdom that was conquered by the Zhao clan of Jin. It was used as the title for th ...

" at Julu (within present-day

). Chen Xi's descent into

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

prompted Sima Qian to exclaim in an aside from his historical narrative, "Alas, how tragic!" The next month, the emperor personally led an army against Chen from the southwest, while

, the

and the emperor's childhood friend, led his army against Chen from the northeast.. Liu Bang was satisfied when he reached Zhao's natural and traditional stronghold at Handan, which was well protected against armies from the south by the course of the

Zhang River The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...

; as Chen's forces had not rushed to secure and fortify it ahead of the invasion, neither he nor his advisors could be expected to do well in the coming campaign. Chen's men had occupied four-fifths of the 25 cities of

Changshan (; ), also known as (), and (), is a form of , Chinese robe, which was derived from the Qing dynasty , the traditional dress of the Manchu people, which were worn by Manchu men. The was actually developed by the Han Chinese through the modi ...

, but the emperor declined

Zhou Chang Zhou may refer to: Chinese history * King Zhou of Shang () (1105 BC–1046 BC), the last king of the Shang dynasty * Predynastic Zhou (), 11th-century BC precursor to the Zhou dynasty * Zhou dynasty () (1046 BC–256 BC), a dynasty of China ** West ...

's suggestion that he punish the towns' governors for failure to withstand the northern army under Chen's command; instead, he accepted that their garrisons had been insufficient to offer meaningful resistance. When the emperor discovered that some of Chen's supporters were former merchants, he encamped at Handan and was able to persuade many to surrender or change sides by offering large bribes.. Chen sent Wang Huang to

, the '' chanyu'' of the

to his north, to seek help from the

. For his part, the king of Yan sent Zhang Sheng ( t s ''Zhāng Shèng'') to convince the Xiongnu that Chen's rebellion stood no chance of success and that they should refrain from involving themselves. En route, however, Zhang met Zang Yan ( ''Zāng Yǎn'') whose father

had been the previous king of Yan before his execution by the Han emperor. Zang was able to convince him that the emperor would only permit independent states like Yan for as long as they were useful for suppressing others' rebellions; once the country was at peace, the imperial clan would begin dismantling them and executing their royal houses for treason, whether deserved or not. Zhang took this to heart and negotiated with the Xiongnu to ''assist'' Chen. Upon hearing this, Lu Wan initially planned to execute Zhang and his entire family for treason; Zhang, however, was able to return and explain himself, convincing his king that supporting Chen was in his family's own interest. Lu then returned Zhang as his ambassador to the Xiongnu court and sent Fan Qi ( t s ''Fàn Qí'') as an ambassador to Chen's court, pledging Yan's support for his cause. When he discovered how few soldiers he was receiving from Yan and his other vassals, the emperor angrily took four men at random from those milling around Handan and barked, "You fools, do you think you can lead an army for me?" When they knelt awkwardly and silently, he named them generals and provided each one with the tax revenue from a thousand households. When his other commanders protested at the unfairness of this action to men who had served him loyally for years without any such reward, he complained again of the fickleness of his vassals—all of whom had been his comrades in the wars against

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

or Chu—and admonished them that he would need to depend on the local people of the north to defeat Chen's insurrection. In January 196BC, a commoner came before

Empress Lü Empress (Dowager) Lü Zhi (241–18 August 180 BC), commonly known as Empress Lü () and formally Empress Gao of Han (), was the empress consort of Gaozu, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. They had two known children, Liu Ying (later E ...

at the Han capital

to plead for the life of his brother, a servant of

, a general and former king of Qi and Chu who had remained behind during the call to arms because of a grave illness. The servant had offended his master in some way that caused Han to imprison him and threaten him with execution. The brother then told the empress that Han Xin's illness was entirely feigned and that he was secretly in league with Chen Xi's rebellion, having plotted with him the year before while they were both in the capital together. Han was waiting for some message from Chen, whereupon he would forge an imperial pardon for everyone held in the prisons of Chang'an; in the ensuing chaos, he supposedly planned to attack the empress and the crown prince, seizing control of the city. The empress consulted the imperial chancellor

Xiao He Xiao He (257 BC–193 BC) was a Chinese politician of the early Western Han dynasty. He served Liu Bang (Emperor Gao), the founder of the Han dynasty, during the insurrection against the Qin dynasty, and fought on Liu's side in the Chu–Han C ...

, who feigned a message of his own that the emperor had defeated and killed Chen Xi, ending the rebellion. Such good news required that nobles in the capital, no matter how ill, should visit the palace to offer congratulations; when Xiao He persuaded Han Xin to do so, he was arrested and executed, along with his family. In the field, the year began with Chen Xi's general Wang Huang and his thousand cavalry at Quni (present-day Shunping County,

);. Hou Chang ( ''Hóu Chǎng'') raiding the countryside with a force of around ten thousand men; and Zhang Chun ( t s ''Zhāng Chūn'') crossing the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

with a similar force in order to attack Liaocheng.. From Handan, the emperor dispatched forces under his general Guo Meng ( ''Guō Méng'') and the army of the princely state of Qi under its chancellor

Cao Shen Cao Shen or Cao Can (died 190 BC), courtesy name Jingbo (), was a chancellor of the Western Han dynasty. He participated in the Chu–Han Contention on Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han)'s side and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dyn ...

. Together, they defeated and executed Zhang at Liaocheng and Wang below Quni;

Guan Ying Guan Ying (died 176 BC), posthumously known as Marquis Yi of Yingyin, was a Chinese military general and politician who served as a chancellor of the Western Han dynasty. Life Guan Ying was from Suiyang (), which is present-day Shangqiu, Hena ...

was responsible for capturing and executing Hou in the same engagement. The emperor's cousin Liu Ze ( t s ''Liú Zé'') also participated in these battles, for which he was created Marquis of Yingling. The emperor led a siege of Dingyuan (now

Zhengding Zhengding (), originally Zhending (), is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately south of Beijing. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and h ...

, Hebei). Its governor

Zhao Li Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), a Chinese surname ** commonly spelled Chao in Taiwan or up until the early 20th century in other regions ** Chiu, from the Cantonese pronunciation ** Cho (Korean surname), represent the Hanja 趙 (Chines ...

held out more than a month, with some of his defenders lampooning the emperor from the battlements; upon the town's surrender, Liu Bang—still incensed—offered amnesty for all the rebels provided that they bring him the comics in their midst for execution. Following this victory, he named his son Liu Heng (later posthumously known as the "Wen" or "Literary Emperor") as the legitimate King or Prince of Dai. His eastern forces fully defeated, Chen Xi seems to have fled west into what is now northern Shanxi, where he was joined by Zhao Li and by

, the former king of Han. The emperor was said to have defeated their combined forces at

Loufan Loufan may refer to: * Loufan (tribe) (樓煩), a Xiongnu-associated nomadic tribe; see Loufan County, Shanxi Province, China * Loufan Commandery (樓煩郡, part of modern Xinzhou), former commandery in what is now Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi, Chi ...

near present-day Ningwu.

Zhou Bo Zhou Bo (died 169 BC), posthumously known as Marquis Wu of Jiang, was a Chinese military general and politician who served as a chancellor of the early Western Han dynasty. Life Zhou Bo's ancestral home was in Juan County (; present-day Yuanya ...

then led a separate force past Taiyuan to Mayi (present-day

) at the edge of the steppe. When it did not submit to his authority as an agent of the Han Empire, he assaulted and sacked the town. At one of these battles or sometime before the end of the year, Han Xin was finally killed. In 195BC, the emperor led his army against

Ying Bu Ying Bu (died 195 BC) was a warlord and vassal king who lived in the early Han dynasty. He was a native of Lu County (六縣; present-day Lu'an, Anhui). In his early life under the Qin dynasty, Ying Bu was convicted and sentenced to ''qing'' (黥 ...

while sending

Fan Kuai Fan Kuai (242–189 BC) was a military general of the early Western Han dynasty. He was a prominent figure of the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC), a power struggle for supremacy over China between the Han dynasty's founder, Liu Bang (Emper ...

to attack Chen Xi. One captive taken by Fan Kuai told him of Fan Qi's presence at Chen's court; other Xiongnu captives reported Zhang's continued residence with

. The emperor then directed Fan Kuai to lead his army against Yan, and Lu fled in exile to the Xiongnu, dying in 194BC.

Notes

References

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External links

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{{in lang, zh Year of birth unknown 194 BC deaths