Sima Xin (died 204 BC) was a Chinese military general of the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

. Between 209 and 208 BC, when uprisings against the Qin dynasty broke out, Sima Xin, along with Zhang Han and Dong Yi, led Qin forces into battle against the various rebel groups and defeated some of them. However, they lost to rebel forces led by

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (), born Xiang Ji, was a Chinese warlord who founded and led the short-lived ancient Chinese states, kingdom-state of Western Chu during the interregnum period between the Qin dynasty, Qin and Han dynasty, Han dynasties of China, d ...

in 207 BC at the

Battle of Julu The Battle of Julu () was fought in Julu (in present-day Pingxiang County, Xingtai, Hebei, China) in 207 BC primarily between forces of the Qin dynasty and the insurgent state of Chu. The Qin commander was Zhang Han, while the Chu leader w ...

and were forced to surrender. After the rebels overthrew the Qin dynasty in 206 BC, China was divided into the

Eighteen Kingdoms The historiographical term "Eighteen Kingdoms" ( zh, t=十八國), also translated as "Eighteen States", refers to the eighteen '' fengjian'' states in China created by military leader Xiang Yu in 206 BCE, after the collapse of the Qin dynasty.� ...

and the three surrendered Qin generals were made kings – Zhang Han as the King of Yong, Sima Xin as the King of Sai, and Dong Yi as the King of Di. Their three kingdoms were collectively known as the Three Qins since they occupied the

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben str ...

region, the heartland of the Qin state during the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

. In 205 BC,

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

, the King of Han, invaded Zhang Han's kingdom and defeated Zhang Han in battle. Sima Xin and Dong Yi initially surrendered to Liu Bang, but defected to Xiang Yu after the Battle of Pengcheng. In 204 BC, Sima Xin and Dong Yi joined Xiang Yu's subordinate Cao Jiu in fighting Liu Bang's forces during the Battle of Chenggao, but they were defeated and all three of them committed suicide.

Life

Sima Xin started his career as a prison officer in

Yueyang County Yueyang County () is a county in Hunan province, China. It is under the administration of Yueyang City. The county is located on the northeastern margin of the province; the Xiang River runs through the west of the county from south to east, m ...

(in present-day

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

) during the Qin dynasty. When

Xiang Liang Xiang Liang (; died 208 BC) was a Chinese military leader who led a rebellion against the Qin dynasty between 209 and 208 BC. He is best known as an uncle of Xiang Yu, the rival of the Han dynasty's founding emperor Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Ban ...

was arrested after getting into trouble with the law, he asked Cao Jiu (), then serving as a prison officer in Qi County (; present-day Suzhou, Anhui), to help him write to Sima Xin. With Sima Xin's help, Xiang Liang was pardoned and released. In 209 BC, the

Dazexiang uprising The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising (), August 209 B.C.– January 208 B.C., was the first uprising against the Qin dynasty following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the uprising was unsuccessful. Name It is also ...

broke out under the leadership of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang and sparked off a series of rebellions against the Qin dynasty throughout China. The rebel groups claimed to be restoring the former six states which were

conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...

between 230 and 221 BC by the Qin state, the precursor of the Qin dynasty. Zhou Wen (), one of Chen Sheng's deputies, managed to lead a vanguard force that came close to

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

, the Qin capital, alarming the emperor

Qin Er Shi Qin Er Shi (230/222207 BC), Chinese given name, given name Ying Huhai, was the second Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Qin dynasty, reigning from 210 to 207 BC. The son of Qin Shi Huang, he was put on the throne by Li Si and Z ...

, who called for a meeting with his subjects to discuss how to counter the rebels. Zhang Han, then holding the position of Minister Steward (), suggested to the emperor to grant amnesty to the convicts serving as labourers at the

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang () is a tomb complex constructed for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Chinese Qin dynasty. It is located in modern-day Lintong District in Xi'an, Shaanxi. It was constructed over 38 years from 246 to 208 ...

, and recruit them to serve in the Qin army. The emperor approved Zhang Han's proposal and appointed him as a general, putting him in charge of leading Qin forces to fight the rebels. Zhang Han defeated and drove back Zhou Wen, who committed suicide. The emperor then sent Sima Xin, then holding the position of Chief Clerk (), and Dong Yi, then holding the position of Commandant (), to serve as Zhang Han's deputies. The Qin forces under Zhang Han's command continued to advance eastward and destroyed Chen Sheng's rebel group. Zhang Han then led his troops to attack the Wei rebel group, defeating them along with their reinforcements from the Qi rebel group. After that, Zhang Han moved on to attack Tian Rong (), the leader of the Qi rebel group, prompting Tian Rong to seek help from

, who by then had become the leader of the Chu rebel group. Zhang Han then engaged Xiang Liang at the Battle of Dingtao; Xiang Liang was defeated and killed in battle. In 207 BC, when Zhang Han attacked and besieged the Zhao rebel group at Julu, the Zhao leader Zhao Xie () sought help from the Chu rebel group. King Huai II, the nominal leader of the Chu rebel group, sent Xiang Liang's nephew,

, to assist their fellow rebels. Xiang Yu defeated Zhang Han at the

despite being heavily outnumbered. When Zhang Han sent Sima Xin to request reinforcements from

, the emperor refused to send aid after being deceived by

Zhao Gao Zhao Gao (died ) was a Chinese politician. He was an official of the Qin dynasty of China. Allegedly a eunuch, he served as a close aide to all three rulers of the Qin dynasty – Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi and Ziying – and was regarded as h ...

. Sima Xin escaped from Zhao Gao's assassins on his return journey and reported to Zhang Han that the Qin government had fallen under Zhao Gao's control. Zhang Han, along with his deputies and 200,000 troops, ultimately surrendered to Xiang Yu. After the fall of the Qin dynasty in 206 BC, Xiang Yu divided the former Qin Empire into the

. Zhang Han, Sima Xin and Dong Yi were made the rulers of three of the Eighteen Kingdoms. The three kingdoms were known as the Three Qins because they occupied the lands of the former Qin state in the

region. Later that year, the forces of

, the King of Han, invaded Guanzhong and captured Zhang Han's kingdom in a surprise attack. Sima Xin and Dong Yi then surrendered to Liu Bang. In 205 BC during the

Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention (), also known as the Chu–Han War (), was an interregnum in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the Qin dynasty was overthrown in 206 BCE, the empir ...

, after Liu Bang was defeated by Xiang Yu at the Battle of Pengcheng, Sima Xin and Dong Yi defected to Xiang Yu's side. The following year, Sima Xin and Dong Yi joined Cao Jiu (), who was serving under Xiang Yu, in resisting an attack by Liu Bang's forces during the Battle of Chenggao. Liu Bang managed to lure Xiang Yu's forces into an ambush near the

Si River The Si River (Chinese: 泗河, pinyin: Sì Hé; formerly 泗水, pinyin: Sì Shuǐ) is a river in Shandong Province, eastern China. It also ran through the area of modern Jiangsu Province until floods changed its course in 1194. Course The S ...

and defeated them. Sima Xin, Dong Yi and Cao Jiu committed suicide after their defeat. The ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

'' recorded that Liu Bang had Sima Xin's head cut off and suspended on a pole in

to punish Sima Xin for betraying him and defecting to Xiang Yu.Dubs (1938), pp. 71, 92 and n. 1.

Notes

References

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

. ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'', volumes 7, 8. *

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

et al. ''

'', volumes 1, 31. * Dubs, Homer H. (1938): ''The History of the Former Han Dynasty by Pan Ku'', Vol. I. Baltimore, Waverly Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sima, Xin Qin dynasty generals Chu–Han contention people Chinese nobility 204 BC deaths Chinese military personnel who died by suicide Year of birth unknown Suicides in the Chu–Han contention