Liu Bang Founds the Han Dynasty
After the Qin collapse, the rebel coalition fractured into rival claimants. Xiang Yu, a Chu aristocrat and brilliant battlefield general, initially held the stronger position, but his harsh treatment of surrendered enemies and refusal to reward capable subordinates cost him support. Liu Bang, by contrast — a man of common birth who had risen only to minor Qin office — proved a shrewder judge of talent, retaining capable strategists and generals through the promise of real reward. The Chu-Han Contention (206-202 BCE) ground through years of manoeuvre and battle across central China. Liu Bang's forces, gradually building a coalition of former rebel commanders, finally trapped Xiang Yu's army at Gaixia in 202 BCE; surrounded and hearing Chu folk songs sung by the encircling army to demoralise his troops, Xiang Yu broke out with a small guard, was run down, and took his own life rather than be captured. Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor later that year, taking the temple name Gaozu ('High Progenitor'). He retained much of the Qin administrative system — the commandery-county structure, standardised law and currency — but relaxed its harshest punishments and reduced the crushing conscription burden, buying the new dynasty the popular legitimacy the Qin had never secured. The Han dynasty he founded would rule, with one usurpation interruption, for over four centuries.
- Year: 202 BCE
- Category: Military
