---
node: xiang_yu
type: person
slug: xiang_yu
title: "Xiang Yu"
lead: "Xiang Yu (232–202 BC) was the aristocratic Chu general who destroyed the Qin dynasty, then lost the empire to Liu Bang in the Chu–Han Contention. His defeat and death at Gaixia made him China's great tragic hero."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
image_file: xiang_yu.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xiang_Yu.png"
image_author: "Unknown author"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Who they were

An aristocratic general from the old state of Chu, Xiang Yu led the rebel armies that brought down the Qin dynasty.

## What they did

He annihilated the main Qin force at the Battle of Julu (207 BC), then entered the Qin heartland, executed the surrendered Qin ruler Ziying, and burned the palaces (206 BC). Styling himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, he divided the empire among kings — setting up the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC) with Liu Bang. Encircled at Gaixia (202 BC), he heard Chu songs from every side, as if his homeland were already lost; he bade farewell to his consort Yu Ji, broke out, and killed himself by the Wu River.

## Legacy

Xiang Yu is China's great tragic hero of literature and opera — the story behind "Farewell My Concubine" — and a byword for brilliance undone by pride.