Records of the Grand Historian

During the first year of the Second Emperor of Qin [209 BC], in the seventh month, an order came for a force of 900 men from the poor side of the town to be sent to garrison Yuyang. Chen She and Wu Guang were among those whose turn it was to go, and they were appointed heads of the levy of men.²⁰³ When the group had gone as far as Daze County, they encountered such heavy rain that the road became impassable. It was apparent that the men would be unable to reach the appointed place on time, an offence punishable by death. Chen She and Wu Guang accordingly began to plot together. “As things stand, we face death whether we stay or run away,” they said, “while if we were to start a revolt we would likewise face death. Since we must die in any case, would it not be better to die fighting for our country?”²⁰⁴

“The world has long suffered under Qin,” said Chen She. “From what I have heard, the Second Emperor was a younger son and ought never to have succeeded to the throne. The one who should have been made ruler was Prince Fusu. But because Fusu several times remonstrated with the former emperor, he was sent to lead the armies in the field. Someone has told me that, though Fusu was guilty of no crime, he has been murdered by the Second Emperor. The common people have heard much of Fusu’s worth, but they do not know that he is dead. Xiang Yan was a general of Chu who many times distinguished himself in battle. He took good care of his troops and the people of Chu thought fondly of him. Some say that he is dead, but others say that he is only in hiding. Now with the group we have, if we could deceive people into thinking that I am Fusu and you are Xiang Yan, we could lead the world in our own tune, and there are sure to be many who will join in the chorus!”

Wu Guang approved of this idea, and they went to consult a diviner. The diviner guessed what the two were planning, and replied, “Your undertakings will all meet with success. But might you not seek your fortune with the spirits?”²⁰⁵

Chen She and Wu Guang were delighted with the idea of enlisting supernatural aid in their scheme. “It must mean that we should first do something to overawe the men in our group!” they declared, and proceeded to write with cinnabar on a piece of silk: “Chen She shall be a king.” They stuffed the silk into the belly of a fish someone had caught in a net. When one of the soldiers bought the fish and boiled it for his dinner, he discovered the message in the fish’s belly and was greatly astonished. Also Chen She secretly sent Wu Guang to a grove of trees surrounding a shrine which was close to where the men were making camp. When night fell, Wu Guang lit a torch and, partly concealing it under a basket, began to wail like a fox and cry, “Great Chu shall rise again! Chen She shall be a king!”

The soldiers were filled with alarm, and when dawn came they talked here and there among themselves, pointing and staring at Chen She.

Wu Guang had always been kind to others and many of the soldiers would do anything for him. When the officer in command of the group was drunk, Wu Guang made a point of openly announcing several times that he was going to run away. In this way Wu Guang hoped to arouse the commander’s anger, get him to punish him, and so stir up the men’s ire and resentment. As Wu Guang had expected, the commander began to beat him, when the commander’s sword slipped out of its scabbard. Wu Guang sprang up, seized the sword, and killed the commander, Chen She rushed to his assistance, and they proceeded to kill the other two commanding officers as well. Then they called together all the men of the group and announced: “Because of the rain we encountered, we cannot reach our rendezvous on time. And anyone who misses a rendezvous has his head cut off! Even if you should somehow escape with your heads, six or seven out of every ten of you are bound to die in the course of garrison duty. Now, my brave fellows, if you are unwilling to die, we have nothing more to say. But if you would risk death, then let us risk it for the sake of fame and glory! Kings and nobles, generals and ministers — such men are made, not born!”

The men of the garrison all replied, “We’ll do whatever you say!” Then, in order to win the loyalty of the people, Chen She and Wu Guang falsely proclaimed themselves to be Prince Fusu and Xiang Yan. Baring their right shoulders, they raised the cry of “Great Chu!” and built an altar and swore an oath before it, offering as a sacrifice the heads of the commanding officers. Chen She set himself up as commander of the army, with Wu Guang as his colonel, and together they attacked Daze County. After capturing Daze County, they proceeded to attack and capture Qi. They dispatched Ge Ying, a man of Fuli, with a force to seize control of the area east of Qi, while they themselves attacked Zhi, Zan, Ku, Zhe, and Qiao, all of which submitted. Recruiting soldiers as they went along, they were able by the time they reached the city of Chen to build up a force of 600 or 700 chariots, over 1,000 horsemen, and 20,000 or 30,000 infantry.

When they attacked Chen, neither the governor of the province nor any of the magistrates of the districts under him were in the city. Only one of the governor’s aides was present, who engaged them in battle at the Qiao Gate but was defeated and killed. They entered the city and quartered there for several days, sending out an order summoning all the village heads and important men of the region to meet with them and plan a course of action. To this the village heads and distinguished men replied, “The general has buckled on armor and taken up his weapons to attack the unrighteous and punish the violence of Qin, that he may restore once more the sacred altars of the state of Chu. Because of the glory he has won, he deserves to be made a king.”

Chen She accordingly was made king and given the title “Magnifier of Chu,” whereupon men in many of the other provinces and districts who had suffered under the Qin officials overpowered and murdered their governors and magistrates and allied themselves with Chen She.

Chen She made Wu Guang an acting king with supervision over the other leaders of their band, and sent him west to attack Xingyang.²⁰⁶ Chen She ordered Zhang Er, Chen Yu, and Wu Chen, a man of Chen, to seize the region of Zhao, while he sent Deng Zong, a native of Ruyin, to seize the province of Jiujiang. By this time a countless number of bands consisting of several thousand men each had been formed throughout Chu.

When Ge Ying, who had been sent by Chen She to seize the land east of Chi, reached Dongcheng, he set up Xiang Qiang as king of Chu. Later, hearing that Chen She had already become king himself, he murdered Xiang Qiang and returned to report what he had done to Chen She. Chen She executed him and dispatched Zhou Shi, a native of Wei, to march north and seize the region of Wei.

Meanwhile Wu Guang surrounded the city of Xingyang, but Li You, the governor of Sanchuan, held the city, and Wu Guang was unable to conquer it.

Chen She summoned the distinguished men of the state of Chu to meet with him and plan the next move. He appointed Cai Ci, the lord of Fang, a man of Shangcai, as his chief minister. Zhou Wen, a man of some distinction in Chen, had formerly been diviner of auspicious days in the army of Xiang Yan and had also served under the lord of Chunshen. When he declared himself adept in military affairs, Chen She presented him with the seals of a general and sent him west to attack Qin. Gathering troops as he went along, he entered the Pass²⁰⁷ with a force of 1,000 chariots and 20,000 or 30,000 infantry and camped at Xi. Qin ordered its privy treasurer, Zhang Han, to free all conscript labourers at Mt. Li,²⁰⁸ and the children of household slaves, and lead them forth in an attack upon the army of Chu. They succeeded in routing it, whereupon Zhou Wen fled back through the Pass in defeat, halting and camping at Caoyang for several months. Zhang Han pursued him and defeated him again, and Zhou Wen once more fled, camping at Mianchi for ten days or more. Here Zhang Han inflicted a final defeat. Zhou Wen cut his throat, and his army ceased all further resistance.

When Wu Chen reached Handan in Zhao, he set himself up as king of Zhao, making Chen Yu his commanding general and Zhang Er and Shao Sao his prime ministers of the left and right. Chen She was enraged at this and seized and bound the members of their families, preparing to execute them. But the chief minister, Cai Ci, interceded, saying, “Qin, our great enemy, has not yet been destroyed. Now if you execute the families of the king of Zhao and his ministers, you will only create a second Qin to plague us. It would be better to comply with what Wu Chen and the others have done and confirm their positions.”

Chen She accordingly dispatched an envoy to congratulate Wu Chen on his new position as king of Zhao, but the families of Wu Chen and the others he had transferred to his own palace and kept under guard. Zhang Er’s son, Zhang Ao, he enfeoffed as lord of Chengdu.

Chen She urged the troops of Zhao to proceed with all haste to the area within the Pass, but Zhao’s generals and ministers plotted with their king, saying, “It was not Chen She’s intention that you should become king of Zhao. When he has finished conquering Qin, he will assuredly turn his forces against us. The best plan, therefore, would be for us not to dispatch troops west, but instead to send a force north to seize the region of Yan and broaden the territory under your command. With the Yellow River to protect Zhao in the south, and Yan and Dai to the north in our possession, Chen She in Chu will not dare try to impose his will upon us, even if he is victorious over Qin. And if Chen She should fail to conquer Qin, he will be forced to rely more heavily than ever upon us. At that point we can take advantage of the damage already inflicted upon Qin by Chen She and have our way with the whole empire!”

The king of Zhao approved their suggestion and sent no troops west, but instead dispatched Han Guang, a former troop commander of the province of Shanggu, to lead an army north and seize the region of Yan.

The former nobles and leaders of Yan addressed Han Guang, saying, “Chu has already set up a king, and so has Zhao. Although Yan is rather small, it still deserves to be called, as the old phrase has it, ‘a kingdom of ten thousand chariots.’ We would like therefore to make you king of Yan.”

Han Guang, however, objected. “My mother is still in Zhao,” he said. “I am afraid it would not do!” But the men of Yan replied, “Zhao at the present time has all it can do to worry about Qin in the west and Chu to the south. It has no strength left to interfere with what we do. Chen She, in spite of all his power, did not dare to harm the families of the king and ministers of Zhao. How should Zhao dare to do any harm to your family?”

Han Guang, considering that what they said was true, declared himself king of Yan. After a few months Zhao with all due respect sent his mother and the rest of his family to him in Yan.

By this time there were any number of leaders of the revolt attempting to win control of different regions of the empire. Zhou Shi raided the north as far as Di in Qi. Tian Dan, a native of Di, murdered the magistrate of the district of Di and declared himself king of Qi. He then proceeded to lead the forces of Qi in an attack on Zhou Shi. Zhou Shi’s army scattered before him, turned back, and retreated to the region of Wei. Zhou Shi wanted to set up Wei Jiu, the former lord of Ningling, who was a descendant of the royal family of Wei, as king of Wei, but Jiu was at the time with Chen She and so was not able to come to Wei. After Zhou Shi’s men had conquered the region of Wei, they wanted to join the people of Wei in setting up Zhou Shi himself as king, but Zhou Shi refused to consent. Five times envoys were sent back and forth between Wei and Chen She in an attempt to reach a solution, until finally Chen She agreed to make Jiu the king of Wei, and sent him to his new kingdom. Zhou Shi in the end became his prime minister.

Tian Zang, one of Chen She’s generals, plotted with his fellow officers, saying, “Since Zhou Wen’s army has been defeated, Qin’s soldiers may be on us at any moment. Now we have encircled the city of Xingyang, but we have been unable to take it. When the armies of Qin reach us we are sure to suffer a great defeat. It would be better to leave a small number of troops behind, sufficient to keep watch on Xingyang, and lead our best men west to meet the Qin armies. Our leader, Wu Guang, who has been made an acting king, is too arrogant and knows nothing of military tactics. He is not worth consulting with on matters of strategy. If we do not do away with him our whole undertaking will be in danger of collapse!” Accordingly they joined in forging orders from Chen She and proceeded to execute Wu Guang and send his head to Chen She. Chen She in turn sent an envoy to reward Tian Zang with the official seals of prime minister of Chu, making him commanding general.

Tian Zang then ordered Li Gui and some of his other generals to guard the city of Xingyang, while he himself led his best troops west to meet the army of Qin at the Ao Granary and join in battle. Tian Zang was killed and his army defeated. The Qin commander Zhang Han advanced with his troops and attacked Li Gui and the others before the walls of Xingyang, defeating and killing them.

A man of Yangcheng named Deng Yue was at this time in charge of a force of men in Tan. Zhang Han dispatched an expeditionary force to attack and crush him, whereupon Deng Yue’s army scattered and fled to Chen. Wu Xu, a man of Zhi, held command of a force at Xu, but when attacked by Zhang Han his army, too, scattered and fled to Chen. Chen She executed Deng Yue.

At the time when Chen She first set himself up as a king a group of men, including Qin Jia of Ling, Dong Xie of Zhi, Zhu Jishi of Fuli, Zheng Bu of Qulü, and Ding Ji of Xu, started an uprising of their own, leading a band of troops to surround Qing, the governor of Donghai, at Tan. When Chen She received word of this he dispatched Pan, the lord of Wuping, to act as their commander and take charge of their forces, which were camped outside the walls of Tan. Qin Jia, however, declined to accept these orders, but instead declared himself a grand marshal and refused to put himself under the lord of Wuping’s command. “The lord of Wuping is too young and knows nothing of military affairs,” he advised his officers. “Do not listen to what he says!” Accordingly they forged an order from Chen She and executed the lord of Wuping.

After Zhang Han had defeated Wu Xu he marched to attack the city of Chen, killing Cai Ci, the chief minister. He then advanced and attacked the army of Zhang Jia west of Chen. Chen She came out to observe the battle, but the army was defeated and Zhang Jia killed. In the twelfth month, at the time of the winter sacrifice, Chen She journeyed to Ruyin and from there withdrew to Xiachengfu, where he was murdered by his carriage driver, Zhuang Jia, who declared Chen loyal to the Qin government. Chen She was buried at Dang with the posthumous title of “The Melancholy King.”

General Lü Chen, former master of purification under Chen She, formed a band of men known as the Blue Heads and started an uprising in Xinyang. They attacked and conquered the city of Chen, killed Zhuang Jia, and declared Chen loyal to Chu once more.

When Chen She first marched on Chen he dispatched Song Liu, a man of Zhi, with orders to lead a force of troops west to conquer the region of Nanyang and enter the Wu Pass. Song Liu had already gained control of Nanyang, but when news of Chen She’s death spread abroad, Nanyang declared itself loyal again to Qin. Song Liu was therefore unable to enter the Wu Pass, but instead marched back east as far as Xincai, where he encountered the Qin army and surrendered to it. The Qin government had him brought back to the capital by relay carriage, where he was tied to two carts and torn apart to serve as a warning to the populace.

When Qin Jia and his band heard that Chen She’s army had been defeated and was in flight they set up Jing Ju as king of Chu and led their troops to Fangyu, planning to attack the Qin army outside the walls of Dingtao. In the meantime they dispatched Gongsun Qing as their envoy to Tian Dan, the king of Qi, requesting that Qi join with them in the attack.

“Though word has come that Chen She has been defeated, no one knows whether he is still alive or not,” said the king of Qi. “What do you mean by setting up a new king of Chu without consulting me?”

“You did not consult Chu when you set yourself up as king of Qi,” responded Gongsun Qing. “Why should Chu consult Qi when it sets up its own king? Chu is the leader of the uprising. It is only proper that she should give orders to the rest of the empire!” The king of Qi executed Gongsun Qing.

Qin’s colonels of the left and right again attacked Chen and recaptured it. Lü Chen’s army fled, but soon recruited more men and reformed. Qing Bu, the lord of Dangyang, a bandit leader of Po, recruited a force of men and joined Lü Chen in another attack on the colonels of Qin, defeating them at Qingbo. With this, the city of Chen once more became an ally of Chu. It was at this time that Xiang Liang set up Xin, the grandson of the former King Huai, as the new king of Chu.

All in all, Chen She was a king for six months. When he had become king and was ruling the region of Chen, one of his old friends who had once worked as a hired hand with him in the fields heard of his success and went and knocked upon the palace gate of Chen, saying, “I want to see She!” The gatekeeper was about to order him arrested, but he managed to convince the keeper that he was an old friend of Chen She. The gatekeeper let him go, but refused to allow him to enter the palace.

When the king emerged from the palace, the man stood by the roadside and shouted “She!” Hearing his voice, Chen She ordered that he be brought forward and, inviting him to ride in his carriage, returned with him to the palace. When the man entered the palace and saw all its great halls with their curtains and trappings he said, “Oh, a heap of stuff you have, She, now you’re a king! Such a big place!” (The people of Chu say “a heap” when they mean a lot.) Eventually the story spread all over the empire, so that from this incident with Chen She originated the saying “Even ‘heap-of-She’ got to be king.”

After this the old friend came often to visit Chen She, making himself more and more at home in the palace and telling people about Chen She’s life in the old days. Someone warned Chen She about this, saying, “This guest of yours is ignorant and ill-bred, and his idle chatter serves only to degrade your dignity!” Chen She had his old friend’s head cut off. Thereafter all of Chen She’s former acquaintances withdrew of their own accord, and no one attempted to be on intimate terms with him.

Chen She appointed Zhu Fang as rectifier and Hu Wu as director of faults, putting them in charge of his other ministers and officials. When any of the various generals returned from expeditions to seize territory, if it appeared that they had not carried out their orders exactly, these two officials believed it their duty to bind them like criminals and subject them to the severest examination. If any fault was found in their behaviour, their case was not submitted to the lesser officials for trial, but was settled summarily by Zhu Fang and Hu Wu themselves. Chen She entrusted everything to these two men with the fullest confidence, and for this reason his generals felt no personal attachment to him. This is why he failed.

Although Chen himself died very early, the various rulers and commanders whom he set up and dispatched on expeditions eventually succeeded in overthrowing the Qin. Thus it was he who actually began the uprising. In the time of Emperor Gaozu of the Han, thirty families were established to take care of Chen She’s grave at Dang, so that down to the present day he has continued to enjoy the blood and flesh of sacrifices.²⁰⁹