"Although Chu has three households, qin will die in Chu", this sentence is recorded in Tai Shi Gong's "History". At that time, the background was that Fan Zeng defected to Xiang liang, and analyzed to Xiang Liang that Chen Sheng's uprising was doomed to failure: because the king of Chu Nan said that "although Chu has three households, qin will die in Chu", Chen Sheng did not establish the Chu state as king, but claimed to be the king, so it did not last long. Fan Zeng, a resident... Xiang Liang said: "Chen Sheng lost Gu Dang. Fu Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, and Chu was the most innocent. Since the king of Huai entered Qin, the Chu people have taken pity on him so far, so Chu Nan Gong said that 'although Chu has three households, qin will be chu if it dies'. Now Chen Sheng's first thing, not standing up for himself after Standing Chu, his momentum is not long. ("History") traced back to the source, the person who said this sentence was Chu Nangong, a Yin and Yang family, and talking with suspense was the characteristic of their family. Therefore, the "three households" here are also interpreted as different statements
The first theory: Sanhu refers to the three major families of the Chu State, the Chu State, which has three major families: the Zhao, Qu and Jing clans. Shō, Qu, and Jing were their clans. The surname indicates the bloodline, and the small family separated from the surname is mixed well, and can give itself a clan to indicate status. The Qu clan (屈氏), a descendant of King Wu of Chu's son Qi Xiongfeng (芈熊瑕), was enfeoffed in Qudi (present-day Eastern Zigui County); the Jing clan (景氏), a descendant of King Chuping's eldest son, Qi Xiongzixi (芈熊子西), was a descendant of the Chu State Ling Yin (令尹) of the Chu state; and the Zhao clan (昭氏) was a descendant of Chu Zhao's son Shu Zi Liang (芈熊子良). These three big families have both orthodoxy and strength, so as long as they are there, the Qin kingdom will perish.
The second theory: Sanhu refers to the place name "Sanhu" which appears in the "Zuo Chuan" and "Ku di zhi": "With The Chu Shi Yu Sanhu" ("Zuo Chuan") "The muddy Water also passes east through the north of Ge Gongting, through the Sanhu Gorge, for sanhujin, at the boundary of Fuyang County, Xiangzhou." Later, some scholars examined that the three households were in the area of Present-day Nanyang City, Henan Province, along the Xichuan River and Xixia. Fan Li, the madman, is a three-family person, which is recorded in the "History". Coincidentally, it was also here in Sanhu that Xiang Yu defeated the Qin State Zhang Handan army, and soon the Qin State perished. It is also clearly recorded in the Chronicle of History. "Xiang Yu made General Pu lead his troops to three households day and night, and the army of Zhangnan fought against Qin and then broke it." (The Chronicle of History)
The third theory: The three households are falsely referring to the people of the Chu State and the destruction of the Six Kingdoms by the Qin State, and the Chu people are greatly hated. When King Huai of Chu and King Zhaoxiang of Qin met in Wuguan (that is, friendly talks), King Zhaoxiang of Qin did something that violated international practice: directly detained King Huai of Chu and coerced the State of Chu to cede land. He also detained King Huai of Chu for three years until his death. This is a loss of power and humiliation for the Chu people. Therefore, the "three households" here refers to the fact that as long as there are the people of the Chu State, even if there are only a few families, they will definitely avenge the Chu State and die in the Qin State.