Xiang Yu, brave and good at fighting, followed his uncle Xiang Liang to participate in the anti-Qin uprising in Wuzhong in his early years. After Xiang Liang was killed, he led his army across the river to rescue Zhao Wang Xie. The Battle of Julu defeated the main forces led by Zhang Wei and Wang Li, leading to the demise of the Qin state. He proclaimed himself the Overlord of Western Chu, with the capital Pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province), made a general who contributed to Qin, and established the descendants of the nobles of the Six Kingdoms as kings.
Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu
Because Chinese always have a "heroic complex" in his bones, Xiang Yu was still defeated by a rogue victor, which makes people even more indignant and nostalgic.
Noble temperament
Everyone knows that Xiang Yu is the queen of the famous general Xiang Yan of the Warring States, so he not only has an aristocratic temperament, but also a samurai temperament. Because of his aristocratic temperament, Xiang Yu has always had a belief in aristocratic personality; Because of the samurai temperament, he confidently obeyed various rules of war. But these two points, here in Liu Bang, have been trampled on the soles of their feet and are worthless. Xiang Yu's aristocratic temperament is reflected in the following points: attach importance to morality and dignity, protect the weak from random killing, and treat others honestly.
Pull the mountain up
The politics of the Qin Dynasty were tyrannical, and rebels from all over the country rose up against the Qin. Xiang Yu was a general of the Chu army. When the Zhao army, an ally of the Chu army, was besieged by the Qin army, the leader of the Chu army, Song Yi, decided not to save the Zhao army, and let the Zhao state and the Qin state fight, thinking that he would reap the benefits of the fisherman. However, Xiang Yu led his army into the battlefield and fought side by side with various allied forces. When Song Yi sent his son to be an ambassador to the State of Qi, Song Yi also held a grand banquet. Xiang Yu was very angry, first of all, now the common people are very poor, and the soldiers are all eating taro to live, and they can't eat. Song Yi was actually eating and drinking at the banquet guests.
Later, Xiang Yu criticized Song Yi's strategy. Finally, Xiang Yu said that national security is now at stake. Song Yi not only did not sympathize with the soldiers, but also filled his own pockets and could not bear the heavy responsibility of defending the country. So, Xiang Yu killed Song Yi and led troops to rescue Zhao. From a strategic point of view alone, Song Yi's strategy may not be bad. However, on a spiritual level, Xiang Yu was dissatisfied with Song Yi's "martyrdom of soldiers without cherishing their soldiers", believing that Song Yi lacked benevolence. Confucius's so-called gentlemanly spirit is actually the so-called aristocratic spirit, and the heroic spirit is also a form of aristocratic spirit.
Takeo temperament
In addition to this aristocratic temperament that does not belong to the times, Xiang Yu also has a samurai temperament of a thousand enemies. In war, it is based on absolute confidence in his own strength that he likes to obey the rules of war, because his self-confidence is strong enough to crush intrigues. For example, when Xiang Yu competed with Liu Bang for the world, he took pity on the suffering of the people's war and proposed that "those who are several years old in the world are willing to challenge the king of Han and fight each other, and they will not suffer the people of the world for father and son." Even Liu Bang's subordinates had to admit that "Xiang Yuren loves people."
At the Hongmen banquet, Xiang Yu was unwilling, killed the potential rival who showed weakness in front of him, and released Liu Bang. In the eyes of posterity, this is Xiang Yu's stupidity. In Xiang Yu's view, without a strong moral reason, it was impossible to kill Liu Bang just to eliminate his competitors. It is precisely in this way that Xiang Yu, who is intertwined with these two temperaments, constitutes the so-called "tragic hero". For thousands of years, when men laughed at Xiang Yu's lack of understanding politics, it was women who knew why Xiang Yu "refused to cross the Jiangdong". Li Qingzhao, a weak lyricist, has a proud and dry cloud that many men do not have.
The Chu overlord killed himself
Xiang Yu's death took away the "Tiger and Leopard Era", took away Yu Ji, and took away the expectations of Jiangdong's father. But what he left behind was grandeur, what he left behind was a love story, and what he left behind was the desolation of "Farewell My Concubine". He let the times remember him, and also let the Chinese people remember him, Xiang Yu's name will remain in history, and he will be in the eternal world.