In December 202 BC, Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, the king of Han, fought a decisive battle under the Han Dynasty, resulting in Xiang Yu being defeated and leading 800 cavalry to break through. Faced with the pursuit of the Han army, Xiang Yu finally killed himself by the Wu River. Because Liu Bang had promulgated a reward, xiang yu could get a reward of thousands of gold and a marquis of ten thousand households, so the Han army scrambled to grab Xiang Yu's body, resulting in Xiang Yu being torn apart by a random blade. After Xiang Yu died, what would happen to his Xiang clan relatives?
The first person to say is Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Bo! Xiang Bo's name is entangled, the word Bo, so the history books call him Xiang Bo. Xiang Bo killed people in the early years and was hunted down by the government, but fortunately met Zhang Liang. Under the cover of Zhang Liang, the two took refuge in Xia Pi and became friends of life and death. After that, Xiang Bo came to the side of his brother Xiang Liang and followed him to raise an army. After King Huai of Chu ascended the throne, Xiang Bo was given the title of Zuo Lingyin (左令尹), also known as Zuo Cheng Xiang (左丞相), with a high status.
Although Xiang Bo was Xiang Yu's uncle, he had been helping Liu Bang in the Chu-Han War. At that time, Xiang Yu was very angry when he learned that Liu Bang had occupied Xianyang and prepared to send troops to attack. Xiang Bo ran to Liu Bang's army and saw Zhang Liang, "telling zhang Liang about it, and wanting to call Zhang Liang to go with him." At the recommendation of Zhang Liang, Liu Bang and Xiang Bo "took wine as a birthday, about marriage". At the Hongmen banquet, it was with the help of Xiang Bo that Liu Bang was spared from being killed.
After Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought, Xiang Yu wanted to tie Liu Taigong to the front of the battle and kill him. However, Liu Bang said: "If I want to cook and win, I will be lucky to share a piece of my pie." Xiang Yu was furious and really wanted to cook and kill Liu Taigong, and it was Xiang Bo who came forward to persuade him to save Liu Taigong's life. After Xiang Yu's death, Xiang Bo surrendered to the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang did not kill the Xiang clan, but instead gave the surname Liu, and Xiang Bo became a hero of the Western Han Dynasty because of his "broken feathers and tasted merit", and was given the title of Marquis of Sheyang.
The next thing to talk about is Xiang Xiang, who is also a member of Xiang Yu's clan and serves under Xiang Yu, and some say that he is Xiang Yu's cousin, and some say that he is Xiang Yu's cousin. Xiang Xiang defected to Liu Bang relatively early, when he was captured by the Han army in 205 BC, when he surrendered to Liu Bang. Because of his special status, Xiang Xiang remained unknown for some time after that, until 196 BC, when he followed Liu Bang to participate in the suppression of Yingbu's rebellion and was awarded the title of Marquis of Tao for his merits.
Because Liu Bei changed the surname of the Xiang clan, Xiang Xiang changed his name to Liu Xiang, and his son was called Liu She. Liu She not only inherited his father's title, but also was a major minister in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, successively serving as a servant, a royal master, and later even succeeded Zhou Yafu as a chancellor. In 141 BC, Liu She fell ill and died, and Emperor Wu of Han posthumously honored him as the Marquis of Sorrow. Relatively speaking, the XiangXiang vein was the best among the entire Xiang clan.
In addition to Xiang Yu and Xiang Xiang, two other members of the Xiang clan were given the title of Marquis, namely the Marquis of Pinggao and the Marquis of Xuanwu. Regarding the situation of Marquis Xuanwu, there is no record left in the history books, so we will only talk about the situation of Marquis Pinggao. The first Marquis of Pinggao was named Xiang It, and he defected to Liu Bang relatively late, in 201 BC, when Xiang It served as the governor of Yan County. It was not until 200 BC that Xiang It was given the title of Marquis of Pinggao ( 平皋侯 ) , with 580 households.
After Xiang Ta's death, the title continued to be inherited by his descendants, passing on for a total of four generations, until he was deposed during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. At that time, Emperor Wu of han, in order to weaken the power of the princes, created a "Lost Marquis of Jin", and many people lost their titles, including Xiang Qi's descendant Liu Sheng (not Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan Jing).
References: 1. "Records of History"; 2. "Book of Han"