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Battle of Gaixia › Antique Origins
Definition and Origins
The Battle of Gaixia (202 BCE, also known as Kai-Hsia) was the decisive engagement of the Chu- Han Contention (206-202 BCE) at which Liu-Bang, King of Han, defeated King Xiang-Yu of Chu to found the Han Dynasty. After the death of Shi Huangti, the first emperor of a united China, his son Qin Er Shi took the throne and ruled so poorly that the country erupted in rebellion. Shi Huangti (formerly Ying Zheng of the state of Qin) had conquered the warring states of Chu, Han, Qi, Wei, Yan and Zhao to found the Qin Dynasty and ruled his empire rigorously. Qin Er Shi, who was ill-equipped to follow his father, was assassinated after three years and his nephew, equally inept, ascended the throne. During the years between Shi Huangti's death (210 BCE) and 206 BCE, the former subject states battled the toppling Qin regime, and sometimes each other, for supremacy. After the final defeat of the Qin army, two generals emerged victorious: Liu-Bang of the state of Han and Xiang-Yu of the state of Chu.
THE EARLY ALLIANCE
Liu-Bang and Xiang-Yu were equally skilled commanders and had each contributed significantly to the defeat of the Qin forces.Xiang-Yu had fought in more engagements while Liu-Bang was responsible for the final victory. Xiang-Yu was of noble birth and had taken the title `King of Western Chu' after assuming command of the troops. Liu-Bang was a commoner (though some sources cite him as a prince) but was raised to noble status by Xiang-Yu who conferred upon him the title `King of Han' with all attendant power. Xiang-Yu, claiming victor's rights and the superior position, then set about the redistribution of land and the ordering of the states but, in doing so, gave away lands which belonged to Liu-Bang. When Liu-Bang contested this decision he was ignored and, feeling dishonoured by his former ally, rallied his forces and attacked Xiang-Yu.
THE CHU-HAN CONTENTION
Between 206 and 202 BCE, the forces of the Han and the Chu battled each other with the additional states allying themselves now with one and now with the other. Shi Huangti had conquered the states by ignoring the old rules of chivalry concerning warfare and conducting a programme of total war ; this lesson was not lost on either Liu-Bang or Xiang-Yu. The Chu-Han Contention claimed thousands of lives and destroyed vast areas of farmland as well as urban areas.
Battles between the Han and the Chu forces raged until 203 BCE when Xiang-Yu negotiated a peace known as the Treaty of Hong Gate (also known as the Treaty of Hong Canal). Under the terms of the accord, China would be divided between the Han and the Chu. Liu-Bang signed the treaty but desired the same unification, and attendant glory, which Shi Huangti had achieved and, breaking the agreement, resumed hostilities. Xiang-Yu drove Liu-Bang back behind the defences of Han and besieged the central fortification. Liu-Bang orchestrated a three-pronged attack on Western Chu through the combined forces of the generals Han Xin the king of Qi and Peng Yue of the province of Liang. Xiang-Yu was forced to drop the siege to defend his homeland. Liu-Bang, however, had ordered Han Xin to circle back and harass the Chu forces during their march. Han Xin did far more than that and successfully ambushed Xiang-Yu and his army repeatedly. His goal, however, seems to have been to manipulate the large Chu force into the canyon at Gaixia where their numbers would work against them and they could be destroyed.
THE BATTLE AT GAIXIA
Xiang-Yu's young concubine, Yuji (born Yu Miaoyi), who always travelled with him on campaign, was captured during one of these engagements and Han Xin quickly conveyed her to Gaixia. He positioned his captive, and the bulk of his troops, deep in the canyon but situated other groups of warriors along the route. Xiang-Yu, knowing he was walking into a trap, mobilized his forces to save the woman he loved. He sent most of his army on toward his capital at Pengcheng and, with 100,000 warriors, marched for Gaixia.
Once Xiang-Yu's forces had fully entered the canyon, Han Xin deployed his troops in the “ambush from ten sides” and decimated the army. Xiang-Yu and his remaining forces fought on until nightfall, rescuing the Consort Yuji. Through the darkness then, Liu-Bang and Han Xin ordered their men and the captured enemy soldiers to sing the native songs of Chu.These songs reminded the remaining Chu forces of their homes and their families and further demoralized the army. Men began deserting in the darkness and headed for their homes. Xiang-Yu rose to stop them but, at the request of Yuji, relented and those who wished to were allowed to leave. He then sat drinking with Yuji and is said to have composed the lament, `The Song of Gaixia' (which is still sung today). Listening to the songs of his native land sung by the enemy throughout the night, Xiang-Yu believed that Western Chu must have fallen to the Han and his cause was lost. With Yuji, he sang his lament, alternating verses with her (according to the historian Sima Qian ). Yuji performed the sword dance as she sang and then, blaming herself for the Chu defeat, and wishing to save Xiang-Yu from further disaster through his love for her, she killed herself with his sword. Though surrounded by enemy forces, with his troops steadily deserting him, Xiang-Yu ignored the pleas of his counselors and buried Consort Yuji, erecting a large mound over her grave to prevent desecration.
By morning, Xiang-Yu had less than 800 men under his command but, with these fewer numbers, he was able to maneuver more easily and fought his way back out of the canyon of Gaixia. He headed directly for Pengcheng, the Han forces following quickly at his heels, and reached the Wu River where they caught up with him. A fierce battle ensued in which most of the Chu forces were slaughtered. Xiang-Yu fought to the end and, when he understood he would soon be captured, committed suicide by slitting his own throat with his sword. He was thirty years old.
LIU-BANG'S VICTORY & THE RISE OF THE HAN
Liu-Bang then proclaimed himself emperor, founding the Han Dynasty which would rule China from 202 BCE to 220 CE. He was known as the Emperor Gaozu and governed with his wife, the Empress Lu-Zhi. In time, he became suspicious of his old allies Peng Yue and Han Xin and had them both executed, under the pretext of spreading sedition, in 196 BCE. To divert blame from himself, he had the order come from Lu-Zhi.
The battle is among the most famous in Chinese history and the merits of the two antagonists, as well as their faults, are still debated. The story of Xiang-Yu and Yuji is the subject of the 1993 CE novel Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee, and the 1993 CE film by Chen Kaige of the same name, and has also been adapted as a popular opera. In 2011 CE the film Hong Men Yan, directed by Daniel Lee, was released (referencing the Feast of Hong Gate) based on the Chu-Han Contention and the Battle of Gaixia (the film's title in English is White Vengeance which has nothing to do with the Chinese title). Another feature film, The Last Supper, written and directed by Chuan Lu, was released in 2012 CE, depicting the battle and the story of Xiang-Yu and Yuji. The Tomb of the Concubine, Consort Yu's grave, is a highly regarded tourist attraction nine miles (15 km) east of modern Suzhou City in Lingbi County. The Chinese phrase, “surrounded by Chu songs” is derived from the Battle of Gaixia and refers to anyone in a hopeless situation.
Indo-Greek › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
The first Indo-Greek kingdom appeared circa 190 BCE may when the Greco-Bactrian king or (general for his father) Demetrios was busy in India, when his Indian possessions were divided between several kings, probably firstly in order to better govern them but then due to civil war. The term “Indo- Greek ” is generally used because these kingdoms were almost always separated from Bactria and thus differed politically from the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.
These kingdoms, in which there were already some Greek settlers called Yonas, took more and more Indian characteristics, becoming truly unique political entities with a mix of Greek and Indian culture, at least for the ruling elites. Indo-Greek kingdoms timeline is very approximate. Between 190 BCE and circa 165 BCE, Greek possessions in India were divided between several Euthydemid kings which fought among themselves and their Greco-Bactrian neighbors. These kingdoms extended to Western Punjab and had Indians of Sunga dynasty as neighbors.
CIRCA 165 BCE THE GRECO-BACTRIAN REBEL EUCRATIDES INVADED THE INDO-GREEK KINGDOMS AND DEFEATED ANTIMACHOS II.
Circa 165 BCE the Greco-Bactrian rebel Eucratides invaded the Indo-Greek kingdoms and, defeating Antimachos II, succeeded to take control of most of the Indo-Greek possessions. Unluckily for him, Menander, his last Euthydemid enemy, pushed him back to Bactria circa 155 BCE. Thus the Indo-Greek kingdoms were safely under Euthydemid rule for the next 25 years. In this time Menander extended Greek rule as far as Paliputra (today Patna, in northeast India), but fell in a civil war.
However circa 130 BCE, the Euthydemid kings were chased away from Bactria by the Yuezhei and settled down in strength in the Indo-Greek territories. From 130 BCE to 80 BCE, numerous Indo-Greek kings ruled in India, often in little kingdoms, fighting among each other, while Arachosia was lost to the Sakas. Some kings seem to have nearly succeeded to reunite these areas, like Eucratids Philoxenos and Diomedes, but finally failed. One Euthydemid queen, Agathokleia, made a strong regency for her son Strato in this time too. Yet at the turn of the century the Indo-Greek regions were highly fragmented.
Hermaios Silver Tetradrachm
The disruptive element came circa 80 BCE, when the Saka king Maues attacked the Indo-Greek kingdoms. He won against several Euthydemid and Eucratid kings, taking the Paropamisadae, Gandhara and Western Punjab. Against this invader, the both dynasties forged an alliance under the rule of Amyntas, whose resistance in eastern Punjab saved Indo-Greek kingdoms, and by circa 65 BCE the Indo-Greek kings regained their kingdoms and their rivalry.
The final moments of Indo-Greek history are written in civil wars once more, with the quick loss of all the Western possessions to the Indo-Saka kings. The last Indo-Greek king Strato II ended his rule circa 10 BCE, vanquished by the Indo-Saka king Rajuvula.
The Indo-Greek kings and kingdoms are absent in the Greek imagination, because of the estrangement from the Greek world and the cut of political links due to Parthian and Sakas presence between India and Greece. However these kingdoms appear to have strongly influenced their Indian subject and Indian or nomad neighbors, as the nature of Indian art from the period, as well as the mention of the Yonas in Asoka 's edicts suggest.
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