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Person195 BC

Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han)

Also called: Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang

First emperor of Han (r. 202–195 BCE), a petty official from Pei who defeated Xiang Yu in the Chu–Han contention and founded the dynasty

From a farming family in Pei, he was a minor Qin official (a neighbourhood headman). He rose in Pei during the Chen Sheng–Wu Guang revolt and became a commander of Chu, entering Xianyang first in 206 BCE to receive Qin’s surrender. There he won hearts by abolishing Qin’s harsh laws and proclaiming a three-article code punishing only murder, injury and theft. Making good use of Zhang Liang, Xiao He and Han Xin, he defeated Xiang Yu and founded the Han, and later eliminated one by one the vassal kings among his old followers, such as Han Xin.

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2 related events

  1. 1
    209 BC – 206 BCThe Chen Sheng–Wu Guang Uprising and the Fall of Qincommander

    The year after the First Emperor died, conscripts on their way to the frontier rose under Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. The revolt spread across the country and Qin collapsed fifteen years after unification.

  2. 2
    206 BC – 202 BCThe Chu–Han Contention and the Founding of Hanmonarch

    After Qin fell, Xiang Yu of Chu and Liu Bang, King of Han, fought for the realm. Victorious at Gaixia, Liu Bang became emperor, founded the Han dynasty and made Chang’an his capital.

People who appear alongside

  • Xiang Yu232 BC – 202 BC

    General from a noble Chu family who destroyed Qin’s main army and became Hegemon-King of Western Chu, but killed himself after losing to Liu Bang at Gaixia

  • Chen Sheng208 BC

    Peasant rebel at the end of Qin who rose with Wu Guang at Dazexiang in 209 BCE, founded Zhangchu and proclaimed himself king

  • Qin Shi Huang259 BC – 210 BC

    King of Qin (247–221 BCE) and first emperor (221–210 BCE) who conquered the six other states, unified China and created a centralised imperial system

Themes this person appears in

  • Ancient China and India770 BC – AD 220

    From the Hundred Schools of the Warring States to the unified empires of Qin and Han, and from the Buddha to the Maurya and Kushan empires — the millennium that shaped East and South Asian civilisation