Editing Xiang Yu (section)

==Chu–Han Contention==
{{Main article|Chu–Han Contention}}
[[File:Chu-Han Contention.png|thumb|450px|Map of the Chu–Han Contention]]

===Battle of Pengcheng===
In 206 BC, Liu Bang led his forces to attack the [[Three Qins]] in the [[Guanzhong]] region. At the time, Xiang Yu was away on a campaign in the [[Qi (state)|Qi]] territories against [[Tian Rong]] and did not pay much attention to Liu Bang's invasion.

The following year, Liu Bang formed an alliance with another five kingdoms and attacked Xiang Yu with a 560,000-strong army, capturing the Western Chu capital [[Xuzhou|Pengcheng]].

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu turned back from Qi and led 30,000 troops to attack Liu Bang, defeating and inflicting heavy casualties on the latter's forces at the [[Battle of Pengcheng]].

===Battle of Xingyang===
After losing Pengcheng, Liu Bang retreated to [[Xingyang]] with Xiang Yu in pursuit. At Xingyang, Liu Bang managed to hold his position against Xiang Yu until 204 BC. [[Ji Xin]], one of Liu Bang's subordinates who resembled his lord in appearance, disguised himself as Liu Bang and pretended to surrender to Xiang Yu, buying time for Liu Bang to escape. When Xiang Yu learnt that he had been fooled, he had Ji Xin burnt to death.

After the fall of Xingyang, the Chu and Han forces respectively occupied the territories east and west of present-day [[Henan]]. On the battlefront north of the [[Yellow River]], Xiang Yu's forces were not faring well as [[Han Xin]], one of Liu Bang's generals, had conquered the [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]] kingdom and defeated Xiang Yu's general [[Long Ju]] at the [[Battle of Wei River]]. Concurrently, [[Peng Yue]], Liu Bang's ally, was constantly launching guerrilla-style attacks on Xiang Yu's territories in the east.

===Treaty of Hong Canal===
By 203 BC, the tide had turned in Liu Bang's favour. After a year-long siege, Xiang Yu managed to capture [[Liu Taigong|Liu Bang's father]] and threatened to boil him alive if Liu Bang refused to surrender to him. Liu Bang remarked that since he and Xiang Yu had become [[Blood brother|oath brother]]s earlier in a ceremony in 208 BC, Xiang Yu would, in the eyes of everyone, be deemed guilty of patricide if he killed Liu Bang's father. Both sides ultimately agreed to make peace in an event known as the Treaty of Hong Canal, which divided China into east and west under Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's control respectively. Xiang Yu also released Liu Bang's father and other hostages he had captured earlier.

===Battle of Guling===
Shortly after, Liu Bang renounced the peace agreement and attacked Xiang Yu while the latter was heading back to Pengcheng. At the same time, he sent messengers to [[Han Xin]] and [[Peng Yue]], requesting them to join him in attacking Xiang Yu on three fronts. However, Han Xin and Peng Yue did not mobilise their forces, so Liu Bang ended up being defeated by Xiang Yu at the [[Battle of Guling]]. After his defeat, Liu Bang retreated to strengthen his defences, while concurrently sending messengers to meet Han Xin and Peng Yue again, promising to make them kings and grant them territories if they helped him defeat Xiang Yu.

===Defeat and death===
{{Main article|Battle of Gaixia}}
[[File:西楚霸王墓 02.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Xiang Yu in [[Dongping County]], [[Shandong]]|170px]]

In 202 BC, the combined forces of Liu Bang, Han Xin and Peng Yue attacked Xiang Yu from three fronts and managed to trap Xiang Yu's forces, which were running low on supplies, at Gaixia ({{zhi|c=垓下}}; in present-day [[Anhui]]). Han Xin ordered his men to sing folk songs from the [[Chu (state)|Chu]] territories to evoke feelings of nostalgia among the Chu soldiers and create the impression that many Chu soldiers had surrendered and joined the Han forces. The morale of Xiang Yu's forces plummeted and many of them deserted. Xiang Yu, in despair, composed the "Song of Gaixia" while his wife [[Consort Yu (Xiang Yu's wife)|Consort Yu]] committed suicide.

The next morning, Xiang Yu led about 800 of his remaining elite horsemen on a desperate attempt to break out of the siege, with 5,000 enemy troops in pursuit. After crossing the [[Huai River]], Xiang Yu was left with only a few hundred men. They lost their way so Xiang Yu asked for directions from a farmer, who directed him wrongly to a swamp. By the time they reached Dongcheng ({{zhi|c=東城}}; in present-day [[Dingyuan County]], Anhui), Xiang Yu had only 28 men left. There, he made a speech, declaring that his downfall was due to Heaven's will and not his personal failures.

After that, Xiang Yu led his men to break out of the encirclement, killing one Han officer in the process. He then split his remaining men into three groups to confuse the enemy and induce them to split up too to attack the groups. In doing so, he took the enemy by surprise and killed another Han officer, inflicting about 100 casualties on them while losing only two men.

Xiang Yu retreated to the bank of the Wu River ({{zhi|c=烏江}}; near present-day [[He County]], Anhui), where the ferryman at the ford had prepared a boat for him to cross the river to the [[Jiangnan|Jiangdong]] region where Xiang Yu's hometown was. The ferryman urged him to retreat to Jiangdong, saying that he still had the support of the people there. However, Xiang Yu replied that he was too ashamed to return home and face the people because all the 8,000 men from Jiangdong he had first brought along into battle had all perished. He refused to cross the river and ordered his remaining men to dismount while asking the ferryman to take his warhorse, Zhui ({{zhi|c=騅}}), back home.

Xiang Yu and his men made a last stand against wave after wave of Han forces until only Xiang Yu himself was still alive. Continuing to fight fiercely, he killed over 100 enemy soldiers but also sustained several wounds all over his body. Just then, he recognised an old friend, Lü Matong ({{zhi|c=呂馬童}}), among the Han soldiers, so he called out to him: "I heard that the King of Han (Liu Bang) has placed a price of 1,000 gold and the title of "Wanhu Marquis" ({{zhi|c=萬戶侯}}; "marquis of 10,000 households") on my head. Take it then, on account of our past friendship." Xiang Yu then committed suicide by slitting his throat with his sword. A brawl broke out among the Han soldiers over Xiang Yu's dead body as they were eager to claim the reward; Xiang Yu's body was dismembered and mutilated in the process. Liu Bang eventually divided the reward among Lü Matong and four others who showed up with Xiang Yu's body parts.

After Xiang Yu's death, the rest of Western Chu surrendered and China was unified under Liu Bang's rule, marking the start of the [[Han dynasty]]. Liu Bang held a funeral for Xiang Yu in Gucheng ({{zhi|c=穀城}}; in present-day [[Dongping County]], [[Shandong]]), with the ceremony befitting Xiang Yu's earlier title "Duke of Lu". He also spared the lives of Xiang Yu's relatives, including Xiang Yu's uncle [[Xiang Bo]] who had saved his life during the [[Feast at Swan Goose Gate]], and made them marquises.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ming Hung |first=Hing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ws7jZr7AriIC&pg=PA163 |title=The Road to the Throne: How Liu Bang Founded China's Han Dynasty |publisher=Algora Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-87586-838-7 |pages=163}}</ref>