Chen Sheng

Life

Chen Sheng was born in Yangcheng (陽城; in present-day Fangcheng County, Henan). In August or September 209 BC, he was a military captain along with Wu Guang when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang (漁陽; southwest of present-day Miyun County, Beijing) to help defend the northern border against Xiongnu. Due to storms, it became clear that they could not get to Yuyang by the deadline, and according to law, if soldiers could not get to their posts on time, they would be executed. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, believing that they were doomed, led their soldiers to start a rebellion. They announced that Qin crown prince Fusu, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Chu general Xiang Yan, who had killed himself after his defeat during the Qin conquest of Chu, had actually survived and were joining their cause. They also declared the reestablishment of Chu.

Using 900 men to resist an empire seemed to be a suicidal move, but the people, who had felt deeply oppressed by the Qin regime, joined Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's cause quickly. More than 20,000 men joined. Soon, there were people asking Chen Sheng to declare himself "King of Chu". Acting against the advice of his advisors Zhang Er and Chen Yu, Chen Sheng declared himself "King of Rising Chu" (張楚王).

Chen Sheng, setting his capital at Chen County (陳縣; in present-day Huaiyang, Henan), then commissioned various generals to advance in all directions to conquer Qin territory. Among these were: Wu Guang, whom he created acting "King of Chu"; Zhou Wen (周文), whom he ordered to head west toward Qin proper; his friend Wu Chen, whom he ordered to head north toward the old territory of Zhao; Zhou Fu (周敷), whom he ordered to head northeast toward the old territory of Wei. However, none of these generals returned. After initial defeats Qin forces regrouped under general Zhang Han. Wu Guang was assassinated by generals under him; Zhou Wen was defeated by Qin forces; Wu Chen was initially successful but then declared himself the King of Zhao and became independent of Chu; and Zhou Fu supported a descendant of the royal house of Wei to be the King of Wei, also independent of Chu. A major reason why Wu Chen and the generals who assassinated Wu Guang broke away was that Chen Sheng was paranoid as a king: generals were executed at any sign of infidelity, even by rumours. Chen Sheng's ruthlessness and constant defeats in battle made it harder and harder for him to gather followers. Chen Sheng was greatly weakened, and, as he suffered losses at the hands of the Qin army, he personally led a force to try to gather reinforcements, but he was assassinated by his guard Zhuang Jia in c.January 208 BC. He died just five months after his rebellion began. However, his act of defiance provided the spark of inspiration which eventually led to the fall of the Qin dynasty.