Crown Prince Dan () was a crown prince of the

State of Yan Yan (; Old Chinese pronunciation: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital was Ji (later known as Yanjing and now Beijing). During the Warring States period, the court was also moved to another capital at Xiadu ...

during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

of ancient China. He was also called Yan Dan (). He lived in the State of Qin as a hostage, but returned to Yan in 232 BC. He sent

Jing Ke Jing Ke (died 227 BC) was a ''youxia'' during the late Warring States period of Ancient China. As a retainer of Crown Prince Dan of the Yan state, he was infamous for his failed assassination attempt on King Zheng of the Qin state, who later beca ...

to assassinate King Zheng of Qin, who later assumed the title

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...

and became the first

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heav ...

, but Jing failed.

King Xi of Yan Xi, King of Yan (燕王喜) (?–?) (ruled 255–222 BC) was the last sovereign of the state of Yan in the last days Warring States period of Chinese history. He was the son of King Xiao of Yan (燕孝王). He was born as Ji Xi (姬喜), the ...

, Dan's father and the last king of Yan, ordered the execution of Dan to please Qin after the Yan capital Ji fell to Qin. Invasion of Qin did halt for few years, during which time the states of Wei and Chu were conquered. Meanwhile, the

moved to the

Liaodong Commandery Liaodong Commandery ( zh, 遼東郡) was a commandery in imperial China that existed from the Warring States period to the Northern dynasties. It was located in modern Liaoning, to the east of the Liao River. The commandery was created by the st ...

. The state of Yan was conquered in 222 BC and King Xi was captured. All except King Xi were featured in the Chinese period epic ''

The Emperor and the Assassin ''The Emperor and the Assassin'', also known as ''The First Emperor'', is a 1998 - 1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Histo ...

''. Prince Dan is also featured in the 2004 TV series ''

Assassinator Jing Ke ''Assassinator Jing Ke'' is a 2004 Chinese television series based on a semi-fictional story of the assassin Jing Ke, who, in 227 BC, attempted to kill Ying Zheng, the king of Qin. Directed by Raymond Lee, the series starred Liu Ye as the titula ...

''.

References

Zhou dynasty nobility Chinese princes Yan (state) Heirs apparent who never acceded {{China-royal-stub