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 Xia ...

during the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

of ancient China. He was also called Yan Dan (). He lived in the

State of Qin Qin (, , or ''Ch'in'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. It is traditionally dated to 897 BC. The state of Qin originated from a reconquest of western lands that had previously been lost to the Xirong. Its location at ...

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 ...

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

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

and became the first

Emperor of China Throughout Chinese history, "Emperor" () was the superlative title held by the monarchs of imperial China's various dynasties. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven", an autocrat with the divine mandat ...

, but Jing failed.

King Xi of Yan Xi, King of Yan (; fl. 255–222 BC; r. 255–222 BC) was the last monarch of the Yan state. He was the son of King Xiao whom he succeeded. In the 28th year of his reign (227 BC), the Qin state began its conquest of Yan, and its army approach ...

, 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 sta ...

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

References

Zhou dynasty nobility Chinese princes People of Yan (state) Chinese crown princes who never acceded 226 BC deaths {{China-royal-stub