Guan Ying (died January 176 BC12th month of the 4th year of Emperor Wen's reign, per vol.14 of ''Zizhi Tongjian''. The month corresponds to 10 Jan to 8 Feb 176 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar.), posthumously known as Marquis Yi of Yingyin, was a Chinese military general and politician who served as a

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the early

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

Life

Guan Ying was from Suiyang (), which is present-day

Shangqiu Shangqiu ( zh, ), Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

. He served under

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, and had fought for Liu Bang in battles during the rebellion against the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

and during the

Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention (), also known as the Chu–Han War (), was an interregnum in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the Qin dynasty was overthrown in 206 BCE, the empir ...

(206–202 BC) against his rival

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (), born Xiang Ji, was a Chinese warlord who founded and led the short-lived ancient Chinese states, kingdom-state of Western Chu during the interregnum period between the Qin dynasty, Qin and Han dynasty, Han dynasties of China, d ...

. After Liu Bang became emperor and established the Han dynasty, Guan Ying served as General of Chariots and Cavalry (). He put down Chen Xi's rebellion and killed Hou Chang (), one of Chen Xi's lieutenants, in battle near Quni (; around west of present-day

Baoding Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban distri ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

) in 196BC. When Liu Bang died in 195 BC, his empress Lü Zhi became empress dowager while their son Liu Ying (Emperor Hui), ruled as a puppet emperor under her control. Lü Zhi and her clan seized power from the Lius and dominated the political scene; this period, lasting about 15 years, is historically known as the Lü Clan Disturbance. After Lü Zhi died in August 180 BC, Liu Xiang, one of Liu Bang's grandsons, and others led a rebellion against the Lü-controlled Han government to restore the Lius to power. Guan Ying was appointed General-in-Chief () by the Lü-controlled Han government and ordered to lead troops to suppress the revolt. However, he led his men to combine forces with Zhou Bo, Chen Ping and others who were loyal to the Lius and joined them in ousting the Lüs from power. In the end, the Lü clan was exterminated and Liu Heng (Emperor Wen), one of Liu Bang's sons, became the new emperor. During Emperor Wen's reign, Guan Ying served as Grand Commandant () and later succeeded Zhou Bo as

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

. He died in office after about a year and was given the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

"Marquis Yi" ().

References

Citations

Bibliography

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

. ''

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

'', Volume 95. *

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

, et al. ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

'' (''Han Shu''), Volume 41. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Ying 176 BC deaths Han dynasty generals Politicians from Shangqiu