Wu Guang (, died December 209 BC or January 208 BC) was a leader of the first 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 ...

during the reign of the Second Qin Emperor.

Life

Wu Guang was born in Yangxia (陽夏; present-day Taikang County,

Zhoukou Zhoukou ( zh, s=周口 , p=Zhōukǒu, w=Chou-k’ou; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Ka ...

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 ...

), and his courtesy name was Shu. In August or September 209 BC,Volume 48 of ''Records of the Grand Historian'' dated the incident to the 7th month of the 1st year of the reign of Qin Er Shi. This corresponds to 9 Aug to 7 Sep 209 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. (二世元年七月，发闾左适戍渔阳，九百人屯大泽乡。...) ''Shiji'', vol.48 he was a military captain along with Chen Sheng when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang (漁陽; southwest of present-day Miyun County,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

) to help defend the northern border against

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

. 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 Fusu, the crown prince of Qin, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Xiang Yan (), a general of Chu, had not died 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. Soon, there were people asking Chen Sheng to declare himself "King of Chu". Against the advice of Zhang Er and Chen Yu, Chen Sheng declared himself "King of Rising Chu" (). After Chen Sheng set up his capital at Chen County (陳縣; in present-day Huaiyang, Henan), he appointed Wu Guang as acting-'King of Chu' and ordered Wu to head west toward Qin proper. Wu Guang's forces, however, became bogged down while laying siege to Xingyang (滎陽; northeast of present-day Xingyang, Henan). Wu Guang's generals became concerned that Qin reinforcements under Zhang Han would soon arrive and attack them on two sides. They wanted to change Wu Guang's plans, end the siege of Xingyang, and face Zhang Han's forces directly. Unconvinced that Wu Guang would change his plans, they assassinated Wu and took over the army.

Legacy

Wu Guang sometimes appears as a door god in Chinese and Taoist temples, usually partnered with Chen Sheng.

References

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 ...

. ''

Records of the Grand Historian 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 ce ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Guang 200s BC deaths Year of birth unknown People from Taikang County Deified Chinese men Qin dynasty rebels

Life

Legacy

See also

References