Xiang Zhuang (; 206 BC) was a Chinese warrior best known for his role in the Feast at Swan Goose Gate in 206 BC. He was a younger cousin of

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 ...

, the Hegemon-King of

Western Chu Chu (, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring a ...

who fought for supremacy over China 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

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 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

The only mention of Xiang Zhuang in history was his role in the Feast at Swan Goose Gate. The feast was hosted by

, the ''de facto'' leader of the various rebel groups which overthrew 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 ...

in 206 BC. Xiang Yu was unhappy that

(then known as the Duke of Pei ), who led one of the rebel groups, had beat him in the race to capture the

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben str ...

region, the heartland of the Qin dynasty. Acting on his adviser Fan Zeng's suggestion, Xiang Yu hosted a feast at Swan Goose Gate (; in present-day Lintong District,

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

) outside

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

, the former capital of the Qin dynasty, and invited Liu Bang to attend. His plan was to have Liu Bang assassinated during the feast. When Liu Bang showed up, Xiang Yu began having second thoughts and ignored Fan Zeng's hints to give the order to kill Liu. Frustrated at Xiang Yu's indecisiveness, Fan Zeng secretly summoned Xiang Zhuang and instructed him to pretend to perform a

sword dance Weapon dances incorporating swords or similar weapons are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of Solo dance, solo and mock-battle (Pyrrhic dance, Pyrrhic) sword dances in Africa, Asia and Europe. Some traditions use ...

to entertain the guests and find an opportunity to assassinate Liu Bang. Xiang Zhuang followed the instruction and tried to kill Liu Bang during the dance. However, Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Bo, who was a close friend of Liu Bang's adviser Zhang Liang, suddenly stood up and joined the dance. Whenever Xiang Zhuang thrust his sword at Liu Bang, Xiang Bo parried his blow or stood in between Xiang Zhuang and Liu Bang to shield the latter. Xiang Yu eventually ordered Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Bo to stop the dance and return to their seats. This incident became the origin of a Chinese idiom used to describe somebody making a veiled attack on another person: "Xiang Zhuang performs a sword dance; his target is actually the Duke of Pei." ()

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 ...

. ''

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 7. {{DEFAULTSORT:Xiang, Zhuang Chu–Han contention people