Xiang Yu followed his uncle, Xiang Liang, into rebellion against the
Qin in209 bce. One of theirfirst acts was to murder Yin Tong, the governor
of Kuaiji. At Xiang Liang’s order during an audience with Yin, Xiang
Yu suddenly drew his sword and cut off the governor’s head. He then
killed“almost a hundred”of the governor’sattendants.^11 Despite the likely
exaggeration, Xiang Yu was an effective martial artist who, it seems, single-
handedly slaughtered much of a government office full of people.
He demonstrated similar skill and ruthlessness on other occasions, for
example, suddenly beheading his commanding general, Song Yi, at a morn-
ing meeting. Song Yi himself had earlier criticized Xiang Yu’s military plans,
saying:“In donning armor and handling weapons, I am not as good as you.
But in sitting down and working out strategy, you are not as good as I.”
Song Yi had been following a less aggressive strategy against the Qin, and
followed up his admonition to Xiang Yu by ordering the execution of all
fierce and aggressive soldiers. Xiang Yu’s solution was to murder Song Yi,
and prosecute the more aggressive strategy he had been advocating.
Liu Bang, for his part, is portrayed as a much more convivial fellow in his
youth, mostly interested in women, drinking, and money. On one occasion,
while drunk and walking through a marsh, he was warned that a large snake
blocked the way. He responded:“What is there to fear when a strong man
walks along?”Proceeding ahead, he came upon the snake, drew his long
sword, and cut it in two. He managed to walk a little further before falling
into a drunken sleep.^12 The significance of the incident in theHistory of the
Former Han Dynastyis portrayed in supernatural terms, with a mysterious
old woman found lamenting that the son of the Red God (Liu Bang) had
just killed her son, the son of the White God. For our purposes, it is more
important that a man like Liu Bang would carry a long sword as part of his
ordinary accoutrement, and be ready, willing, and able to use it.
Possibly the most famous display of martial arts in the interaction between
Liu Bang and Xiang Yu occurred in206 bce, shortly after Liu had captured
the Qin capital. Although Liu and Xiang Yu were both on the same side, their
armies nearly clashed when Xiang Yu insisted upon taking possession of
the territory Liu had recently conquered. Conflict was narrowly avoided,
and Liu came to Xiang Yu’s camp to apologize and take part in a feast. One
of Xiang Yu’s retainers tried to indicate to him that they should kill Liu
while he was there, but Xiang Yu did not respond. The retainer thereupon
directed Xiang Zhuang to perform a sword dance during the feasting, and
take the opportunity to kill Liu. Xiang Zhuang followed these instructions,
entered the feast, drank a toast to Liu, and said:“There is no [entertainment]
in our camp, I beg permission to dance a sword-dance.”He then drew his
62 The Qin and Han Dynasties