Lord Changping
Lord Changping (昌平君; died 223 BC) was a general and lord of Qin, but later seceded from Qin and died as the last king of Chu (224–223 BC) in the last days of the Warring States period of ancient China.[1]
Lord Changping | |
|---|---|
昌平君 | |
| King of Chu | |
| In office 223 BC – 223 BC | |
| Preceded by | Fuchu |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Prime Minister of Qin | |
| In office 237 BC – 223 BC | |
| Preceded by | Lü Buwei |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Family name: Ancestral name: Mǐ (羋) |
| Relations | King Qingxiang of Chu (paternal grandfather) King Kaolie of Chu (father) King Zhaoxiang of Qin (maternal grandfather) King You of Chu, King Ai of Chu and Fuchu (brother) |
Accounts in the Records of the Grand Historian
The deeds of Lord Changping was mainly recorded in Vol. 6: Annals of Qin Shi Huang of the Records of the Grand Historian.
In 238 BC, in the State of Qin, a pseudo-eunuch Lao Ai became intimate with Queen Dowager Zhao and plotted against King Zheng of Qin (who would later ascend to Shi Huang, the First Emperor):
The king found out this fact and ordered the chancellor (Lü Buwei) to let Lord Changping and Lord Changwen lead soldiers and attack Lao Ai. They battled at Xianyang (the capital of Qin) and killed hundreds [of the rebels]. [For this deed,] they all received the peerage. Also, all eunuchs who battled [against Lao Ai] received one higher peerage than before.[2]
Although Lao Ai fled from this battle, he was ultimately captured and executed.
In 226 BC,
In 224 BC, King Zheng of Qin ordered Wang Jian to conquer Chu, and he captured its king (Fuchu) and capital. The remnants, however, continued to resist by adopting Lord Changping as their new king:
Xiang Yan, general of Jing (another name of Chu), adopted Lord Changping as the king of Jing and resisted against Qin at Huainan. In the 24th year (223 BC), Wang Jian and Meng Wu assaulted Jing and defeated the Jing army. Lord Changping died and Xiang Yan finally put an end to himself. [4]
To the contrary, Vol. 40: House of Chu records Fuchu as the last king of Chu and does not mention Lord Changping. Furthermore, the order of events is utterly reversed compared to the accounts in Vol. 6; the army of Qin killed General Xiang Yan in 224 BC and then captured Fuchu in 223 BC.[5]
Other references
His name was not recorded but some archaeologists associate him with a prime minister Shao (召) of Qin.[6]
According to the modern historian Li Kaiyuan (李開元), his given name was Qi (启), his ancestral name Mi (芈) and his lineage name Xiong (熊) were those of the kings of Chu. He was the son of King Kaolie of Chu. Lord Changping's three predecessors were all his brothers: King You, King Ai, and Fuchu.[7] He died from an arrow wound.
In popular culture
In the manga series, Kingdom, he is the commander-in-chief of the army in the court of Qin later became a Minister of the Right then became a Prime Minister after Lu Buwei's disgrace, providing some assistance towards the unification of China. In Yasuhisa Hara's one shot manga written before Kingdom was serialized, he was referred as a former Qin official and prime minister, until he snapped and defected to Chu when his former homeland was going to be invaded and he cannot pass any tactics to Ying Zheng. He was killed when his former friend, a Qin general Meng Wu fought him.
References
- Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 6: Annals of Qin Shi Huang.
- Annals of Qin Shi Huang, the 9th year of Qin Shi Huang. 王知之，令相國昌平君、昌文君發卒攻毐。戰咸陽，斬首數百，皆拜爵，及宦者皆在戰中，亦拜爵一級。
- Annals of Qin Shi Huang, the 21st year of Qin Shi Huang. 昌平君徙於郢。
- Annals of Qin Shi Huang, the 23–24th year of Qin Shi Huang. 荊將項燕立昌平君為荊王，反秦於淮南。二十四年，王翦、蒙武攻荊，破荊軍，昌平君死，項燕遂自殺。
- Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 40: House of Chu
- Li Kaiyuan (李開元). "How could the second prime minister of Qin Shi Huang have been the last king of Chu?". Tianshui. Archived from the original on 2009-09-26.
- Li Kaiyuan (李開元). "Who was the prime minister who helped Qin Shi Huang unify the world under heavens?". LiKaiYuanBK. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14.
Lord Changping Died: 223 BC | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fuchu |
King of Chu 224-223 BC |
Conquered by Qin |