CHARACTERS
XIAO HE (NARRATOR)
A great statesman
XIANG YU
An ambitious, tragic King of the Western Chu
LIU BANG
A fierce warrior who sweeps the
nation by storm, the future Emperor who
founded the Han dynasty
YU JI
The devoted concubine of Xiang Yu
HAN XIN
A brilliant tactician divided in loyalty
whose eventual betrayal changed the
course of history
THE CHU-HAN CONTENTION
AND THE BATTLE OF GAIXIA
The entire performance is narrated by Xiao He,
adviser of Liu Bang, who would later become his
Prime Minister.
Following the collapse of the Qin dynasty, two
major contending powers emerged—Western
Chu and Han—that engaged in a struggle for
supremacy over China. Western Chu was led
by Xiang Yu, an ambitious tyrant, while the Han
leader was Liu Bang. The Chu-Han Contention
was a war between these two forces from
206 BC to 202 BC.
Han Xin was a military general who joined one of
the armies led by Xiang Liang (Xiang Yu’s uncle)
to overthrow the Qin dynasty, and continued
to serve under Xiang Yu. However, he was not
placed in high regard despite constantly having
proposed strategies to Xiang Yu. In 206 BC, Han
deserted Xiang Yu’s army and joined Liu Bang.
We enter the story with the final battle of
the four-year war, the Battle of Gaixia where
Han forces led by Liu Bang and Han Xin have
surrounded Xiang Yu’s troops in Gaixia and
launched repeated ambushes. Han Xin has
ordered Han soldiers and captured Chu troops
to sing Chu songs; hearing them, Xiang Yu
believes that he has been defeated. Yu Ji, Xiang
Yu’s favourite concubine, who travelled with him,
kills herself, for she cannot bear the thought of
outliving her beloved. A broken-spirited Xiang
Yu continues to fight the war, but eventually, no
longer able to hold his forces, commits suicide by
Wu River in 202 BC.
It is a complete victory for Han, and Liu Bang
soon proclaims himself the first emperor of
the Han dynasty, which will become one of the
greatest reigns in Chinese history.