Feast at Hong Gate
| Feast at Hong Gate | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鴻門宴 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 鸿门宴 | ||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Hóng Mén Yàn |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | Hung4 Mun4 Jin3 |
The Feast at Hong Gate, also known as the "Banquet at Hong Gate", "Hongmen Banquet", "Hongmen Feast" and other similar renditions, was a historical event that took place in 206 BC at the Hong Gate (鴻門) outside Xianyang, the capital of the Qin dynasty. Its location in present-day China is roughly at Hongmenbao Village, Xinfeng Town, Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The main parties involved in the banquet were Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, two prominent leaders of insurgent forces who rebelled against the Qin dynasty from 209–206 BC. The event was one of the highlights of the Chu–Han Contention, a power struggle for supremacy over China between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu which concluded with Xiang Yu's defeat and the establishment of the Han dynasty with Liu Bang as its first emperor. The Feast at Hong Gate is often memorialised in Chinese history, fiction and popular culture.
Between 209 BC and 206 BC, rebellions erupted throughout China to overthrow the Qin dynasty. Some of these insurgent forces claimed to be restoring the former six states which were annexed by the Qin state in a series of wars from 230–221 BC. Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were two prominent leaders who emerged from among the rebels. In 208 BC, Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang installed King Huai II as the nominal ruler of the Chu state while they were actually the ones in power. In late 208 BC, Xiang Liang was killed in action at the Battle of Dingtao so the Chu military came under King Huai II's control. King Huai II sent Xiang Yu and Liu Bang to lead two separate forces to attack the Qin heartland of Guanzhong, and promised that whoever entered that region first would be granted the title of "King of Guanzhong".
In late 207 BC, Liu Bang's rebel army conquered Wu Pass and seized control of Guanzhong and the Qin capital Xianyang. The last Qin emperor Ziying surrendered to Liu Bang, marking the end of the Qin dynasty. After occupying Xianyang, Liu Bang gave strict orders to his men, forbidding them from looting and pillaging the city and harming the civilian populace. Liu Bang also sent troops to garrison at Hangu Pass to block Xiang Yu from entering Guanzhong. Around the time, Xiang Yu's force had just defeated a Qin army led by Zhang Han at the Battle of Julu. When Xiang Yu arrived at Hangu Pass, he was displeased to hear that Liu Bang had already occupied Guanzhong, so he attacked and conquered the pass, pushing on to west of Xishui (戲水). Liu Bang and his army were based in Bashang (霸上) then. The strengths of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's forces then were estimated to be 400,000 and 100,000 respectively.
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