Who they were
An aristocratic general from the old state of Chu, Xiang Yu led the rebel armies that brought down the Qin dynasty.
What they did
He annihilated the main Qin force at the Battle of Julu (207 BC), then entered the Qin heartland, executed the surrendered Qin ruler Ziying, and burned the palaces (206 BC). Styling himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, he divided the empire among kings — setting up the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC) with Liu Bang. Encircled at Gaixia (202 BC), he heard Chu songs from every side, as if his homeland were already lost; he bade farewell to his consort Yu Ji, broke out, and killed himself by the Wu River.
Legacy
Xiang Yu is China’s great tragic hero of literature and opera — the story behind “Farewell My Concubine” — and a byword for brilliance undone by pride.