Chu–Han Contention

Once Qin had fallen, who would rule the land next? Xiang Yu and Liu Bang gave two answers: one a noble turned "Hegemon-King", the other a village chief turned "King of Han".

The blades at the Hongmen banquet, repairing the plank road in the open while marching through Chencang in secret, Han Xin's ambush on ten sides, the songs of Chu rising on four sides — in just four years, every duel became a treasury of idioms and stories.

In 202 BCE Xiang Yu died by his own hand at the Wu River, and Liu Bang founded the Han. This rise and fall has been retold for more than two thousand years.