Jing Ke
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Jing Ke (Chinese: 荊軻; pinyin: Jīng Kē; Wade-Giles: Ching K'o) was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang who reigned from 221 BC to 210 BC. His story is told in the chapter entitled Biography of the Assassins (刺客列傳) in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, or Shiji.
Jing Ke was introduced by Tian Guang to Dan the crown prince of Yan. Jing Ke was originally from Wei (衛, not 魏), which he left because he was not being recognised by the King of Wei. After travelling around, he arrived at Yan and made friends with Gao Jianli and a butcher of dogs. Together they passed the days drinking and having fun.
Dan was a friend of Zheng (who later became Qin Shi Huang) when they were both hostages in the State of Zhao. When Dan escaped from Zhao back to Yan, Qin's army moved towards the border with Yan. Yan's army was too weak to fight off the army of Qin. Instead of going to battle, Dan consulted with Tian Guang on a course of action, and decided to assassinate the king of Qin. Tian Guang, who was a friend of Jing Ke, recommended him to Dan to carry out the assassination.
A Qin army general (Fan Yu Qi), who had lost favor with the king of Qin, was a guest at Dan's residence at that time. Having learned of his whereabouts, Jing Ke persuaded the general to commit suicide, as the king of Qin wanted his head. Together with the head and a map of Yan, Jing Ke had enough reasons to approach the king of Qin.
Off onto his mission, at the river of Yi (the border of Zhao), Jing Ke reportedly shouted out this impromptu poem after a cup of wine with friends: "Piercing wind, freezing river of Yi. The hero fords, and he never returns!" (風瀟瀟兮，易水寒，壮士一去不復返!) This heroism, which reflects the general ideology of the society at that time, is recorded in Shiji.
Armed with a dagger covered with poison hidden in the case holding the map, Jing Ke and Qin Wu Yang represented Yan and met with the King of Qin. Qin Wu Yang was carrying the map case while Jing Ke was holding the head of general Fan. Qin Wu Yang became nervous and his face turned white. Seizing his chance, Jing Ke took the map case from Qin Wu Yang. While presenting the map to the King of Qin, he seized the dagger and plunged it towards the King of Qin while grasping his sleeve.
Jing Ke missed and in the struggle, the sleeve was torn off and the King of Qin escaped. As Jing Ke chased the King around the audience hall, the King of Qin tried to pull out his sword which was slung at his side; however this was a ceremonial weapon which had been made especially long to impress onlookers and the King was unable to unsheathe it. After being advised by a court official, who mimed the slinging of the sword across the back and the drawing of it across the shoulder, the King of Qin finally managed to draw his sword and stabbed Jing Ke with it eight times. Jing Ke, knowing that his chance was slipping away, threw the dagger at the King but missed. Finally guards, which out of the King's paranoia over having armed men in his presence had been posted at a great distance, arrived and killed the assassin.
[edit] Jing Ke In Fiction
The Chinese film The Emperor and the Assassin (1999), featuring Gong Li and others, is based on these events. Jing Ke does not appear in the films The Emperor's Shadow (1996), directed by Zhou Xiaowen, or Hero, also about the attempted assassination of Qin Shi Huang, but both films adapt elements from his story.
A highly fictionalized version of Jing Ke appeared in the film Highlander: Endgame, played by wuxia actor Donnie Yen. In the film, Jing Ke was, like the other principal characters in the film, an immortal warrior.
