| Jing Ke | |||||||||||||||
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| This mural shows Jing Ke's assassination attempt. The King of Qin is on the left, Qin Wuyang is kneeling in the middle, and Jing Ke, on the right, has been seized. In the middle is the dagger, sticking out of the column, and the opened box with the head inside.[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 荊軻 | ||||||||||||||
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Jing Ke (? - 227 BCE) was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor (reign from 221 BC to 210 BC). His story is told in the chapter entitled Biographies of the Assassins (刺客列傳) in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian.
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In 230 BCE, the Qin state began conquering other states as part of a unification plan. Qin's army successfully annihilated the weakest of the Seven Warring States, Han. Two years later Zhao was also conquered.[2]
In exchange for peace, King Xi of Yan had earlier forced his son Crown Prince Dan of Yan to be held hostage by the Qin, but Prince Dan returned knowing that Qin was far stronger than Yan and would attack it later.[2]
Jing Ke was originally from Wei (衞, not 魏). He was a scholar proficient in the art of the sword. His homeland of Wei was absorbed by Qin, and Jing Ke fled to Yan.[2][2] A Youxia named Tian Guang (田光) first introduced him to Prince Dan.[3] There Jing Ke accepted Prince Dan's hospitality, who as a last resort decided to send an assassin against the King of Qin.[2] The plan was to either kidnap the king and force him to release the territories from his control; or failing this, to kill him.[2] The expectation in either case was that Qin would be left disorganized, enabling the other six major states to unite against it.[2]
In 228 B.C.E., the Qin army was already at the Zhao capital, Handan, and was waiting to approach the state of Yan. Jing Ke agreed to go to Qin state and pretend to be a nobleman begging for mercy.[2] According to events at the time, Dukang (督亢) (in present day Hebei) was the first part of the Yan state that the Qin wanted, by reason of its fertile farmland.[2] The plan was to present a gift of the map of Dukang [2] and the severed head of the traitorous Qin general Fan Wuji [2] to the king of Qin, in order to approach him.
At the time, General Fan Wuji had lost favor with Qin and wanted revenge against it [4]; whereas the Qin state put a bounty on capturing him of 1,000 gold pieces.[5] Jing Ke went to Fan himself to discuss the assassination plan. Fan Wuji believed that the plan would work, and agreed to commit suicide, so that his head could be collected. [4][5]
Prince Dan then obtained the sharpest possible bishou (匕首), refined it with poison, and gave it to Jing Ke.[4] To accompany him, Prince Dan assigned Qin Wuyang as assistant.[4] Qin Wuyang was known to have successfully committed murder at age 13.[4]
In 227 B.C.E., Prince Dan and other guests wore white clothing and white hats at Ji river (易水) to send the pair of assassins off.[4] Jing Ke reportedly sang a song "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!)[4]. The King of Qin received the message of visitors presenting a gift to him, and was willing to accept at the city.[4]
Concealing the bishou inside the map, Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang represented the Yan and met with the king.[4] Qin Wuyang reportedly became shocked when he entered the presence of the king; whereupon Jing Ke explained that his partner had never set eyes on the Son of Heaven.[6] Other sources suggest Jing Ke identified Qin Wuyang as a rural boy from the country side who had never seen the world.[4]
When the king opened the map, revealing the bishou, Jing Ke seized it and attacked the king, who was briefly unable to draw his own sword. Of those present, none were armed to help.[4]
A doctor named Xia Wuqie (夏無且) grabbed a medicine bag and attacked Jing Ke [4]; whereupon the King drew his sword and wounded Jing Ke.[7] Both Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang were later killed for attempting assassination.[7]
After Jing Ke's attempt, the Qin army general Wang Jian was sent against the Yan state. In 226 B.C. Prince Dan sent his army to fight at Ji (薊).[7]; but only to defeat. In an effort to try to appease the King of Qin, King Xi of Yan put his son to death; but the Yan were annexed nonetheless [7].