Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu) (刘邦) — The Peasant Free-Spirit Who Founded the 400-Year Han Empire
Dynasty: Western Han Dynasty
From an ordinary neighborhood patrol chief to the sovereign who forged the identity of the Han people.
Life Footprint & Journey Nodes
Pei County (Zhongyangli, Fengyi) (沛县丰邑（好酒及色，豁达任侠）) - Age 1
Feng County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province
Born to rural peasants in Pei County, the unconventional young Liu Bang despised farming chores, serving as patrol master while befriending heroes with effortless charisma.
Serving as head of the local Sishui Postal Pavilion, Liu Bang won the unyielding loyalty of town magistrates Xiao He and Cao Shen, as well as butcher Fan Kuai. Once witnessing the Qin First Emperor's magnificent imperial procession in Xianyang, he marvelled aloud: 'Ah, this is how a true man ought to live!'
Ah, this is truly how a great man ought to live!
嗟乎，大丈夫当如此也！ (Jiē hū, dà zhàng fū dāng rú cǐ yě!)Mount Mangdang (Rebellion in the Marshes) (芒砀山（斩白蛇起义，隐匿沼泽）) - Age 47
Dangshan / Yongcheng, modern Shangqiu, Henan
Escorting conscripts to Mount Li, he liberated the captives when many escaped, famously slaying a giant serpent blocking the trail to launch the uprising.
Facing death penalty under Qin law because half his conscripts had fled, Liu Bang drank with the remaining laborers and freed them: 'Go home, all of you; I shall disappear too!' Dozens chose to follow him into the marshlands. Slaying a great serpent across the mountain path, legend proclaimed him the Red Emperor, inaugurating his rebel career as the Duke of Pei.
Go your ways, all of you; I too shall depart forever from this day!
公等皆去，吾亦从此逝矣！ (Gōng děng jiē qù, wú yì cóng cǐ shì yǐ!)Xianyang & Bashang (Pacifying Guanzhong) (咸阳与霸上（先入咸阳，约法三章）) - Age 50
Modern Xianyang & Xi'an, Shaanxi Province
First among the warlords to take the Qin capital, he sealed the palaces, withdrew to Bashang, and abolished harsh laws with the simple 'Three Codes of Restraint'.
Arriving first in Xianyang, the last Qin monarch surrendered to Liu Bang. Refusing plunder, Liu Bang sealed the imperial vaults and withdrew his army to Bashang. He proclaimed to the local elders: 'You have suffered under harsh Qin laws too long! I establish three laws only: murderers shall die; assault and theft shall be punished. All other laws are abolished!' The people rejoiced, deeply hoping he would rule them.
I contract with you elders three laws only: murderers shall die, those who injure or steal shall be punished. All other harsh Qin laws are wiped away.
与父老约，法三章耳：杀人者死，伤人及盗抵罪。余悉除去秦法。 (Yǔ fù lǎo yuē, fǎ sān zhāng ěr: shā rén zhě sǐ, shāng rén jí dào dǐ zuì.)Hongmen Banquet (Perilous Sword Dance) (鸿门（鸿门宴脱险，剑拔弩张）) - Age 50
Lintong District, modern Xi'an, Shaanxi Province
Confronting Xiang Yu's 400,000-strong army, Liu Bang rode to Hongmen with 100 guards, surviving Xiang Zhuang's assassination sword dance through razor-sharp diplomacy.
Facing imminent annihilation by Xiang Yu, Liu Bang adopted advisor Zhang Liang's advice to demonstrate total humility at Hongmen. When enemy counselor Fan Zeng ordered an assassin to dance with swords to kill him, brave bodyguard Fan Kuai crashed the tent. Seizing an opportunity to excuse himself, Liu Bang slipped out via back paths, turning fatal danger into survival.
Great enterprises do not quibble over minor courtesies! When others are the cleaver and we are the meat, why bother bidding farewell?
大行不顾细谨，大礼不辞小让。如今人方为刀俎，我为鱼肉，何辞为！ (Dà xíng bù gù xì jǐn, dà lǐ bù cí xiǎo ràng.)Hanzhong (Appointing Han Xin Commander) (汉中南郑（拜将韩信，明修栈道暗度陈仓）) - Age 50
Modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province
Exiled to mountainous Hanzhong as King of Han, he built an altar to appoint Han Xin as supreme general, launching the legendary march to reclaim China.
Relegated to the remote valleys of Hanzhong, his troops were on the verge of mutiny. Chancellor Xiao He chased deserter Han Xin through the moonlight, urging Liu Bang: 'If you wish to contest the empire, no one but Han Xin can achieve it.' Liu Bang elevated Han Xin to Supreme Commander. Han Xin feigned repair of broken trestle roads while marching secretly through Chencang, taking Guanzhong in weeks.
Openly repair the wooden trestle plankways; secretly cross through Chencang.
明修栈道，暗度陈仓。 (Míng xiū zhàn dào, àn dù Chén cāng.)Gaixia (Songs of Chu in the Night) (垓下（十面埋伏，四面楚歌）) - Age 54
Lingbi County, Suzhou, Anhui Province
Uniting with allied commanders to envelop Xiang Yu at Gaixia, Han troops sang the songs of Chu in the midnight fog, breaking the warlord's army.
In the winter of 202 BCE, Han Xin deployed a concentric envelopment trap around Xiang Yu's remaining forces at Gaixia. In the dead of night, Han soldiers sang native Chu folk ballads across the trenches, convincing the Chu warriors that their homelands had surrendered. Xiang Yu made a desperate final stand before dying by his own sword at the Wujiang River.
Xiang Yu's army was besieged at Gaixia, their food exhausted. In the night they heard songs of Chu on every side, and the Hegemon King was struck with dismay.
项王军壁垓下，兵少食尽，汉军及诸侯兵围之数重。夜闻汉军四面皆楚歌，项王乃大惊。 (Xiàng wáng jūn bì Gāi xià, bīng shǎo shí jìn.)Pei Hometown (Song of the Great Wind) (沛县与长乐宫（大风起兮，威加海内）) - Age 61
Pei County, Jiangsu & Modern Xi'an, Shaanxi
Returning to his home village of Pei, the Emperor held an open banquet, struck the zither, and sang the immortal 'Song of the Great Wind'.
Returning from pacifying frontier unrest, the aging Emperor paused at his ancestral home of Pei. He threw a grand banquet for 120 childhood friends and elders, exempting the town from taxes forever. Striking the zither himself, tears streamed down his face as he sang of the heavy burden of guarding the empire. Passing away shortly after in Chang'an, he left behind the civilization that gave the Han Chinese their eternal name.
A great wind rises, clouds fly high! My majesty sweeps across the seas as I return to my hometown; where shall I find brave warriors to guard the four corners of the realm?
大风起兮云飞扬，威加海内兮归故乡，安得猛士兮守四方！ (Dà fēng qǐ xī yún fēi yáng, wēi jiā hǎi nèi xī guī gù xiāng, ān dé měng shì xī shǒu sì fāng!)
In-Depth Essays & Philosophical Inquiries on Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu)
Browse All Classical Wisdom Essays in Directory
- Who Was Liu Bang? The Commoner Who Founded China's Han Dynasty
Who was Liu Bang? The peasant-origin founder of the Han Dynasty who outmaneuvered Xiang Yu and shaped four centuries of imperial China.
