26 Chen Sheng & Wu Guang

Two peasants pioneering Attacking Qin Empire

Just the year Qin Shi Huang died, people’s uprising broke out, and the leaders were Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.

Chen Sheng (?-208 BC) was a peasant. One day, he did labor work with other farmers in the field. When having a break, he said to the others: “If someone of us became official, never forget to help pals in hardship.”

“We laborers never hope that fortune.”

Chen Sheng then said with a strange term: “How sparrows could understand high aspirations of a swan!”

Shortly afterwards, Chen Sheng was recruited into military, and his 900-men unit was ordered moving from Henan Province to Hebei Province led by two officers. But, they were halted in a village named Da Ze in Anhui Province for 20 days by heavy rains. According to Qin laws, the soldiers failed to reach the appointed place in time would bring a death penalty. Chen Sheng said to his close friend Wu Guang: “Death that all waits for us, why not rise up right now?” The two men stealthily worked out a trick. The next morning, when someone bought fish from market, they found inside the fish body a cloth strip bearing three letters “King Chen Shen”. Also in the evening, people saw some heaps of campfire around a nearby wrecked temple, a fox-cry was repeatedly heard, sounded like: “King Chen Sheng”, “Chu Empire Rise”. The incidents triggered out widespread jitters and rumors. Chen Sheng saw it’s right time for him to take action, he jumped on a highland “shouting out a call”, then “responds echoed from all directions”. Chen Sheng called himself as King of Great Chu, and entitled Wu Guang as the great general, after killing two officers, the riotous mass upheld bamboo poles attacking towns and cities.

In less than half a year, the sparkle ignited by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had become a prairie fire, and the former aristocrats of conquered six states also took part in the wars to destroy Qin Empire. But, when confronting with the counter-attack of Qin’s elite troops, the loosely-organized rebel troops were defeated immediately. Chen Sheng was murdered by his wagon-driver. But people’s uprising was continuing to carry on.