In the late Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC), life for the common people was full of hardship due to the cruel rule of the Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty. This led to peasant uprisings across the country. Among the rebel armies, the strongest were two led by Xiang Yu, Hegemon of West Chu, and Liu Bang, King of Han.
One year, Xiang Yu launched an attack against Liu Bang in order to expand his power. When he attacked Waihuang, a city guarded by Liu Bang, Xiang Yu’s troops were defeated as they met strong resistance from Liu Bang’s forces as well as the civilians of the city. This made Xiang Yu’s blood boil with rage. He issued an order to his soldiers, “After you break into Waihuang City, kill all men aged 15 and above in the city.”
Shortly afterwards, Liu Bang’s troops surrendered under the fierce onslaught from Xiang Yu’s army, and Waihuang City was captured. Xiang Yu led his forces into the city. Just as expected, he ordered that all male citizens aged 15 and above should be driven out of the city and be killed three days later. The whole city was drowned in the fear of death. No one dared to try intercede with King Xiang as they were all aware of his horrible temper. An 11-year-old boy, stood out, and was determined to argue with Xiang Yu. After he told this to his relatives and friends, everyone tried to talk him out of doing so, saying, “Xiang was a cold-blooded killer. If you go, you won’t make any difference, and might be killed into the bargain.” Yet, the boy was so desperate to save his father and brother
that no one could stop him.
The boy went to Xiang Yu’s military camp alone. On arriving at the gate, he clamored to meet Xiang Yu. The soldiers who guarded the camp gate found it was a boy, and immediately drove him away. The boy refused to leave and started quarreling with them. At this moment, Xiang Yu happened to be walking by. Hearing the commotion, he came over and asked what was going on. The boy then hurried over and stood before Xiang Yu. Seeing the boy, Xiang Yu wondered, “Which family are you from? What do you come to the military camp for?” Raising his head and looking straight at Xiang Yu, the brave child spoke up, “I’ve heard you’re going to kill every man of age 15 and above in the city. What kind of crime on earth did they commit?” “Yes, I will kill them, because they all helped Liu Bang when I was attacking the city. My army suffered greatly. Isn’t that a reason good enough for me to kill them?”
responded Xiang Yu.
Hearing this, the boy nodded and said, “So it seems that the talk among the folk about you is right.” ,
“What kind of talk? Out with it!”
“They say every time you seize a place, you kill all the people there and loot everything valuable,” the boy replied. Xiang Yu flared up and roared, “Who said that?
Now! I want to kill him, and if you don’t name him, you’ll be a dead man, too.”
The boy was not frightened at all. He continued, “People were so scared of you that they helped Liu Bang. Now if you kill the men at age 15 and above in the city, you will be living up to exactly what they say you do. Next time you attack Liu Bang’s cities, you will definitely meet even stronger resistance from the common people. Think this over, Your Majesty. As your army far outnumbers that of Liu Bang, it will be very easy for you to defeat him. However, once people take his side, it won’t be easy for you to win, and I’m afraid….” The boy didn’t finish his words, but his meaning was very clear. By this stage, Xiang Yu was staring at the boy in amazement. He couldn’t believe that such a profound truth had come out of a child’s mouth. He grinned and said to the boy, “You’ re right. But for your warning, I would have made a big mistake. For one thing, you’ve saved the lives of the people of Waihuang City; and for another, you’ve also saved the lives of my soldiers. I must give you a big reward.” After saying so, Xiang Yu ordered the freeing of all citizens aged 15 and above, and rewarded the boy generously.
The rest of the city were very excited to hear the good news. All went to the boy to express their gratitude. Hereafter, once people mentioned this boy, they would affectionately call him the “Little Boy of Waihuang”.
