Xiang Yu - Cultural References

Cultural References

Xiang Yu's might and prowess in battle has been glorified in Chinese folk tales and poetry, especially in his final battle. However, his ambitions ended with the collapse of Western Chu, his defeat by Liu Bang, and death at the early age of 30. He is also the subject of films, television, plays, Chinese operas, video games and comics. His classic image is that of a heroic and brave, but arrogant and bloodthirsty warrior-king. His romance with his concubine Consort Yu and his suicide have also added a touch of a tragic hero to his character.

Xiang Yu is also depicted as a ruthless leader, in sharp contrast to his rival, Liu Bang. He was a mass murderer, ordering the massacres of entire cities when they refused to surrender and put up strong resistance. The most notorious example of his cruelty was when he ordered the 200,000 surrendered Qin troops to be buried alive after the Battle of Julu, and the gruesome methods of execution he employed against his enemies and critics. Conversely, Liu Bang is portrayed as a shrewd and cunning ruler who can be brutal at times. However, Liu Bang did forbid his troops from looting the cities they captured and he spared the lives of the citizens, earning their support and trust in return. Xiang Yu's story became an example for Confucianists to advocate the idea that leaders should rule with benevolence and not govern by instilling fear in the people.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Sun Ce is nicknamed "Little Conqueror" (小霸王) and is often compared favorably to Xiang Yu by his contemporaries. Sun Ce is best known for his conquests in the Jiangdong region that laid the foundation of the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms era. In Water Margin, another of the Four Great Classical Novels, Zhou Tong, one of the 108 outlaws, is nicknamed "Little Conqueror" for his resemblance to Xiang Yu in appearance.

The Meng Ch'iu, an eighth-century Chinese primer, contains the four-character rhyming couplet: "Ji Xin impersonates the Emperor". It referred to the episode in the Battle of Xingyang when Ji Xin and 2,000 women disguised themselves as Liu Bang and his army, to distract Xiang Yu in order to buy time for Liu Bang to escape from the city of Xingyang.

A famous Beijing opera, Ba Wang Bie Ji (Chinese: 霸王别姬; pinyin: bà wáng bié jī; literally "The Conqueror bids his concubine farewell"), depicts the events of Xiang Yu's defeat at the Battle of Gaixia. The title of the play was borrowed as the Chinese title for Chen Kaige's award-winning motion picture Farewell My Concubine.

"The Works of Xiang Yu" are a central theme in the Firefly episode War Stories, which deals with sadism and torture.

In the last episode of the 2001 Hong Kong television series A Step into the Past, the son of Xiang Shaolong (or Hung Siu-lung, the time traveling protagonist) says he wants to change his name to "Yu" (literally means "feather") because he admires the flying birds. His father is shocked to realise that his son is actually the future Hegemon-King of Western Chu.

Xiang Yu is one of the 32 historical figures who appear as special characters in the video game Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI by Koei. He is also featured as a non-playable character (NPC) in the action RPG Prince of Qin.