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]
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Jing Ke (? - 227 BC) 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.
Contents
Background
In 230 BC, 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 originally came from the State of Wey (衞). 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 the hospitality of Prince Dan, who as a last resort decided to send an assassin against the King of Qin.[2] The plan involved either kidnapping the king and forcing him to release the territories from his control; or failing this, killing 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]
Assassination attempt
Planning
In 228 BC, 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 dagger, 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 of 13.[4]
In 227 BC, Prince Dan and other guests wore white clothing and white hats at the Yi River (易水) to send the pair of assassins off.[4] Jing Ke reportedly sang a song "wind blow, river freeze. The hero fords, never returns!" (風蕭蕭兮易水寒，壯士一去兮不復還).[4] The King of Qin received the message of visitors presenting a gift to him, and was willing to accept at the city.[4]
Assassination attempt
Concealing the dagger inside the map scroll, Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang represented the Yan and met with the King.[4] Qin Wuyang reportedly became so nervous that he acted almost paralyzed when entering the presence of the King. Jing Ke explained that his partner had never set eyes on the Son of Heaven.[6] Other sources suggest Jing Ke described Qin Wuyang as a rural boy from the countryside who had never seen the world.[4]
When the King opened the map, Jing Ke immediately seized the revealed dagger and attacked the King, who managed to back away from the initial thrust, tearing off a sleeve in the process. While the King fled from his attacker on foot, he attempted to draw his own sword hanging from his belt, but was unable to unsheathe the weapon in the hurry as it was a ceremonial sword that was deliberately made very long. None of the other Qin officials within the vicinity were armed and able to stop Jing Ke, and the guards were stationed outside the palace and unable to reach the site in time.[4] In the confusion, Jing Ke began to close in on the King, who struggled to get away from the assassin by circling behind a pillar.
Seeing the king in grave danger, a royal physician named Xia Wuqie (夏無且) grabbed his medicine bag and slammed it towards Jing Ke.[4] This slowed down the assassin just enough to allow the king to recover some distance. Reminded by cries from other officials, the King managed to shift the sword behind his back and draw it out over the shoulder, and immediately hit Jing Ke in the thigh, effectively immobilizing him.[7] Jing Ke, out of a desperate last attempt, threw his dagger towards the King but he missed the target. The King then proceeded to stab Jing Ke eight more times, mortally wounding him. At this point, the guards arrived to finish off both Jing Ke and the fleeing Qin Wuyang.[7]
Yan annihilation
After Jing Ke's attempt, the Qin army general Wang Jian was sent against the Yan state. In 226 BC, Prince Dan sent his army to fight at Ji (薊),[7] but were soon defeated. In an effort to try to appease the King of Qin, King Xi of Yan put his son to death; however, the Yan were annexed nonetheless and the Yan were destroyed.[7]
Cultural references
- The Chinese film The Emperor and the Assassin (1999), featuring Gong Li and others, is based on the forementioned events. Jing Ke himself does not appear in the films The Emperor's Shadow (1996), directed by Zhou Xiaowen, or Hero (2002) starring Jet Li; but both films borrow elements from his story.
- A fictionalized version of Jing Ke appears in the film Highlander: Endgame (2000), played by actor and martial artist Donnie Yen. In the film, Jing Ke is, like the other principal characters, an immortal warrior living in the story's present day. The film alters the spelling of Jing Ke's name to "Jin Ke" and makes reference to his historical association with Qin Shi Huang.[8]
- The Chinese film Hero is loosely based on Jing Ke's assassination attempt, with Jet Li playing the assassin.
- The character Tsing Yi in John Woo's Last Hurrah for Chivalry, according to its director, is inspired by Jing Ke.
- A Chinese TV series called Assassinator Jing Ke (荆轲传奇) was produced in 2004, depicting a fictionalized biography of Jing Ke, starring Liu Ye, Wang Yanan, and Peter Ho.
- Jing Ke is a spy in the computer game Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword.
- Jing Ke is one of the heroes in the The Legend of Qin, 3D animation series, father of the protagonist, Jing Tianming. Ke's farewell song is also quoted in this series.
- Jing Ke's song as he left for his mission was played in the song, Episode 119 Medley, in an episode of the show, Community, when Señor Chang entered the library to kill off the two remaining students in the paintball fight.
See also
References
- ↑ 劉煒/著. [2002] (2002) Chinese civilization in a new light 中華文明傳真#3 春秋戰國. Publishing Company. ISBN 962-07-5311-9 pp. 28-29.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #2 戰國 秦 漢. 中華書局. ISBN 962-8885-25-1. pp. 70-71.
- ↑ 曹正文. [1998] (1998). 俠客行: 縱談中國武俠. 知書房出版集團 publishing. ISBN 957-9663-32-7, ISBN 978-957-9663-32-8. p. 27.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #2 戰國 秦 漢. 中華書局. ISBN 962-8885-25-1. pp. 72-73.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 戴逸, 龔書鐸. [2002] (2003) 中國通史. 春秋 戰國 秦. Intelligence press. ISBN 962-8792-81-4. p. 62.
- ↑ Sima Qian. Dawson, Raymond Stanley. Brashier, K. E. (2007). The First Emperor: Selections from the Historical Records. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-922634-2, ISBN 978-0-19-922634-4. pp. 15-20, 82, 99.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #2 戰國 秦 漢. 中華書局. ISBN 962-8885-25-1. pp. 74-75.
- ↑ Duncan MacLeod: "Jin Ke? Who served with the emperor Chin?" · Jin Ke: "The same man." ·(Highlander: Endgame (2000) Dimension Films)
