Wang Jian

Lore & Background

In 236 BC, Wang Jian commanded the Qin army which attacked Zhao and captured nine cities. This action represented the start of the King of Qin, Ying Zheng's wars of unification. The Kingdom of Zhao ceased to exist in 228 BC after the Qin government used spies in the Zhao court to have Zhao's leading general Li Mu replaced and then Wang Jian captured Zhao's king. According to the Shiji, after Jing Ke failed in his attempt to assassinate emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Kingdom of Yan where Jing Ke was a retainer, was invaded by General Wang Jian in 226 BC, though the final conquest of Yan was carried out by his son Wang Ben in 222 BC. Notably, Wang Ben had already conquered the Kingdom of Wei in 225 BC, three years before Yan's final fall. In 225 BC, several states remained independent: Chu, Qi, and remnants of Yan, while Qin was the conquering power. The King of Qin, Ying Zheng, decided to finally defeat the remnants of the Chu state located in Huaiyang. According to Shiji's chapter on the great generals of the Warring States, Ying Zheng had first requested his general Wang Jian to lead the invasion, and further inquired as to the military strength needed for the siege. Wang Jian stated that he needed a force of 600,000 men for the invasion. However, when the same question was posed to general Li Xin, he requested only 200,000 men. Ying Zheng accepted Li Xin's advice and appointed him commander in chief of a 200,000 army with general Meng Tian as second in command. Wang Jian decided to retire, claiming ill health. The first Qin invasion initially appeared successful but ended in a major disaster when the 200,000 Qin army was annihilated by Chu troops led by General Xiang Yan and another army under the direct command of Lord Changping, at the Battle of Chengfu in the unfamiliar territory of Huaiyang (the Shiji does not specify the exact number of Chu troops). Ying Zheng recalled Wang Jian, who finally agreed to lead the second invasion force after being allocated the force of 600,000 men that he had earlier requested. Before the campaign, during a personal meeting with the Qin king in the send-off ceremony, Wang Jian purposely demanded huge rewards for the future victories in a deliberately shameless way. Wang repeated such actions several times later during the campaign. He later explained to his men that the Qin king is always distrustful towards his subordinates

In Their Own Story

In 224 BC, Wang Jian began the second invasion of Chu. Chu's morale had greatly increased after their success the previous year. The Chu forces were content to wait and defend their territory. Wang Jian tricked the Chu army by appearing inactive within his fortifications while secretly training his troops to fight in Chu territory. After a year, Chu decided to disband most of their army due to the lack of action. Wang Jian then invaded and overran Huaiyang and the remaining Chu forces. Xiang Yan, the Chu general and Lord of Wu'an, managed to resist the onslaught of Wang Jian and the Qin forces, even though Wang Jian eventually started to take control of the battlefield, both armies inflicted heavy losses on each other during their fierce clash, Xiang Yan was finally defeated by Wang Jian at the battle of Shouchun 壽春 (modern Shouxian 壽縣, Anhui), and withdrew to Qinan 蘄南 (modern Suzhou 宿州, Anhui), where he was killed in battle or committed suicide, and Lord Changping (the last King of Chu) was killed by Wang Jian's second in command, Qin general Meng Wu, father of Meng Tian and Meng Yi. After these events, Chu was then conquered by Qin in 223 BC. At their peak, the armies of Chu and Qin combined numbered over 1,000,000 troops, more than the massive campaign at Changping between Qin and Zhao 35 years earlier. The excavated personal letters of two Qin regular soldiers, Hei Fu (黑夫) and Jin (惊), records a protracted campaign in Huaiyang under general Wang Jian. Both soldiers wrote letters requesting supplies (clothing) and money from home to sustain the long campaign.

Reader's Guide

Wang Jian later retired due to old age. Wang Jian's son Wang Ben continued Qin's military conquest against Yan, Dai, and then Qi, ending the Warring States period (221 BCE). Ben's son, Wang Li (王離), served as a subordinate of Meng Tian at the northern borders, then served under Zhang Han during Zhang's punitive campaigns against the revolts at the end of Qin dynasty. Li was probably captured and killed at the Battle of Julu, although neither Records of the Grand Historian nor Book of Han mentioned his fate after the battle. The Wang clans of Langya and Taiyuan included the descendants of Wang Jian and Wang Li. In the manga and anime Kingdom, Wang Jian is known as "Ou Sen", the head of the Ou family. He is portrayed as a quiet, calm and gifted warfare tactician. Because of his accomplishments, he is appointed by King Ei Sei as one of the new "Qin Six Great Generals", tasked to achieve the unification of China.

Did You Know?

• Wang Jian demanded 600,000 men for the invasion of Chu, but when Li Xin requested only 200,000, Ying Zheng appointed Li Xin instead — leading to a major disaster when the 200,000 Qin army was annihilated by Chu troops at