Jing Ke
Retainer of the Crown Prince of Yan
"The wind cries; the Yi River is cold. Once the hero departs, he shall not return."
Biography
A wandering swordsman and scholar from Wey, Jing Ke drifted to the state of Yan, where Crown Prince Dan — a former hostage in Qin who nursed a burning hatred of King Zheng — chose him for a desperate mission: to assassinate the Qin king before his armies swallowed Yan. To gain an audience Jing Ke carried two gifts Zheng could not resist: a map of the fertile Yan region of Dukang, and the severed head of a Qin defector. Rolled inside the map was a dagger dipped in poison. Seen off at the icy Yi River with a famous farewell song, Jing Ke reached Xianyang in 227 BC and unrolled the map before the king. As the last of it opened, the blade lay revealed — 'the map unrolled, the dagger appears.' He lunged; Zheng tore free of his ripped sleeve and fled around a pillar, unable to draw his over-long sword until a physician's shout let him wound Jing Ke, whose thrown dagger missed. Cut down by the guards, Jing Ke reportedly laughed that he had failed only because he tried to take the king alive. His attempt failed, but it made him the most celebrated assassin in Chinese history.
Did you know?
His farewell at the Yi River and his failed lunge have been retold for over two thousand years — in Sima Qian's history, in poetry, and in modern films from 'The Emperor and the Assassin' to 'Hero.'
Key Battles
Jing Ke's Assassination Attempt
State of Qin victory227 BC · 2 total casualties
The most famous assassination attempt in Chinese history hardened Zheng's resolve and gave him the pretext to obliterate Yan. It fixed the future First Emperor in legend as a man who conquered the world with death at his throat.
Life Journey
Timeline
c. 260 BC
🌅 Birth
Born a knight-errant in the state of Wey
227 BC
📍 Posting
Sings his farewell at the Yi River
227 BC
✝️ Death
Fails to kill King Zheng and is cut down at Xianyang