Jing Ke (荆轲) is perhaps the most famous of the assassins of ancient China.
The story of Jing Ke is recorded in the chapter "Biographies Of The Assassins" of the
Shi Ji,
the famous book by Sima Qian,
an imperial historian who lived more
than 2000 years ago during the Han Dynasty of ancient China.
(I've left out lots of details here about Jing Ke's story,
which I'll add in when I have the time.)
Jing Ke is known for his failed assassination of Ying Zheng,
the king of Qin, who later became Qin Shi Huang, the first
emperor of China to ever unify the country into one big
political entity.
In the Warring States Period, the state of Qin grew to be
the most powerful among the seven remaining states. When Ying
Zheng became the king of Qin, he started to successively gobble
up the other 6 states in China.
Qin had already conquered Han (in 230 BCE), Wei (in 225 BCE)
and Chu (in 223 BCE). The state of Yan was next. A huge army
from Qin was on its way to attack Yan. Out of desperation,
Prince Dan of Yan asked the assassin Jing Ke to kill Ying
Zheng.
Jing Ke went to great lengths to gain an audience with Ying
Zheng. However, he failed to kill Ying Zheng. After killing Jing
Ke, Ying Zheng destroyed Yan (in 222 BCE) and killed Prince Dan.
In the same year, Qin annexed the state of Zhao.
In 221 BCE, Ying Zheng conquered the state of Qi, thus
completely unifying China. He proclaimed himself Qin Shi
Huang Di ("First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty"), but his
vision did not last long. Ying Zheng died at a relatively young
age -- most likely of mercury poisoning from the 'medication' he
took in an attempt to become immortal. Shortly after his son
took over, the Qin dynasty was overthrown.
If Jing Ke's assassination had succeeded, the entire history
of China might have followed quite a different course.
© 2007 Koh Chuen Ferng
