Nie Zheng (聂政) was an assassin in ancient China whose name almost became unknown.
The story of Nie Zheng 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.
Nie Zheng was a refugee in the Qi state, working as a
butcher as a way to hide from his enemies. He was befriended by
Yan Zhong Zi, a nobleman from the Han state, who likewise was
escaping from a certain powerful enemy -- Prime Minister Xia Lei
of Han.
(I've left out some important details here about Nie Zheng's
mom, which I'll add in when I have the time.)
On behalf of Yan Zhong Zi, Nie Zheng boldly walked into Xie
Lie's house and assassinated the fellow. After that, Nie Zheng
wanted to prevent his elder sister, Nie Rong, from being
implicated, so he disfigured his face and then killed himself.
As a result, no one in Han knew who the assassin was, or who
sent him.
The king of Han displayed Nie Zheng's corpse in public, and
put up a huge reward for anyone who knew the assassin's
identity.
Nie Rong heard about the assassination and suspected it was
her brother who pulled it off. She journeyed to Han to verify
the truth. When she saw the corpse, she knew that it was her
brother.
Nie Rong knew that Nie Zheng had always wanted to make a
name for himself. When Nie Zheng wiped out his own identity,
she knew he had made a big sacrifice for her sake. Casting
aside her own safety, she stepped forward and proclaimed Nie
Zheng's identity as the assassin. After helping Nie Zheng make
his name, she had to die.
People admired the integrity of the brother and sister, and
their story circulated throughout the feudal states.
Over 220 years later, the assassin
Jing Ke (荆轲) surfaced in the
state of Qin.
© 2007 Koh Chuen Ferng
