Han Xin
General
"When the cunning hares are dead, the good dog is boiled."โ Expressed when he realized Liu Bang was eliminating the generals who had helped him win the empire.
Biography
Han Xin was a brilliant military strategist and general who played a critical role in Liu Bang's victory over Xiang Yu. As a young man, he endured great humiliation, once crawling between the legs of a local bully to avoid a pointless fight, an event remembered in the idiom 'humiliation of crawling between the legs' (๊ณผํ์ง์).
Initially serving Xiang Yu as a low-ranking guard, his talents went unrecognized. He defected to Liu Bang, where Prime Minister Xiao He recognized his genius and convinced Liu Bang to appoint him as the top commander.
Han Xin led a series of spectacular northern campaigns, conquering several rival states. At the Battle of Jingxing, he famously deployed his troops with a river at their backsโthe 'Battle with Backs to the River' (๋ฐฐ์์ง)โto force his men to fight to the death and win an impossible victory.
He commanded the Han forces at the decisive Battle of Gaixia, destroying Xiang Yu's army. However, after the empire was established, Liu Bang grew suspicious of Han Xin's power, eventually demoting him and having him executed.