View source for Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising

{{Short description|209 BCE revolt in China}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| image             = Qin Uprisings.png
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = Uprisings of the Qin dynasty, including Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's Dazexiang uprising.
| conflict          = Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising
| partof            = {{ill|Late Qin peasant rebellions|zh|秦末民變}}
| date              = August or September 209 BC{{efn|Volume 48 of ''Records of the Grand Historian'' dated the start of the uprising to the 7th month of the 1st year of the reign of Qin Er Shi. This corresponds to 9 Aug to 7 Sep 209 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. (二世元年七月，发闾左适戍渔阳，九百人屯大泽乡。...)<ref name="shiji" />}} – {{circa}}January 208 BC{{efn|According to volume 48 of ''Records of the Grand Historian'', Chen Sheng died in the 12th month of the 1st year of the reign of Qin Er Shi. This corresponds to 4 Jan to 1 Feb 208 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. ([二世元年]腊月，陈王之汝阴，还至下城父，其御庄贾杀以降秦.）<ref name="shiji" />}}
| place             = [[Henan]], [[China]]
| result            = Qin victory
| combatant1        = Rebel forces
| combatant2        = [[Qin dynasty|Qin empire]]
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
*[[Chen Sheng]]{{KIA}}
*[[Wu Guang]]{{KIA}}}}
| commander2        = [[Zhang Han (Qin dynasty)|Zhang Han]]
| strength1         = 900
| strength2         = Unknown
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
}}
The '''Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising''' ({{zh|t=陳勝吳廣起義|s=陈胜吴广起义|p=Chén Shèng Wú Guǎng Qǐyì}}), August 209 B.C.– January 208 B.C.,<ref>{{cite book|author=Hong Liu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbgkCwAAQBAJ&q=Dazexiang+uprising&pg=PA145|title=The Chinese Strategic Mind|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|year=2015|page=145|isbn = 9781783474141}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Joshua Zhang, James D. Wright|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msZKDwAAQBAJ&q=Dazexiang+uprising&pg=PA89|title=Violence, Periodization and Definition of the Cultural Revolution: A Case Study of Two Deaths by the Red Guards|publisher=BRILL|year=2018|isbn = 9789004360471}}</ref> was the first uprising against the [[Qin dynasty]] following the death of [[Qin Shi Huang]]. Led by [[Chen Sheng]] and [[Wu Guang]], the uprising was unsuccessful.

== Name ==
It is also called the '''Dazexiang uprising'''<ref>{{cite book|author=J.Huang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3qGDAAAQBAJ&q=Dazexiang+uprising&pg=PA105|title=The Dynamics of China's Rejuvenation|publisher=Springer|year=2004|isbn = 9780230503137}}</ref> ({{zh|t=大澤鄉起義|s=大泽乡起义|p=Dàzéxiāng Qǐyì}}) as the uprising started in Dazexiang (大泽乡), which translates into "Big Swamp Village".

== History ==
[[Chen Sheng]] and [[Wu Guang]] were both army officers who were ordered to lead their bands of commoner soldiers north to participate in the defense of [[Yuyang Commandery|Yuyang]] ({{lang-zh|s=渔阳|t=漁陽}}). However, they were stopped halfway in present-day [[Anhui]] province by flooding from a severe rainstorm. The harsh [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] laws mandated execution for those who showed up late for government jobs, regardless of the nature of the delay. Figuring that they would rather fight than accept execution, Chen and Wu organized a band of 900 villagers to rebel against the government. The current emperor, [[Huhai]], had killed his brother [[Fusu]], who was known for his benevolence, to take the throne, so they rose up in Fusu's name.

There are two stories for this uprising. To convince people to support this uprising, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang wrote "King Chen Sheng" on a piece of silk, and placed it in the belly of a fish. A man in this army bought the fish and was surprised to find the message. They also imitated animal sounds to say "Da Chu flourishes, King Chen Sheng" to make people believe in them.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dull|first=Jack L.|date=1983|title=Anti-Qin Rebels|journal=Modern China|language=en-US|volume=9|issue=3|pages=285–318|doi=10.1177/009770048300900302|s2cid=143585546|issn=0097-7004}}</ref> 

With Chen's men declaring him king of the former [[Chu (state)|Kingdom of Chu]], he and Wu became the centre of armed uprisings all over [[China]].  Over the course of just a few months, their strength grew to around ten thousand men, a force composed mostly of discontented peasants. However, in less than a year, their uprising faced serious trouble; their force was no match for the highly skilled battlefield tactics of the professional Qin soldiers and both Chen and Wu were assassinated by their own men.

While their insurrection was ultimately unsuccessful, Wu and Chen set up the example that was to be followed by [[Liu Bang]] and [[Xiang Yu]]. Their spirit can be summed up in Chen's quote "{{Lang|zh-Hans|王侯将相宁有种乎？}}" (traditional Chinese: {{lang|zh-Hant|王侯將相寧有種乎}}, [[pinyin]]: {{lang|zh-Latn|wáng hóu jiàng xiàng nìng yǒu zhǒng hū}}; "Are kings and nobles given their high status by birth?"), meaning that every human, regardless of birth, can become something great if he applies himself.

== Historical materials ==
There is a biography of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, called ''the hereditary house of [[Chen Sheng]]'', as chapter 48 of ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]''. 

{{blockquote|{{lang|zh|陳涉少時，嘗與人傭耕。輟耕之壟上，悵恨久之，曰：「苟富貴，無相忘。」傭者笑而應曰：「若為佣耕，何富貴也？」陳涉太息曰：「嗟乎，燕雀安知鴻鵠之志哉！」}}

When Chen Sheng was young, he worked as a farm laborer. One day, while taking a break on a hill, he sighed and said: "If we become rich, we must not forget each other." The other workers laughed and said: "How could a laborer become rich?" Chen Sheng sighed and said: "Alas, how can a sparrow understand the ambitions of a swan?"
|author=[[Sima Qian]] |title=''Records of the Grand Historian''|source=chapter 48 ({{lang|zh|陳涉世家}})<ref name="shiji">{{cite wikisource |title=史記 |trans-title=Records of the Grand Historian |wslink=史記/卷048 |plainchapter=陳涉世家 |trans-chapter=The hereditary house of Chen Sheng |author=Sima Qian |wslanguage=zh}}</ref>
}}

Later on, Chen Sheng became an army officer, and led the uprising with Wu Guang, his deputy. [[Wu Guang]] was a kind and influential man, but nothing more could be found about him from the history records.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Qin dynasty topics}}

[[Category:200s BC conflicts]]
[[Category:209 BC]]
[[Category:Military history of the Qin dynasty]]
[[Category:Peasant revolts]]
[[Category:3rd century BC in China]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC rebellions]]