Emperor Yi of Chu

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Emperor Yi of Chu (died 206 BC), also known as King Huai II of Chu before receiving his de jure emperor title, personal name Xiong Xin, was the ruler of the revived Chu state in the late Qin dynasty. He was a grandson of King Huai of Chu. In 223 BC, during the Warring States period, the Chu state was conquered by the Qin state, which unified the various Chinese feudal states in a series of wars and established the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. In 209 BC, when rebellions broke out throughout China to overthrow the Qin dynasty, the Chu state was revived as an insurgent state against Qin imperial rule. Xiong Xin was discovered by Xiang Liang, a rebel leader who descended from a famous Chu general, Xiang Yan [zh], and installed on the Chu throne as "King Huai II of Chu". However, Xiong Xin was a puppet ruler because power was concentrated in Xiang Liang's hands, and while he was able to assert his power after Xiang Liang was killed in battle, eventually Xiang Liang's nephew, Xiang Yu, would concentrate power in his own hands through a coup against King Huai II's general Song Yi during the Battle of Julu. In 206 BC, the Qin dynasty was overthrown by the rebels, after which Xiang Yu, who was the de facto leader of all the rebel forces, divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms. He promoted King Huai II to a more "honourable" title – Emperor Yi of Chu – and made him the nominal sovereign ruler over all the Eighteen Kingdoms. Xiang Yu then had Emperor Yi relocated to Chen County (郴縣; in present-day Chenzhou, Hunan) and secretly ordered Ying Bu to assassinate the emperor during the journey.