Ruins of King Hanxin's City

Ruins of King Hanxin's City

The Ruins of King Hanxin's City is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Jiangsu Province.

Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin, was a representative figure of the "strategic warfare" school in Chinese military thought. He was praised by Xiao He as "a national treasure without equal," and Liu Bang remarked, "In battle, he is sure to win; in attack, he is sure to take—these are things I cannot do as well as Han Xin." Well-versed in military strategy, Han Xin claimed that the more troops he had, the better. As a tactician, he left behind numerous legendary battle strategies for later generations, such as "Repairing the plank road openly while secretly crossing the Chencang route," "Feigning an attack at Linjin while crossing at Xiayang," "Crossing the river in wooden boats," "Setting camp with one’s back to the water," "Replacing the enemy’s flags with one’s own," "Winning surrender through a written proclamation," "Diverting the river to flood the enemy," "Attacking while the enemy is halfway across," "Besieged by songs of Chu on all sides," and "Ambushed from ten directions."

South of Qingjiangpu City, not far west of the Grand Canal Bridge at the southern end of Huaihai Road—the main north-south thoroughfare running through Huai’an—lies Hanxin City. Built in 202 BC, its ruins still remain today. The high mounds to the south, east, and west suggest the scale of the city as it was two thousand years ago.

According to the *Taiping Huanyu Ji* (Universal Geography of the Taiping Era), “Han Xin was originally a native of this county, where both his tomb and residence remain. Later, when he was enfeoffed as a marquis, he built this city.” Slightly to the east of Hanxin City lies a mound over ten feet high, said to have been Han Xin’s military command platform. In the area surrounding Hanxin City, there were once 72 wells used by soldiers to draw water. Due to repeated flooding from the Yellow and Huai Rivers throughout history, all the wells have now been destroyed.

Han Xin (circa 231 BC – 196 BC), of Han ethnicity, was a native of Huaiyin (formerly Huaiyin County in Jiangsu Province, now the Huaiyin District). He was a founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty, an outstanding military strategist in Chinese history, and was ranked among the "Three Heroes of the Early Han" alongside Xiao He and Zhang Liang. He was also known as one of the "Three Great Generals of the Early Han" along with Peng Yue and Ying Bu.

In his early years, he came from a poor family and often relied on others for food. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, he joined the anti-Qin resistance and initially pledged allegiance to Xiang Yu. Later, recommended by Xiahou Ying, he was appointed as a Granary Commandant but was not given significant responsibilities. Xiao He recommended Han Xin to Liu Bang, who then appointed him as Grand General. Han Xin analyzed the situations of both the Chu and Han sides for Liu Bang... More detailed information about Han Xin ++

Further reading:

· Seventh batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units