In Chinese history, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were the two main protagonists in the conflict between Chu and Han. Xiang Yu was an unstoppable 27-year-old overlord, and Liu Bang was an old man over 50 years old; Xiang Yu was a famous general. Liu Bang was an unknown peasant boy; Xiang Yu received strict training as a general, but Liu Bang himself was not a general, and he only gathered a motley crew; later Xiang Yu dominated the world and gained great power, while Liu Bang was only named King of Han, and the land he occupied was remote and dangerous. . However, the wheel of history has experienced a dramatic reversal of disparity between strengths and weaknesses: Xiang Yu was defeated and committed suicide at the age of 32, and everything was lost; Liu Bang inherited Qin Shihuang's unification pattern, conquered the world, and created a four-year history. Hundreds of years of Han Dynasty. How did this historical confrontation, known as the "Lion vs. Jackal" battle, come about? And why has it become a classic lesson that future generations review again and again?

2. Their most common characteristic is the courage to act and turn crises into opportunities

Their most common characteristic: they have the courage to dream big dreams, Bold behavior that doesn't care about worldly evaluations, extraordinary tolerance and endurance, and the ability to turn crises into opportunities. But why are their situations so different?

Xiang Yu - lacks patience, has high vision and low hand, but he has strong self-confidence and is active in doing things...

Liu Bang - he goes his own way and likes to brag, but he is generous and good at making friends...

Xiang Yu's failure was the result of over-reliance on the military. He was born into a general aristocrat and rose up during the turmoil of Qin Shihuang's Great Qin Empire. He possessed military talent like a god. In just three years, he led the five-nation coalition forces directly into Xianyang, the capital of Qin, and ended the Great Qin Empire. He became famous throughout the world as the overlord. Relying on his natural military talents and strict military training, he has gradually made amazing military exploits since he was twenty-seven years old. He has unique insights in military use, dares to take risks, and is good at uniting the hearts of his soldiers with strong spiritual power. , forming strong strength. He was supposed to be the next person to take control of the world after Qin Shihuang. However, after several years of competing with Liu Bang, who was twice his age and had a rough background, he experienced a complete defeat in the "Chu-Han War for Hegemony" and was besieged on all sides. Although he was good at fighting, his political strategy was no match for the wily Liu Bang. After destroying the Qin Dynasty, he made a series of misguided actions such as disturbing the people, burning palaces, sealing kings, and killing the Righteous Emperor, which triggered widespread public dissatisfaction and rebellions among kings. Liu Bang, who was good at winning people's hearts, finally With full wings, he lays an unbreakable trap, his dominance is short-lived, and his success is defeated. But there was a big reversal in which everything was lost...

Liu Bang's cleverness lies in knowing people well and being magnanimous, preferring to fight wits rather than strength. This is exactly why Liu Bang was able to stand out from the turbulent and changeable era.

3. The reasons for Xiang Yu’s failure

1. Lack of strategy and vision, and lack of statesmanship

Read Sima Qian’s "Historical Records" and learn that: Xiang Yu was a A hero. He is born with divine power, "all the children in Wuzhong are afraid of him". His ambitions are broad and lofty. He was very trustworthy, and just because he agreed to Xiang Bo's proposal to "favor" Liu Bang, he let Liu Bang go from the trap at the Hongmen Banquet, regardless of his father's "three warnings". When the army was defeated in Wujiang, he refused to board the lifeboat of Wujiang Pavilion. Faced with the jungle fighting behind him, he smiled in the face of death, and his spirit was so heroic. The hero Xiang Yu finally committed suicide and died... A sad song sounded in my ears: "Strengthening the mountain, the world is overwhelming, but the times are not good, and the bad things will not die. What can be done if the bad things are not broken, but what can be done if they are worried!" "Until his death, Xiang Yu attributed the failure to bad luck. However, is it really just bad luck?

Some people say: Xiang Yu's biggest mistake was not listening to his adviser Fan Zeng's words at the Hongmen Banquet and letting the "tiger" return to the mountain, which led to his final failure.

This failure shows that Xiang Yu is a person who cannot see the political direction clearly and cannot distinguish the true from the false. He is also unable to make quick wits in dangerous situations and turn danger into easy things. How can he lead everyone to success?

2. There are extremely serious flaws in Xiang Yu’s character

1. Short-sightedness, complacency, bravery, lack of wisdom, and lack of magnanimous monarchy

Read carefully It can be seen from the history books that there are extremely serious flaws in Xiang Yu's character: he has high ambitions but short-sightedness; he loves vanity and has a complacent peasant consciousness; in everything, he is brave first and wise second, and he is more cruel than kind; he lacks the ability to follow advice. The temperament of a noble and magnanimous monarch. This determined that in his life, he should only be a powerful general, but he did not have an emperor's mind. His real mistake was not in whether he killed Liu Bang or not, but in his own insurmountable character weakness. Even if he killed Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet, he would still be defeated by Zhang Bang, Wang Bang, and Li Bang in the future.

2. Too much cruelty, not enough kindness; lacks the temperament of a monarch who is obedient to advice and magnanimous. Let's take a look at a few short fragments from "Historical Records":

Xin'an. Zhang Han led his troops to surrender. Xiang Yu did not supervise the surrendered soldiers well and use them for his own purposes. Instead, he "attacked more than 200,000 Qin soldiers at night" because he was afraid that the surrendered soldiers would not obey.

Xinfenghongmen. Hearing that Liu Bang wanted to become king in Guanzhong, Xiang Yu was furious and wanted to use an army of 400,000 to defeat Liu Bang's 100,000 army. Liu Bang was frightened and hurriedly won over Xiang Yu's father Xiang Bo. He humbly professed himself as a minister and praised King Xiang. Xiang Yu was obviously very proud of himself, so he listened to Xiang Boyan and "met Liu Bang kindly". This is the eternal regret that Fan Zeng "numbered King Xiang" at the Hongmen Banquet but "King Xiang silently responded".

After entering customs. Xiang Yu "led his troops to the west to massacre Xianyang, killed Qin's prince Ying, burned the palace of Qin, and the fire lasted for three months, and collected his goods, treasures and women and headed eastward." This made "the people of Qin greatly disappointed."

Qin was destroyed. Someone advised Xiang Yu: "The mountains and rivers in Guanzhong are blocked by mountains and rivers. The land is fertile and you can dominate it all." At this time, Xiang Yu had the intention of returning eastward and said: "If a person does not return to his hometown after becoming rich, it is like walking at night wearing fine clothes. Who can know? "Seeing Xiang Yu's short-sightedness, the persuader couldn't help but feel cold and depressed, and said: "People say that people in Chu are 'monkeys wearing crowns,' and it's true." When Xiang Yu heard this, he was very angry. .

Winter of the second year of Han Dynasty. Because the title of marquis was improper, Tian Rong rebelled. After Xiang Yu put down the rebellion, "all the soldiers were trapped in the field, and the old and weak women were captured, and they were taken to Beihai. Many of them were destroyed."

There is no need to list such examples one by one.

Xiang Yu's character weakness has been throughout his life, and he seems to have no intention of changing it. This is his fatal flaw for a hero with lofty ambitions and ideals. His growth process is just a history of brave growth, but it ignores the pursuit and shaping of higher-level personality. His failure is inevitable, but he is nothing more than a strong warrior.

4. The reasons why Liu Bang won:

1. Taking celebrities as examples, constantly improving and perfecting yourself, and striving to pursue the heights of life. This is the most important reason why Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu.

1. He is scheming and good at attracting others to his advantage.

Please look at Liu Bang. He is naturally cunning, slippery, loves to brag, and is quite like a gangster. His origin is extremely ordinary, and his name is unknown to the world, which is consistent with his identity as a descendant of Xiang Yu, a famous general. In the minds of people who always attach importance to aura and background, Liu Bang looks bleak, which makes Liu Bang only have a subordinate position when the two first started their army. But Liu Bang had his own way. Cunning and slickness are naturally not the qualities of a leader, but Pei Gong is good at constantly improving himself. He compared himself to "Mr. Xinling" and thus set a height for himself in life. He often unconsciously imitated Lord Xinling's way of life and behavior, adding a rational and calculating side to his character, which made his life a life of continuous improvement and perfection. He was also respected by the people in the village.

Liu Bang learned many excellent qualities from Lord Xinling. For example, he learned how to use win-win methods to increase his power. In current parlance, it means being good at understanding people's psychology according to the situation, smoothing interpersonal relationships, having strong cohesion, and being able to attract others to use for one's own purposes.

Historical records: After Liu Bang entered the pass first, Xiang Yu heard the news and wanted to attack him. At that time, Liu Bang thought that his 100,000 troops would be defeated by Xiang Yu's 400,000 troops, so he hurriedly won over Xiang Yu's third father, Xiang Bo, and respectfully "served him as a brother" and "offered him wine for his longevity", making an agreement with him. marriage. Xiang Bo then felt his great love and urged Xiang Yu to "encounter" Liu Bang kindly. He drew his sword and danced with Xiang Zhuang at the Hongmen Banquet, "often covering Duke Pei with his wings", which made Fan Zeng's plan to kill "Bang" completely come to nothing!

On the surface, Liu Bang seems to have no special talents, but there are many talents under his command. Xiao He, Han Xin, Chen Ping... all serve loyally, and even Zhang Liang, who thinks highly of himself, admires them. He said to people: "Pei Gong is almost a gift from heaven." How can a "prodigal son" of civilian origin unite a large number of talented and arrogant counselors and generals to work for him, which can be achieved by ordinary means?

2. Tolerance, kindness, and boldness.

Contrary to Xiang Yu's behavior of "annihilating all his faults", Liu Bang acted more appropriately. The elders of the Chu State all praised him and said: "Pei Gong is the elder." Historical records: In the tenth year of the first year of the Han Dynasty, Pei Gong's soldiers preceded the princes and became the supreme leader. Prince Qin's carriage was made of plain white horses, tied around the neck to form a group, sealed with the emperor's seal, and lowered to the side of the Zhi Road. The generals may want to kill the King of Qin. Pei Gong said: "King Huai sent me for the first time, because he can be tolerant, and the people have surrendered, and it is unlucky to kill them." So he made the king of Qin an official, and then went west to Xianyang.

After Xiang Yu was defeated and died, Liu Bang buried Xiang Yu in Gucheng with Lu Gong rites. "The king of Han mourned and went away in tears. The king of Han did not kill all the branches of Xiang's family."

3. Being calm when faced with problems, preferring to use wisdom rather than fighting with force.

The Chu-Han stalemate has been unresolved for a long time. Xiang Yu once said to Liu Bang: "The Huns in the world are several years old, but with my ears, I am willing to challenge the king of Han to a fight between male and female." The king of Han smiled and thanked, "I'd rather A battle of wits, not strength. "Using one's own shortcomings to rival the other's strong points, Liu Bang would naturally not do such a stupid thing.

When attacking Wancheng, in order to avoid the disadvantage of losing troops through a forceful attack, Liu Bang followed Chen Hui's suggestion and made Wanshou the Marquis of Yin (equivalent to the present day

Four. In order to realize the big plan, Perseverance and self-restraint.

After Liu Bang entered the Pass, he followed the advice of Fan Kuai and Zhang Liang and sealed the property of Qin in the treasury without taking any money. He also announced in public: "I have suffered from Qin's harsh laws for a long time... ...The reason why I came here is to eliminate harm for my father and elders, so there is nothing to do but to invade. There is no need to fear!" At the same time, people were sent to all counties and villages to spread the word. The people of Qin were overjoyed and rewarded the soldiers with cattle, sheep, wine and food. Pei Gong refused again. Accepting it, he said: "There is plenty of grain in the warehouse, but there is no shortage of it. I don't want to waste money." This made the people of Qin even more happy, fearing that Pei Gong would not be king. Fan Zeng, a clever man, saw this very clearly: "When Pei Gong lived in Shandong, he was greedy. Wealth, what a beautiful girl. Now that I have entered the pass, I have nothing to gain and women have no luck. This is not a small ambition. "Liu Bang's nature is also greedy for money and lust, but in order to achieve his goals, he has become very able to restrain himself. This is similar to Xiang Yu." Every time he conquered a city, he "received his goods and treasures from women", which was in sharp contrast to "the big business did not care about the details, and the big gifts did not hesitate to make small concessions." In order to accomplish great things, Liu Bang could often endure considerable hardships. During the confrontation between Chu and Han in Xingyang, Xiang Yu wanted to cook Liu Bang's father to force him to retreat. Liu Bang actually said: "We have become brothers, and my father is your father. If you want to cook your father, it will be a blessing." Give me a share of the pie." Xiang Yu was furious and threatened the plan to go bankrupt.

To sum up, in the struggle for hegemony, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang both had the ambition to unify the country. Xiang Yu's talents were better than those of Liu Bang, but it was a pity that he Not paying attention to self-management, being prone to anger and rage, and acting haphazardly without restraint when encountering problems are taboos for success. On the contrary, Liu Bang's performance was mediocre at first, but he was good at constantly achieving high standards in the process of pursuing his goals. To improve and demand oneself according to the standards, cultivate excellent qualities and restrain the bad elements in nature. His success is not accidental and deserves to be understood deeply.

Who does not want to be an outstanding person in life? People. Who doesn’t want to succeed? We might as well learn from Xiang Yu and learn from Liu Bang to explore the way to success in life.