“Cautious, northern frontier state, late mover. Ancient lineage but often passive. Capable of dramatic action when provoked (Yue Yi's campaign against Qi) but struggles with sustained strategic initiative.”
Biography 傳
Jing Ke is the most famous assassin in Chinese history, whose failed attempt on the King of Qin (later Qin Shi Huang) is immortalized in the Shiji and celebrated in poetry and opera. As Qin's armies marched relentlessly toward Yan, the crown prince Dan of Yan recruited Jing Ke for a desperate gambit: assassinate the King of Qin to halt the conquest. Jing Ke traveled to the Qin court bearing two gifts — the head of a Qin defector and a map of Yan territory. Hidden within the map scroll was a poisoned dagger. When he unrolled the map and the dagger was revealed, he grabbed the king's sleeve but missed his strike. The king escaped, cut Jing Ke multiple times, and the assassination failed. Qin's conquest of Yan was completed five years later.