Chai Wu

Chai Wu (柴武, ? – 163 BC), also known as Chen Wu (陳武), was a military commander of China in the late Qin dynasty and the early Western Han, and a founding meritorious minister of Emperor Gaozu of Han. His surname appears as either Chai (柴) or Chen (陳).

Biography

He raised an army of 2,500 men at Xue (薛) and fought against the Qin dynasty, and in the second year of the King of Han (205 BC) he joined Han. He also attacked the Qi army stationed at Yixia (歷下) during Han Xin's campaign against Qi, and scattered it. For this achievement, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jipu¹ (棘蒲侯) in the sixth year of Gaozu (201 BC).²³ At the Battle of Gaixia, he was stationed with Zhou Bo in the rear of Gaozu's forces.⁴

In the eleventh year of Gaozu (196 BC), King Xin of Han, who had previously surrendered to the Xiongnu and had repeatedly harassed the Han, invaded Canhe (參合). Chai Wu went out to meet him in battle and urged King Xin to surrender. When King Xin refused, he fought and massacred the forces at Canhe, and beheaded King Xin.⁵

In the eighth year of Empress Lü (180 BC), after the death of Empress Lü, Zhou Bo, Liu Zhang, Chen Ping and others overthrew the Lü clan's power and enthroned the Prince of Dai, Liu Heng, as the new emperor, Emperor Wen. Together with the other ministers, he welcomed the emperor as Grand General.⁶ Early in the reign of Emperor Wen, he urged an attack on Nanyue and Gojoseon, but the emperor did not wish to raise a large army, so the proposal was rejected.⁷

In the third year of Emperor Wen's reign (177 BC), when Liu Xingju, King of Jibei, rebelled, Chai Wu, as Grand General and under the emperor's order, led four generals and 100,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. Liu Xingju was defeated in battle, captured, and committed suicide.⁶⁸

In the sixth year of Emperor Wen's reign (174 BC), his heir Chai Qi (柴奇)⁹ joined the rebellion of Liu Chang, King of Huainan. When this was discovered, Chai Qi was executed. Chai Wu was not permitted to have another heir, and he died in the second year of Emperor Wen's later period (163 BC). His posthumous name was Gang (剛), and his fief was abolished. ²³ Later, in the fourth year of Yuankang (61 BC) during the reign of Emperor Xuan, his great-grandson Jia (嘉) received an imperial edict and revived the family.³

Footnotes

Footnotes

1. This place name does not appear in the Book of Han's Treatise on Geography. During the Warring States period, the states of Chu and Zhao allied and fought against Wei at Jipu. This Jipu is located south of present-day Wei County, and under the administrative divisions of the Qin dynasty it was in Handan Commandery. ↩

2. Sima Qian: 《Shiji》 vol. 18, Table of Meritorious Marquises of Gaozu, no. 6 ↩ ↩²

3. Ban Gu: 《Hanshu》 vol. 16, Table of Meritorious Ministers of Emperors Hui, Gao, and Empress Lü, no. 4 ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Sima Qian, op. cit., vol. 8, Basic Annals of Emperor Gaozu, no. 8 ↩

5. Ban Gu, op. cit., vol. 1下, Emperor Gaozu, part 2 ↩

6. Sima Qian, op. cit., vol. 10, Basic Annals of Emperor Wen, no. 10 ↩ ↩²

7. Sima Qian, op. cit., vol. 25, Treatise on Calendar and Music... (Treatise on Music, no. 3)