Live Burial of Qin Soldiers
In the 11th lunar month of 207 BC, Xiang Yu led his army to the city of Xin'an (新安; in present-day Yima, Henan) and made camp. He perceived the 200,000 surrendered Qin soldiers as disloyal and suspected that they might start a mutiny, so he had them all buried alive at the south of outside Xin'an. Another reason for the massacre was that Xiang Yu saw the Qin soldiers as a liability because they would put a strain on his army's food supplies.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Julu
Famous quotes containing the words live, burial and/or soldiers:
“There are few men more superstitious than soldiers. There are, after all, the men who live closest to death.”
—Mary Stewart (b. 1916)
“How shall my animal
Whose wizard shape I trace in the cavernous skull,
Vessel of abscesses and exultation’s shell,
Endure burial under the spelling wall....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Next year we shall be living in a country
That brought its soldiers home for lack of money.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)