夜郎王兴 / Ye Lang King Xing

Overview

夜郎王兴 / Ye Lang King Xing enters the wiki through Hanji 512 as the southwestern ruler whose conflict with neighboring polities and rejection of Han mediation make him the immediate focus of a Western Han frontier response. Hanji 513 records his death at the hands of 陈立 and the short deterrent shock that follows.

Current Profile

The episode frames Xing through arrogance and escalation. He first appears as a local ruler fighting Gouding and Louwo around 牂柯郡, but his political meaning changes when he refuses Zhang Kuang’s mediation and turns Han official images into archery targets.

For 杜清, Xing is dangerous less because he has already attacked the commandery than because delay may let him use distance, poor communications, and local geography to annex neighboring groups, gather forces, and strike Zhangke before Han can respond effectively.

Hanji 513 completes that arc by showing Xing misreading the local balance in the opposite direction. He trusts his own territory, thousands of troops, and allied rulers when Chen Li summons him to Qietong Pavilion, but Chen Li has already arranged an ambush. Xing’s execution breaks the immediate coalition display, yet his father-in-law Wengzhi and son Yewu keep the Ye Lang resistance alive until Chen Li destroys its supply and water access.

Key Characteristics

• Ruler of 夜郎 during the Heping 2 / 27 BCE episode.
• Presented by the host as overconfident and morally inflated.
• Fights nearby Gouding and Louwo before the conflict threatens Han territory.
• Rejects Han mediation sent through Zhang Kuang.
• Symbolically insults Han authority by using official-shaped wooden images as archery targets.
• Serves as Du Qing’s example of a frontier threat that may grow if conciliation continues too long.
• Killed by Chen Li during a staged meeting at Qietong Pavilion, creating immediate surrender pressure but not fully ending kin-based Ye Lang resistance.

Evidence

• Local conflict: Hanji 512 says Xing fights Gouding and Louwo.
• Han warning: Hanji 512 says the Zhangke governor identifies Xing as the main source of the spreading disorder.
• Rejected mediation: Hanji 512 says Xing does not accept Zhang Kuang’s attempt to mediate.
• Symbolic provocation: Hanji 512 says Xing has wooden Han-official images placed beside the envoy road for soldiers to shoot.
• Risk forecast: Hanji 512 says Du Qing worries that Xing can exploit distance and delay to absorb nearby groups before attacking Zhangke.
• Execution setup: Hanji 513 says Chen Li enters the area under an inspection pretext, summons Xing, and kills him with prepared axemen.
• Deterrent effect: Hanji 513 says small rulers and troops surrender after Xing’s head is displayed.
• Aftermath: Hanji 513 says Xing’s father-in-law Wengzhi and son Yewu later gather remnants and coerce twenty-two villages.

Qualifications

This page is bounded to Hanji 512 and Hanji 513. It does not independently settle Xing’s full biography, title history, exact capital site, or the non-transcript textual variants behind the Qietong Pavilion episode.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 513’s completion of Xing’s arc: misjudged numerical confidence, ambush execution, immediate surrender shock, and residual kin-based revolt.
• Replaced the earlier “does not yet cover” qualification now that Hanji 513 supplies the execution sequence.

Relationships

• 夜郎 - polity ruled by Xing in the source.
• 陈立 - Zhangke governor who summons and kills Xing.
• 牂柯郡 - Han commandery threatened by Xing’s conflict and possible expansion.
• 杜清 - adviser who treats Xing as a reason for preventive preparation.
• 王凤 - powerholder receiving Du Qing’s advice about Xing.
• 强制边疆震慑 - related response frame because Xing’s provocation raises the question of punitive signaling.