Before, during and after the banquet. The Hongmen Banquet was written by Sima Qian, a historian and writer in the Han Dynasty. This article mainly talks about a banquet held by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Hongmen, a suburb of Xianyang, Qin Dou, after the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Hongmen Banquet is a relatively independent fragment in Historical Records of Xiang Yu, which is the beginning of the five-year struggle between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang after the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.

Overview of Hongmen Banquet

On the first floor, Pei Gong Sajima and Cao Wushang told Xiang Yu that Pei Gong wanted to be king in Guanzhong. Xiang Yu was very angry. Tomorrow we will entertain the Turks and defeat Pei Gongjun. Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Bo and Liu Bang's counselor Sean are old friends. They told Sean that Xiang Yu wanted to defeat Liu Bang. Sean promoted Liu Bang and Xiang Bo. Xiang Bo went back to the barracks to intercede for Liu Bang, but failed repeatedly.

On the second floor, at the banquet, Liu Bang pretended to be tactful and humble, satisfying Xiang Yu's pride and vanity, and Xiang Yu's vigilance was relaxed. Later, Fan Zengju gave a speech to Xiang Yu, but Wang Xiang didn't respond. Then Fan Zeng asked Xiang Zhuang to dance the sword for Pei Gong. However, the protection of Xiang Bo, Sean and Fan Kuai did not succeed. On the third floor, Liu Bang borrowed the toilet, managed to escape, took a shortcut back to his barracks, and immediately killed Cao.