The Perfect Leader That Doomed His Kingdom
A Lesson from Ancient China That Being A Genius Leader Can Lead You Down A Path To Defeat
When I first heard about the epic story of the Chu-Han contention of ancient China many years ago, I wondered why it turned out the way it did.
I especially wondered, how the most talented general in the war, and arguably in all of Chinese history lost. And led what felt like the undeserving side, the Han to unify China and become the basis of the ‘Han people’ who populate China today.
It felt like an injustice, a wrong done in the fabric of history. How despite being a legendary general, lost once at the end and seemingly the fate of history was flipped.
But reflecting again on this story after a few years, I’ve reassessed my thoughts on the rivalry.
My view now is that it wasn’t an accident that the superior general lost. That it was inevitable.
So here’s the story of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, their contrasting background and talents and how the seeming flaws of one allowed them to triumph over his superior.
The perfect leader: Xiang Yu.
A general of impeccable pedigree.
