Why did the Qin dynasty fall?

In July 209 B.C., a few soldiers of the state of Qin were planning to cook a fish for lunch, and when they cut open the belly of the fish, they saw a piece of cloth with three words written on it! The soldiers were shocked, but then they were glad that the Qin state was finally coming to an end.

The words “King Chen Sheng” were written on the piece of cloth, meaning that the Qin king would be destroyed and a new king would be established. Although the soldiers were afraid, but they have long been dissatisfied with the tyrannical Qin's harsh laws, and now someone can stand up to overthrow the tyrannical Qin, they are happy, so they all shut their mouths and did not mention the fish belly hidden cloth.

But how could a piece of cloth be born in the fish's belly? Could it be that even God could not stand to see, want to let the animals also anti-Qin?

This is of course someone pointed out.

Originally, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were sent to Yuyang to guard the frontier, but because of the heavy rain, they could not reach their destination on time. They thought that they would die anyway, so they might as well rise up and fight against the tyrannical Qin.

However, Chen and Wu were born as hired peasants, and although they were poor, they usually obeyed the law, so why were they conscripted to the frontier?

The reason was that the Qin government, which had to build the Great Wall and the A-Fang Palace, as well as to spend a lot of manpower and resources to protect the peace and quiet of the frontier, had enacted very strict laws. Once the common people broke the law, they would be conscripted as free laborers to help the Qin government for the rest of their lives.

What was even more exaggerated was that, besides the group of people who had violated the law, there was another group of people who would be forcibly enlisted in the army even if they hadn't violated the law.

The Qin government divided them into four echelons:

In the first echelon, the deposed officials, door-to-door son-in-laws and businessmen were first conscripted;

The second echelon, then levied those who had previously been door-to-door son-in-laws and those who had done business;

The third echelon, then those whose grandparents and parents had been door-to-door son-in-laws and businessmen;

The fourth echelon, and finally, when there were no more people to be drafted, the left side of each alley was drafted as hard laborers.

Chen Sheng, Wu Guang is living in the left side of the alley of the unlucky, and the Qin Dynasty's fortunes from this moment began to go downhill.

Seeing that their journey had been delayed, Chen and Wu discussed a local uprising. Having made up their minds, they asked the soothsayer about their fortune. The soothsayer not only told them that things could be accomplished, but also taught them to make use of the heavens to build up prestige.


Chen Sheng wrote the words “King Chen Sheng” on a cloth with vermilion sand and stuffed it into the belly of a fish caught by a fisherman. When the soldiers in the barracks bought the tampered fish and ate it, they found something unusual in it.

At night, Wu Guang learned the fox to bark at the edge of the barracks, “Great Chu is emerging, King Chen Sheng.” The soldiers murmured and all looked at Chen Sheng differently.

A few days later, seeing that the time was ripe, the two of them cut down two generals and lieutenants. Chen Sheng then bitterly advised the soldiers in the military camp:

"All of us will not be able to arrive at Yuyang on time, and missing the deadline is punishable by death according to the law, but even if we arrive on time, the mortality rate of garrison soldiers is already as high as six or seven out of ten. If a man doesn't die, he will be famous in the world, and the king and his vassals would rather have their own kind!"

The soldiers listened to the blood boiling, full of pride and desire for survival was awakened, so they followed Chen Sheng, Wu Guang.

Wow, that's a fascinating story!  A fish and a prophecy...  Sounds like a bit of a dramatic way to start a rebellion.  I bet there was a lot more to it than just that, though.  Perhaps the fish was a distraction, and the real spark was something else entirely.