He fought the "Western Barbarians" (probably Xianyun) and another group on the Huai River to the southeast.

Later he intervened militarily in succession struggles in the states of Lu, Wey and Qi.

Sima Qian said "from this time on, the many lords mostly rebelled against royal commands.

"[1] According to Zhang Shoujie's annotation Correct Meanings (史記正義) to Sima's Shiji,[2] King Xuan is said to have killed the innocent Du Bo and according to tradition was himself killed by an arrow fired by Du Bo's ghost.

The Stone Drums of Qin were long mistakenly ascribed to King Xuan.