After the fall of Qin, Xiang Yu was enthroned as the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" (西楚霸王) and ruled a vast area spanning central and eastern China, with Pengcheng as his capital.

He engaged Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, in a long struggle for power, known as the Chu–Han Contention, which concluded with his eventual defeat at the Battle of Gaixia and his suicide.

The other account claimed that Xiang Yu was a descendant of a noble clan from the Lu state and his family had served in the Chu army for generations.

Xiang Yu was slightly taller than eight chi, or approximately 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in), and possessed great physical strength as he could lift a ding.

Yin Tong [zh], the Qin-appointed administrator of Kuaiji Commandery, wanted to rebel against the Qin government as well, so he invited the Xiangs to meet him and discuss.

King Huai II gave Xiang Yu the title "Duke of Lu" (魯公) and appointed him as second-in-command to Song Yi, who had been tasked with leading reinforcements to help the Zhao rebel group.

Song Yi and Xiang Yu headed to Anyang, some distance away from Julu Commandery, where the Zhao forces had retreated to after their defeat at Handan.

At Anyang, Song Yi ordered the troops to make camp for 46 days, refusing to accept Xiang Yu's suggestion to advance further.

In 207 BC, Xiang Yu advanced towards Julu Commandery, sending Ying Bu and Zhongli Mo to lead a 20,000-strong vanguard to cross the river and attack the Qin forces, while he followed behind with the rest of the troops.

Xiang Yu did not trust the 200,000 surrendered Qin soldiers and saw them as a liability, so he ordered them to be buried alive at Xin'an (新安; present-day Yima, Henan]) while sparing Zhang Han and his deputies Sima Xin and Dong Yi.

In 206 BC, Xiang Yu paid no attention to Liu Bang's presumptive title and led his troops into Xianyang, where he executed Ziying and his family, and ordered the destruction of the Epang Palace by fire.

In 205 BC, while en route to Chen County, Emperor Yi was assassinated by Ying Bu, the King of Jiujiang, who had been acting on Xiang Yu's order.

The following year, Liu Bang formed an alliance with another five kingdoms and attacked Xiang Yu with a 560,000-strong army, capturing the Western Chu capital Pengcheng.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu turned back from Qi and led 30,000 troops to attack Liu Bang, defeating and inflicting heavy casualties on the latter's forces at the Battle of Pengcheng.

Concurrently, Peng Yue, Liu Bang's ally, was constantly launching guerrilla-style attacks on Xiang Yu's territories in the east.

Both sides ultimately agreed to make peace in an event known as the Treaty of Hong Canal, which divided China into east and west under Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's control respectively.

However, Han Xin and Peng Yue did not mobilise their forces, so Liu Bang ended up being defeated by Xiang Yu at the Battle of Guling.

The next morning, Xiang Yu led about 800 of his remaining elite horsemen on a desperate attempt to break out of the siege, with 5,000 enemy troops in pursuit.

He refused to cross the river and ordered his remaining men to dismount while asking the ferryman to take his warhorse, Zhui (騅), back home.

After Xiang Yu's death, the rest of Western Chu surrendered and China was unified under Liu Bang's rule, marking the start of the Han dynasty.

[5] The historian Sima Qian, who wrote Xiang Yu's biography in the Shi Ji, described him as someone who boasted about his achievements and thought highly of himself.

In contrast, Liu Bang was a shrewd and cunning ruler who was sometimes ruthless too,[4] but had made the wiser choice in forbidding his troops from looting the cities they had captured and sparing the lives of the citizens, earning their support and trust in return.

Han Xin once described Xiang Yu as follows: "A man who turns into a fierce warrior when he encounters a rival stronger than he is, but also one who is sympathetic and soft-hearted when he sees someone weaker than he is.

"[8][verification needed] The Tang dynasty poet Du Mu mentioned Xiang Yu in a poem: "Victory or defeat is common in battle.

His tactical early morning raids on the enemy fully demonstrated his superb strategy of mobilization and artistic prowess, despite facing unprecedented crises.

Xiang Yu's prowess in battle has been glorified in Chinese folk tales, poetry, and novels, and he has been the subject of films, television, plays, operas, video games and comics.

[17] The Meng Qiu (蒙求), an eighth-century primer by the scholar Li Han, contains the four-character rhyming couplet "Ji Xin impersonates the Emperor".

[18] In the 14th-century classical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the warlord Sun Ce is nicknamed "Little Conqueror / Little Hegemon-King" (小霸王)[19] and compared favourably to Xiang Yu by a contemporary[19] just like his historical counterpart.

In another 14th-century classical novel Water Margin, Zhou Tong, one of the 108 Stars of Destiny, is nicknamed "Little Conqueror" for having an appearance similar to Xiang Yu's.

[22] Notable actors who have portrayed Xiang Yu in films and television series include: Shek Sau in The Battlefield (1985); Ray Lui in The Great Conqueror's Concubine (1994); Hu Jun in The Story of Han Dynasty (2003); Kwong Wah in The Conqueror's Story (2004); Tan Kai in The Myth (2010); Feng Shaofeng in White Vengeance (2011); Peter Ho in King's War (2012); Ming Dao in Beauties of the Emperor (2012); Daniel Wu in The Last Supper (2012); and Qin Junjie in The Legend of Qin (2015).