A hymn to the heroic legend of the overlord of Chu
Overview
Chinese Name: 霸王卸甲
English Name: King Chu Doffs His Armor, Ba Wang Xie Jia, Conqueror Xiangyu Takes Off His Armour
“King Chu Doffs His Armor” is the famous ancient Pipa music, like Ambush from Ten Sides, is based on the battle between Chu and Han. The difference is that the protagonist of “Ambush from Ten Sides” is Liu Bang(刘邦), while the protagonist of “King Chu Doffs His Armor” is Xiang Yu(项羽).
Who is the King Chu in“King Chu Doffs His Armor”?
The King Chu in“King Chu Doffs His Armor” is Xiang Yu (232-202 BC), He is a representative figure of Chinese military thought and is as famous as Sun Wu, Han Xin and others. Xiang Yu is the grandson of Xiang Yan, a famous general of the state of Chu.
In February 206 BC, Xiang Yu established himself as the King of Chu(西楚霸王). At that time, Liu Bang was king of the Han（汉王）. They fought for the world for four years in the Chu Han war. In 202 BC, Xiang Yu was defeated and killed himself with a sword by the Wujiang River.
This Pipa music depicts the dreary and tragic scene of Xiang Yu taking off his armor after his defeat. At the beginning, the pipa played an agitated introduction in the bass area, like a rumbling drum ready for the impending war. It is slow and urgent, hazy and heavy. It seems to predict the tragedy of the end at the beginning. As the war drums sounded faster and faster, the soldiers opened their accounts, and the rain like drums pushed the mood of the music to the top step by step.