Mavericks › Knight-errant / Assassin
Jing Ke
Late Warring States assassin from Wei who, sent by Crown Prince Dan of Yan, entered Qin bearing the Dukang map and Fan Wuqi's head, and was killed when his attempt on the king of Qin failed.
On a moonlit night in a bamboo grove, a covered wooden bridge crosses a misty gorge with glowing lanterns hanging along it, and a small figure in a wide hat stands in the middle of the bridge; a cloak and a wine gourd hang on the railing in the foreground.
Also known as Qing Qing · Jing Qing
Jing Ke was a man of Wei, called Qing Qing in Wei and Jing Qing after he moved to Yan. A reader and swordsman, he befriended the zhu player Gao Jianli and, introduced by Tian Guang, was generously treated by Crown Prince Dan of Yan. In 227 BCE, with Qin armies at Yan's border, he set out for Qin with Qin Wuyang, carrying Fan Wuqi's head and the map of Dukang; at the Yi River, Dan and his retainers saw him off in white while Gao Jianli played and Jing Ke sang 'The wind howls, the Yi River is cold'. Received by King Zheng in the Xianyang palace, he drew the dagger hidden in the unrolled map, missed the king and was killed. The account is in the Zhan guo ce (Yan 3) and the Shiji (Biographies of Assassins). His birth year is not recorded.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–227 BCE
- 227 BCEJing Ke Attacks the Qin King