Royals › Royal Kin
Crown Prince Dan of Yan
Crown prince of Yan who fled hostage life in Qin and sent Jing Ke to assassinate the King of Qin, then was beheaded on his father's order to appease Qin
A mansion gate with a double blue-tiled roof stands on stone steps flanked by two stone lions, with a garden walkway, a lily pond and rockery at the left and lanterns under the eaves; at the right one person stands beside a saddled horse with a rider.
Also known as Ji Dan
- Roles
- Royal Kin
Dan, crown prince of Yan and son of King Xi, had as a boy been a hostage in Zhao, where he befriended the young Ying Zheng. Once Zheng became King of Qin, Dan was sent to Qin as a hostage and, resenting his treatment, escaped home. As Qin advanced east, his tutor Ju Wu and the recluse Tian Guang introduced him to Jing Ke, whom he sent to Qin with the head of the fugitive general Fan Yuqi and a map of the Dukang district. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) relates that the attempt failed in 227 BCE; Qin sent Wang Jian against Yan, Ji fell the next year, and King Xi and Dan withdrew to Liaodong. Pressed by Li Xin, King Xi had Dan killed where he hid in the Yan River, meaning to send his head to Qin, yet Qin destroyed Yan five years later. Dan's farewell to Jing Ke on the Yi River is the subject of Tao Yuanming's poem In Praise of Jing Ke.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–226 BCE
- 227 BCEJing Ke Attacks the Qin King