Commemorating a Failed Assassin: The Making of the Jing Ke Lore in Early China

Abstract Studies of the Jing Ke lore in early China have focused on three major texts: the “Yan ce” 燕策 (Stratagems of the Yan) in Zhanguo ce 戰國策 (Stratagems of the Warring States), “Cike liezhuan” 刺客列傳 (The Biography of Assassins) in the Shi ji 史記 (Grand Archivist’s Records), and Yan Dan zi 燕丹子 (Prince Dan of Yan). Most discussions have centered on the similarities and differences among the three accounts—e.g., how the main characters are depicted, and different interpretations of Jing Ke’s motivations and Prince Dan’s plot. However, a myriad of transmitted and excavated materials on the Jing Ke lore have not been sufficiently discussed in the context of the culture of early China. This article adopts a multidisciplinary approach, combining literature, history, philosophy, fine arts, and archaeology, to examine Pre-Qin and Han dynasty accounts of the Jing Ke lore. In addition, this article comprehensively investigates the iconography of the Jing Ke lore found in burial paintings and huaxiang shi 畫像石 (pictorial stones) dating to the Han dynasty which have been found throughout China. It delves into the disparities between these visual representations and the records of the Jing Ke lore in transmitted texts and explains the likely underlying reasons behind these disparities. By analyzing both transmitted texts and excavated materials, this article traces the construction of this influential and controversial figure in early China, and in elite discourse as well as in folk culture and art, and in so doing provides a glimpse into the transformation of the socio-political, literary, and intellectual history of early China.