A Study on Sima Qian’s Narrative Strategy in the Depiction of Han Xin’s Rebellion Plot

The present study investigates Sima Qian(司马迁)’s narrative strategy in portraying the rebellion of Han Xin(韩信) in the Huiyinhouliezhuan(淮阴侯列传), with the aim of elucidating Sima Qian’s evaluation of the event. Through close textual analysis, this paper identifies three salient features in Sima Qian’s account. First, in the Huiyinhouliezhuan, an opposition is constructed between Han Xin’s loyalty and trust, and Liu Bang(刘邦)’s distrust and deception.In this process, the shape of Han Xin’s loyalty and trust is becoming more prominent, resulting in weakening the possibility of Han Xin’s rebellion. Second, in the Huiyinhouliezhuan, the achievements of Han Xin and the persuasive arguments of Wu She(武涉) and Kuai Tong(蒯通) are described in great length and detail. The former emphasizes the enormous achievements Han Xin had accomplished, while the latter implies that when one’s achievements become too great, one’s life inevitably falls into danger. Together, they form a proportional relationship: the greater Han Xin’s achievements, the higher the risk of his being put to death. This suggests that Han Xin’s execution was not the result of rebellion, but rather something destined by fate, thereby revealing that the cause of his death lay not in treason but in inevitability. Finally, in the Huiyinhouliezhuan, the motives, background, and plans of Han Xin’s alleged rebellion are inconsistent, lack close coherence, and at times even contradict one another. This suggests that the account may have been deliberately written in such a way as to cast doubt on the credibility of the rebellion itself.