Battle of Banquan

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Banquan
partof=


caption=
date= ~2500 BC
place= Banquan (disputed), China
casus=
territory=
result= Youxiong victory
combatant1=Shennong
combatant2=Youxiong
commander1=Yan Emperor
commander2=Yellow Emperor
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

The Battle of Banquan (阪泉之戰) happened in 26th century BC, and is the first battle in Chinese history as recorded by Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian". This battle is credited for the formation of the Huaxia tribe, the basis of the Han Chinese civilization.

Not much is known about this battle since this battle, along with other events of the era, are clouded by mythology. Thus, the history of this battle is disputed.

The Shennong tribe originally was a branch of the nomadic people from the west who entered the North China Plain. Generations later, the tribe was in conflict with other expanding tribes at the time, such as the Jiuli tribe led by Chi You and the Youxiong tribe led by the Yellow Emperor. As the Yan Emperor of Shennong planned to invade the local tribes nearby, the tribes turned to the Yellow Emperor, who raised armies against Shennong.

The armies of Youxiong, under the totems of the Bear (熊), the Brown Bear (羆), the Fox (貔), the Brave (貅), the "Chū" (貙), and the Tiger (虎); met with the armies of Shennong met in Banquan in the first large scale battle in Chinese history. After three major engagements, the Shennong forces lost the battle and made an alliance to the Yellow Emperor. The two major tribes then went on to form the Huaxia tribe, incorporating the small tribes around them.

The ever expanding Huaxia tribe soon drew the envy of Chi You, who attacked Shennong's territories. The Huaxia tribe then reacted by facing Chi You in the Battle of Zhuolu, and emerged victorious. The Huaxia tribe then could expand without hindrance and soon formed what came to be known as the Han Chinese civilization. To this day, Chinese people still call themselves "descendents of Yan and Huang".

Location of the battle

The actual location of Banquan, where this battle was fought, is in dispute. There are three likely locations:
# Southeast of Zhuolu, Hebei
# Banquan village of Yanxing, Beijing
# Jiezhou town, Yuncheng, Shanxi

Of these three, the third one is seen to be the most probably since the other two would imply that the two forces would both have to travel north to meet each other, which is impractical.

References

*Sima Qian, "Wǔdì Běnjì", "Records of the Grand Historian".