The Dawson Ledger
Event

Battle of Changping (262-260 BCE)

Warring States mass-mobilization war ending in reported mass killing of prisoners; shows scale claims in early Chinese historiography.

Event Details

  • Date: 262-260 BCE
  • Type: battle
  • Civilizations: sinitic-east-asia

Description

Warring States mass-mobilization war ending in reported mass killing of prisoners; shows scale claims in early Chinese historiography.

Quantitative facts and their sourcing

  • Date note: Shiji 73 (read): Qin cut the Shangdang road in Zhaoxiang 45 (262 BCE); the Changping fighting runs from the 4th month of Zhaoxiang 47 (260 BCE). Scholars date the start to 262 (Shangdang crisis) or 260 (battle proper).
  • Dates April 262 - July 260 BCE; outcome: Qin victory.
  • PRIMARY-SOURCE passage read: Shiji 73 (zh.wikisource revid 7909285): after Zhao Kuo was shot dead, about 400,000 Zhao troops surrendered to Bai Qi, who judged them untrustworthy and had them all buried alive except 240 of the youngest who were sent home; the text totals heads taken and captives at 450,000. This is Sima Qian's claim (written ~2 centuries later); widely regarded as implausibly large. Treat as an ancient claim, not a measurement. Qin losses ~250,000 (Wikipedia, stub; not read in Shiji passage).

Confidence

low (ancient claim read in primary text; implausible scale). Numbers marked "Wikipedia-compiled (stub)" come from a secondary aggregator and must be upgraded to page-level scholarly citations before any Official use.

Citations

  • shiji-73-wikisource-zh [formal] Sima Qian (-91). Sima Qian, Shiji juan 73 (Bai Qi-Wang Jian liezhuan), Changping passage (zh.wikisource.org, revid 7909285; read). Wikisource (Chinese). https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/史記/卷073. Verified 2026-10-11 (resolves).
  • lewis2007-early-chinese-empires [formal] Mark Edward Lewis (2007). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Harvard University Press / Belknap. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1977201W. Verified 2026-10-11 (Open Library record found; edition exists, page-level not checked).
  • wp-battle-of-changping [STUB (secondary aggregator)] Wikipedia contributors (2026). Battle of Changping (Wikipedia; secondary aggregator, stub-grade). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Changping. Verified 2026-10-11 (resolves).

Review status

SOFT draft. Not Official. Needs editor review of CAD tags (estimated) and page-level citation upgrade.

About this entry

A draft entry preserved from civilization.study. Evidence grade: low. 2 of 3 listed sources are fully documented; the rest are names only. Method and sources

Conflict card

This card is generated from Civitas's war record and carries the same evidence badge as every other conflict card.

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battle · 262-260 BCE

Battle of Changping (262-260 BCE)

Warring States mass-mobilization war ending in reported mass killing of prisoners; shows scale claims in early Chinese historiography.

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Primary text Date note: Shiji 73 (read): Qin cut the Shangdang road in Zhaoxiang 45 (262 BCE); the Changping fighting runs from the 4th month of Zhaoxiang 47 (260 BCE). Scholars date the start to 262 (Shangdang crisis) or 260 (battle proper).
  • Note Dates April 262 - July 260 BCE; outcome: Qin victory.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE passage read: Shiji 73 (zh.wikisource revid 7909285): after Zhao Kuo was shot dead, about 400,000 Zhao troops surrendered to Bai Qi, who judged them untrustworthy and had them all buried alive except 240 of the youngest who were sent home; the text totals heads taken and captives at 450,000. This is Sima Qian's claim (written ~2 centuries later); widely regarded as implausibly large. Treat as an ancient claim, not a measurement. Qin losses ~250,000 (Wikipedia, stub; not read in Shiji passage).

Confidence. low (ancient claim read in primary text; implausible scale).

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Art: Patterns of Civilization chronicle art, made with AI: illustrations, not historical evidence. Entries are drafts preserved from civilization.study. Method and sources.