Battle of Changping

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Battle of Changping
Part of Warring States Period
Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao
Date April 262 BC – July 260 BC Location Northwest of Gaoping, Shanxi Result Qin victory Qin strategic supremacy consolidated Severe weakening of Zhao military might Siege of Handan
Belligerents
State of Zhao	State of Qin
Commanders and leaders
Lian Po Zhao Kuo † Feng Ting †	Wang He Bai Qi Teng
Strength
450,000	550,000
Casualties and losses
400,000 dead (large portion executed after capture)[1][2]	c. 250,000 dead

The Battle of Changping (長平之戰) was a military campaign during the Warring States period of ancient China, which took place from 262 BC to 260 BC at Changping (northwest of present-day Gaoping, Shanxi province), between the two strongest military powers, the State of Qin and the State of Zhao. After a bitter two-year stalemate, the battle ended in a decisive victory for Qin forces and the ruthless execution of most of the Zhao captives, resulting in an unrecoverable loss of manpower and strategic reserve for the Zhao state.

This battle is one of the bloodiest battles in human history, due to the fact that several thousand soldiers were buried alive. The main historical records for the events of this period is sourced from the Records of the Grand Historian, written more than a century later, which estimated roughly 450,000 dead on the Zhao side and 250,000 dead on the Qin side. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (685–762) later built a temple over a collection of some of the human remains, and scattered bones and mass graves continue to be discovered on the site.^[3]