Bai Qi
~332–257 BCE · Chinese (State of Qin) · Warring States Period
Known for: 'The Human Butcher'—Qin general who reportedly buried 400,000 surrendered soldiers alive at Changping
Bai Qi was the most feared general in Chinese history—known as 'the Human Butcher' for the staggering body count of his campaigns. He was the primary military instrument of the State of Qin's rise to dominance, winning every battle he fought and killing an estimated 890,000 enemy soldiers over his career.
His most notorious act was the mass execution of 400,000 surrendered Zhao soldiers at the Battle of Changping in 260 BCE—the ancient world's largest recorded war crime. He was eventually forced to commit suicide by his own king, who feared his power. His campaigns laid the groundwork for Qin's eventual unification of China.
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