After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang waged a five-year-long struggle for supremacy known as the Chu-Han Contention.
During a harsh winter, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were locked in a stalemate near Xingyang, their armies evenly matched with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.
Xiang Yu had a fiery temper. One day, he called out Liu Bang by name, demanding he come out for a decisive battle. Liu Bang stepped forward, pointed at Xiang Yu, and cursed, "Xiang Yu, you bear ten heinous crimes, yet you still have the nerve to flaunt your might here?"
Xiang Yu was stunned and said in confusion, "I led the army to overthrow the tyrannical Qin rule—what crime have I committed?"
Liu Bang said sternly:
"You and I both received orders from King Huai of Chu, agreeing that whoever first entered the Pass would be king. Yet you relied on your military strength, broke the agreement, and sent me to Ba and Shu as the King of Han—that is your first crime. When you went to rescue Zhao, you killed General Song Yi without authorization—that is your second crime. Third, you defied King Huai's orders by forcibly seizing the troops of the allied lords and entering the Pass."
Then, Liu Bang enumerated Xiang Yu's crimes: burning the Epang Palace, excavating the First Emperor's tomb, and burying alive two hundred thousand Qin civilians. Finally, Liu Bang said, "As a subject, you killed your sovereign; you also murdered those who had surrendered. These crimes are nothing short of treason. How dare you still challenge me?"
Xiang Yu, burning with rage, ordered his archers to fire at Liu Bang. Before Liu Bang could retreat into the city, an arrow struck him in the chest, forcing him to withdraw his troops.
At that time, in terms of military strength, the Chu army still far outnumbered the Han army. However, because Xiang Yu was stubborn and self-willed, while Liu Bang was skilled at employing talent, the Han forces steadily grew stronger. In the end, Han triumphed and Chu fell, with Xiang Yu meeting his end by his own sword at the Wujiang River.
Later, the idiom "high treason and gross insubordination" is often used to describe heinous crimes and numerous acts against divine order.
Source: *Book of Han*, Chapter "Annals of Emperor Gao"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "大逆不道" came to describe heinous crimes and numerous acts against divine order.