Xiang Yu, a leader of the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, was also known as Xiang Ji. As a youth, he disliked studying and refused to practice martial arts. When his uncle Xiang Liang scolded him, Xiang Yu replied unexpectedly, "Learning to read is only good for writing down one's name; martial arts can only defeat one or two opponents—neither is worth my effort. I want to learn the art of commanding ten thousand men!"
Xiang Liang, seeing his nephew's ambition, began teaching him the art of war. Xiang Yu was thrilled at first, but after grasping just the basics, he refused to continue his studies. Later, when Xiang Liang was wanted by the authorities for murder, he fled with Xiang Yu to the Wu region, in what is now Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
In 210 BCE, Emperor Qin Shi Huang toured Kuaiji, and when his procession passed the Southern River, Xiang Liang and his nephew Xiang Yu went to watch the spectacle. Xiang Yu pointed at the emperor and declared, "That man can be replaced!" Xiang Liang quickly covered his nephew's mouth, hissing, "Don't speak nonsense—our entire clan will be executed!" But from that moment, Xiang Liang saw Xiang Yu as extraordinary.
When Qin Shi Huang's imperial procession rolled past with overwhelming majesty, Xiang Yu pointed at the emperor's chariot and declared to his uncle Xiang Liang, "His position can be seized and taken by me!" Xiang Liang clapped a hand over his nephew's mouth and whispered sternly, "Do not speak such nonsense—uttering this could bring destruction upon our entire clan!"
Xiang Liang said this, but secretly felt pleased: Xiang Yu was truly an extraordinary person who would surely accomplish great things in the future.
Xiang Yu was a towering figure of immense strength and extraordinary talent, so feared by local youths that none dared challenge him. The following year, his uncle Xiang Liang raised an army in Wu, and Xiang Yu joined the cause. When Xiang Liang fell in battle a year later, Xiang Yu gradually took command of the Chu forces, forging them into the most formidable anti-Qin army of the era, and earning himself the legendary title of Hegemon-King of Western Chu.
"The idiom 'taking someone's place' originally meant overthrowing someone to replace them. Later, it generally came to mean using this to replace that."
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biography of Xiang Yu"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "取而代之" came to describe using this to replace that.