In the 11th year of King Jian of Zhou (June 18th, 18th, 16th, 575 BC), Jin and Chu, who had been competing for hegemony for a long time, fought a great war in Yanling (now northwest of Yanling, Henan).

The state of Jin subdued the big country Qi through the Battle of the Saddle, and was evenly matched with the state of Chu. In the seventh year of King Zhou Jian, the Song doctor Huayuan mediated, and Jin and Chu made peace. In fact, they accumulated strength and waited for the opportunity to facilitate the new battle for hegemony. The state of Jin took advantage of the opportunity of Chu to turn his back on Qin and defeat the state of Qin in Yuma Tunnel (now Jingyang North, Shaanxi Province), temporarily removing the side-back threat; it also consolidated the alliance with Wu in the form of an alliance, forming a north-south strategy to counter Chu. The state of Chu also ignored the alliance of troops, and in the tenth year of King Zhou Jian sent troops to attack Zheng and Wei, and forced Zheng to betray Jin and attach Chu. The following spring, Zheng sent troops to attack Song, and completely wiped out Zheng's Song army in Spooning (now Ningling South, Henan Province). As a result, Bao Song Tu Zheng or Bao Zheng Tu Song became the focus of Jin and Chu competing for the hegemony of the Central Plains. At this time, although Jin State had internal disharmony worries, it still ruled out the proposition of Jin Qing Shi Xie to keep external troubles to police internal worries, and decided not to miss the opportunity to fight for hegemony.

In April of that year, in order to prevent the Zheng army from stopping the Jin army from crossing the river (the Yellow River), Duke Li of Jin urgently ordered the Weiguo allied with Jin to send troops to the Mingyan (now the north of Qixian County, Henan Province) first, threatening the Zheng army's side back, so that it did not dare to enter the north. He also dispatched the new army's main general, Luan, a doctor (his daughter turned black), to contact Qi, Lu, Wei and other countries to send troops to gather in Yanling, Zheng Di. Immediately ordered the deputy general of the lower army to stay in the country, Jin Li Duke personally led the army to the south, according to the upper, middle, lower, and new fourth armies: Luan Shu was the marshal of the middle army, commanding the whole army, Shi Xie was the deputy general; Qi Qi was the main general of the upper army; Xun Yan was the deputy general; Han Jue was the main general of the lower army; Lizhi was the deputy general of the new army; Li Gong led the duke's personal troops to the middle army. When the Duke of Chu learned that the Jin army was attacking Zheng, he also led the Chu army and the Yi soldiers to rescue Zheng, and was organized according to the left, middle and right armies: Sima Zi was the general of the middle army, commanding the three armies; Yin Zi Zhong was the general of the left army; Yin Zixin was the general of the right army; the king of Chu led the left and right two "guangs" (30 multiplies per "guangzi" The Chu army left Fangcheng from Shenyi (now Nanyang North, Henan Province) (starting from the southwest of Yexian County, Henan Province, along the southeast to a great wall in the northeast of Biyang), advanced northward, quickly joined Zheng's army led by Zheng Cheng's office, and attempted to start a decisive battle with Jin before the armies of Qi, Lu, and Wei arrived at Yanling, and won with superior troops. In May, the Jin army crossed the river. Although Shixie was the main force to retreat, most of the armies such as Duke Li of Jin and Lu Shu would still adhere to their established determination, urge the army to advance, and arrive at Yanling in June. At that time, the armies of Qi, Lu, and Wei were still on their way, while the troops of Chu and Yi and Zheng had already rushed to the battlefield.

On June 29, the Chu army ignored its soldiers and fought in dark days. They used the morning fog to cover up and approach the Jin army's camp, creating a battlefield situation that was favorable to them. Luan Shu, the commander of the Jin army, knew that his troops were weak and he was coerced by the Chu army. He advocated avoiding the front first, consolidating the camp and holding firm. When the reinforcements from the vassals arrived, he turned to the offensive with superior troops and took advantage of the retreat of the Chu army to defeat it. Xi Zhi believed that the generals of the Chu army were not harmonious, the Zheng army was not in a uniform formation, and the Yi soldiers could not form an array. Moreover, the troops were mixed and their discipline was lax. They looked at each other and had no will to fight. He insisted on winning quickly without waiting for reinforcements. In view of the fact that it would take some time to defend and wait for reinforcements, the battlefield situation was unpredictable. He took advantage of the gap between the Chu army and quickly launched a decisive battle. Although the troops were not as strong as the Chu army, they could still win. Therefore, he abandoned Luan Shu's plan and followed Xi Zhi's view. He also adopted the plan of Shi Xie's son Shi Yan to fill wells and level stoves in the camp, expand the space, and form an array on the spot. He could not only get rid of the dilemma of not being able to leave the camp to form an array, but also conceal his own deployment adjustments. When King Gong of Chu boarded the chariot (lookout chariot) to observe the situation of the Jin army, Bozhou, an old Jin minister who accompanied him, only informed the Jin army's movements without making plans. Emperor Miao Ben, an old minister of Chu, accompanied Duke Li of Jin to observe the formation of the Chu army. In view of the concentration of the elite of the Chu army in the central army, he suggested dividing the elite of the Jin Central Army to strengthen the two wings, first defeating the left and right armies of Chu, and then jointly surrounding and annihilating the middle army. Duke Li of Jin and Luan Shu decided to attack the stronger Left Army of Chu, and the other of the lower army, new army, and central army to attack the weaker Right Army and Zheng soldiers of Chu. They would lure the Chu army with the family soldiers of Luan (Luan Shu) and Fan (Shixie) who were guarding Duke Li.

The Jin army took the initiative and opened the camp to attack, bypassing the mud in front of the camp and advancing along both sides. Seeing that Duke Li of Jin's central army was weak and Duke Li of Jin was in a quagmire by car, King Gong of Chu led his royal family's troops to attack Duke Li. Luan Shu wanted to save Duke Li in danger, but stopped him for his son Luan Zhen, and still kept the command of the entire army in order. Wei Qi, a senior official of the Duke of Jin, shot an arrow into the left eye of the King of Chu and forced him to retreat. The Jin army resumed its offensive. When the Chu army learned that the Gong King was injured, their morale was shaken and their spirit was greatly reduced. Under the heavy attack of the Jin Dynasty, the Right Army of Chu and the soldiers of Zheng were unable to withstand them and quickly retreated. Affected by this, the Central Army and Left Army of Chu also retreated. The Chu army was in chaos during the retreat, and the Jin army took advantage of the victory to pursue all sides. Xi Zhi led his new army to pursue the "king's soldiers" of Chu. When he encountered the King of Chu three times, he fled. He also cooperated with Han Jue's troops to pursue the Zheng army, abided by the etiquette of not insulting the monarch, and allowed Duke Cheng of Zheng to withdraw his flag and escape. The Right Army of Chu and the Zheng Army had been completely defeated, while the Left Army of Chu continued to retreat and fight until dark saw the stars. The Jin army captured the Chu son Yu during the pursuit, and at the end of the day, they pressed the Chu army on the north bank of the Yingshui River. King Gong of Chu fought hard with his elite "king soldiers". Yang Youji, who was proficient in archery, fired two arrows and hit the Jin soldier. Shushan Ran grabbed the Jin soldier and threw it to break Che Shi. The Jin army was intimidated and stopped attacking because it was already late.

The two sides fought fiercely all day long. Although the Chu army lost, its main force had not yet been seriously injured. That night, the Chu army repaired weapons and replenished soldiers, and planned to fight again the next day. The Jin army did not show weakness, so they let Chu capture prisoners and intensified Jin's preparations for war. The news of the decisive victory the next day was announced to the Chu army. King Gong of Chu wanted to summon Zifan to discuss strategies to deal with the enemy. When he saw that Zifan was drunk and unable to discuss the matter, he thought that it would be difficult to win in another battle. He was also afraid that the army of the vassals assisting Jin would arrive the next day, and the inferior troops of Chu would suffer heavy losses. If Wu took advantage of this weakness to attack Chu, there would be even more danger to the country, so he led his army to retreat south at night. The Jin army entered the Chu camp the next day, rested for three days, and then turned around. By the end of the battle, only the Qi army had reached the battlefield. When the Chu army retreated to Xia, Zi was ashamed of his dereliction of duty and committed suicide.

In this battle, it was already a mistake for Chu to start a decisive battle with Jin under an unfavorable strategic situation, and it was a failure to seize the fighter jets and attack under a favorable battlefield situation. Only the King of Chu "retreated despite the difficulties" and withdrew his troops at night to preserve the main force of the Chu army. According to the characteristics of the Chu army's formation and terrain, the Jin army made decisions on the spot, changed its deployment in time, used its forces flexibly, and won with typical two-wing attack tactics, reflecting the rapid development of field offensive tactics in the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. And Jin's cultivation of "rites" during the battle did not completely attack the Chu army, which was limited by the concept of the Spring and Autumn Period and was not a training.