Tiandan was from Dixin and belonged to the Tian family, the former royal family of the Qi Kingdom. His younger brother, Tian Rong, and Tian Heng were powerful and well-connected figures, skilled at winning people over. When Chen Sheng first rebelled and declared himself king of the Chu Kingdom, he sent Zhou Shi to recapture the land of the Wei Kingdom, all the way to Dixin, where the city was besieged. Tiandan pretended to be binding his slaves and, along with some young men, loitered around the county government office, hoping to find an opportunity to kill the slave. Encountering the magistrate, he seized the opportunity and killed him, then called on the influential families in the county, saying, "Look, all these warlords are setting themselves up as kings! Qi was a mighty kingdom in its day, and as a Tian, I'm the rightful heir! I'm taking the throne!" He then declared himself king of Qi and led his troops to attack Zhou Shi. When Zhou Shi's army retreated, Tiandan took advantage of the situation and led his army eastward, recovering Qi's lands. The Qin general Zhang Han surrounded King Jiu of Wei in Linji City, and things were dire. King Jiu sought help from Qi, and King Tiandan led his troops to rescue Wei. Zhang Han launched a surprise night attack and defeated the Qi and Wei coalition forces, killing Tiandan at the foot of Linji City. Tiandan's brother, Tian Rong, gathered Tiandan's remaining soldiers and fled east to Dong'e. Upon hearing of King Tiandan's death, the people of Qi installed his brother, Tian Jia, as the new king, with Tian Jiao as prime minister and Tian Jian as general, to resist the other princes.
Tian Rong fled to Dong'e, and Zhang Han was hot on his heels, surrounding him. Xiang Liang heard that Tian Rong was in danger, so he led his troops to attack and defeated Zhang Han's army under the city of Dong'e. Zhang Han fled, and Xiang Liang pursued him. At this time, Tian Rong was furious that the state of Qi had put Tian Jia on the throne, so he led his troops back, kicked Tian Jia off the throne, and drove him away. Tian Jia fled to the state of Chu. The Prime Minister of Qi, Tian Jiao, fled to the state of Zhao; Tian Jiao's brother, Tian Jian, had gone to Zhao for help and never dared return. Tian Rong then made Tian Shi, the son of Tian Dan, the King of Qi. Tian Rong himself became the Prime Minister, and Tian Heng became the General, bringing Qi under control.
Xiang Liang pursued and fought Zhang Han, but Zhang Han's forces grew stronger and stronger. Xiang Liang sent people to notify the states of Zhao and Qi to join forces to attack Zhang Han. However, Tian Rong of Qi said, "Unless Chu kills Tian Jia and Zhao kills Tian Jiao and Tian Jian, we're not lifting a finger." King Huai of Chu said, "Tian Jia's our kin; he came to us for help, so killing him is out of the question." Zhao also refused to kill Tian Jiao and Tian Jian just to appease Qi. Qi then said, "When a venomous snake bites your hand, you cut off the hand; when it bites your foot, you cut off the foot. Why? Because they are harming your body! Now, Tian Jia, Tian Jiao, and Tian Jian are not just relatives to Chu and Zhao; why not kill them? Moreover, if the state of Qin regains power, everyone in power will be toast!" Chu and Zhao did not listen to Qi, which made Qi angry, and in the end, they refused to send troops. As a result, Zhang Han defeated Xiang Liang, routed the Chu army, and the Chu army fled eastward. Zhang Han crossed the Yellow River and surrounded the Zhao army in Julu. Xiang Yu went to rescue Zhao, and that's how Xiang Yu started to hate Tian Rong's guts.
After Xiang Yu saved the State of Zhao, he subdued Zhang Han and others, then advanced west, broke through Xianyang, destroyed the State of Qin, and handed out kingdoms to his buddies. Xiang Yu moved the King of Qi, Tian Shi, to Jiaodong and let him rule Jimo. The Qi general Tian Du had once saved the State of Zhao together and later entered Guanzhong, so Xiang Yu appointed Tian Du as the King of Qi and let him rule Linzi. The grandson of King Qi, Tian An, handed over a few Jibei cities to surrender to Xiang Yu while he was crossing the Yellow River to save the State of Zhao. Xiang Yu then appointed Tian An as the King of Jibei and let him rule Boyang. Tian Rong didn’t listen to Xiang Liang's advice before and dropped the ball by refusing to send troops to help the State of Chu and the State of Zhao attack the State of Qin, so he didn’t receive a title of king; Zhao's general Chen Yu also screwed up and didn’t receive a title of king, and both of them resented Xiang Yu.
After Xiang Yu returned, the feudal lords all went back to their fiefdoms. Tian Rong sent troops to help Chen Yu and stirred them up to rebel against the State of Zhao. Tian Rong himself led troops to attack Tian Du, who fled to the State of Chu. Tian Rong kept King Tian Shi stuck in Jiaodong, refusing to let him go to his kingdom. The ministers of Tian Shi said, "Dude, Xiang Yu's a total tyrant. You're staying put in Jiaodong instead of going to your own kingdom? You're asking for trouble!" Tian Shi got scared and fled to his fiefdom. Tian Rong was furious, caught up with and whacked the King of Qi, Tian Shi, and then attacked and killed the King of Jibei, Tian An. So Tian Rong declared himself the King of Qi, taking over all of Qi.
Xiang Yu heard about this matter, and he was so mad he hit the roof, immediately marching north to take on Qi. King Tian Rong of Qi got his butt kicked, fled to the plains, and got whacked by the locals. Xiang Yu was still steaming mad, and went on a rampage through Qi, burning, killing, and looting everything in sight—nobody got out alive! The people of Qi were beyond furious and rose up in rebellion. Tian Heng, Tian Rong's brother, quickly rounded up the stragglers, cobbled together an army of tens of thousands, and clashed with Xiang Yu at Chengyang.
Meanwhile, Liu Bang and his coalition of warlords smashed the Chu army and waltzed right into Pengcheng, the Chu capital. When Xiang Yu heard this, he hightailed it back to Pengcheng from Qi to face Liu Bang. Then it was a stalemate near Xingyang. Seizing the chance, Tian Heng retook Qi's cities, crowned Tian Rong's son, Tian Guang, the new king, and made himself prime minister, calling all the shots.
Tian Heng served as Prime Minister of the State of Qi for three years. Liu Bang sent Li Shiqi to persuade King Tian Guang of Qi and Prime Minister Tian Heng to surrender. Tian Heng found Li Shiqi's arguments persuasive and withdrew the troops stationed at Li Xia (modern-day Jinan). As a result, General Han Xin of Liu Bang's army was preparing to attack the State of Qi. Originally, the State of Qi had sent Hua Wushang and Tian Jie to lead the troops to defend Li Xia against the Han army. However, upon the arrival of the Han envoy, they became complacent, feasted, and opened negotiations with the Han army. Han Xin had already conquered the States of Zhao and Yan, and he used Kuai Tong's strategy of flanking via Pingyuan to launch a surprise attack on the army stationed at Li Xia of the State of Qi, then directly marched into Linzi. King Tian Guang and Prime Minister Tian Heng of Qi were furious, believing that Li Shiqi had betrayed them, so they had Li Shiqi killed. King Tian Guang fled to Gaomi, Tian Heng fled to Bocheng, Minister Tian Guang fled to Chengyang, and General Tian Ji stationed his troops in Jiaodong. The State of Chu sent Long Qie to rescue the State of Qi, and King Tian Guang and Long Qie met in Gaomi. Liu Bang's generals Han Xin and Cao Shen routed and killed Long Qie, capturing King Tian Guang in the process. Liu Bang's general Guan Ying caught up with Minister Tian Guang of Qi. Upon learning of King Tian Guang's death in Bocheng, Tian Heng proclaimed himself King of Qi and turned to attack Guan Ying, but was defeated by Guan Ying at Yingxia. Tian Heng fled to Liangdi and sought refuge with Peng Yue. At that time, Peng Yue controlled Liangdi, playing both sides against each other, sometimes supporting the Han, sometimes the Chu. After Han Xin killed Long Qie, he ordered Cao Shen to continue the attack. In Jiaodong, they overwhelmed and executed Tian Ji, and sent Guan Ying to defeat and kill Qi General Tian Xi in Qiancheng. After conquering the State of Qi, Han Xin requested to be appointed as the puppet King of Qi, which Liu Bang was cool with.
After the Han Dynasty defeated Xiang Yu, Liu Bang became the emperor and made Peng Yue the King of Liang. Tian Heng was afraid of being killed, so he took more than five hundred followers and fled to an island. When Liu Bang heard about this, he thought that Tian Heng had made great contributions in the past in the state of Qi, and many scholars from Qi had followed him. Now that Tian Heng was on an island, if he rebelled, it would be a real problem. Therefore, he sent an envoy to pardon Tian Heng's crimes and summoned him back to the court.
Tian Heng refused the envoy, saying, "I helped you out, and you sent Li Sheng to help me. Now I hear his brother, Li Shang, is your top general—and a tough one! I'm scared, so I can't accept your offer. I just want to be a regular guy and stay on the island." The envoy returned and reported back. Liu Bang then ordered his Wei Wei, Li Shang, saying, "Prince Qi Tian Heng is about to arrive. If anyone—man or beast—so much as twitches, kill his whole family!" He then sent another envoy with the emperor's seal to deliver this detailed order to Li Shang, saying, "If Tian Heng comes, he'll get a big promotion. If he doesn't come, have him taken care of!" So Tian Heng, with just two guys, rode post-haste to Luoyang.
Thirty miles away from Luoyang, when they arrived at Shixiang, Tian Heng stopped at the post station and said to the messenger, "When a subject meets the emperor, he should first wash and freshen up." Then he paused. He said to his two followers, "I used to be alone with the Han king, but now the Han king has become the emperor, and I have become a fugitive. I have to bow down to him; this humiliation is too great! I helped the Han king's older brother, and now I have to serve the same master as his younger brother. Even if they are afraid to disobey the emperor's orders and do not dare to harm me, I cannot bear it in my heart! The emperor wants to see me just to look at my face. Now that he is in Luoyang, even if he cuts off my head and sends it thirty miles away, my head would still be recognizable." After saying this, he committed suicide and had his followers take his head quickly to the messenger to inform Liu Bang. After hearing this, Liu Bang sighed, "Wow, what a guy! He rose from a commoner, with three brothers taking turns as kings; now that's impressive!" Saying this, Liu Bang shed tears and appointed Tian Heng's two followers as captains, sending two thousand soldiers to give Tian Heng a proper burial with full honors. After the funeral, the two followers dug a hole next to Tian Heng's grave and also committed suicide, following Tian Heng in death. Liu Bang was greatly surprised when he heard this, thinking that Tian Heng's followers were all loyal and righteous men. He knew that Tian Heng had over five hundred people on an island, so he sent for them to return. Upon learning of Tian Heng's death, they all followed suit, finally revealing the depth of loyalty among Tian Heng and his brothers' followers.
Sima Qian said: Kuai Tong's strategies were really clever, causing chaos in the state of Qi and even provoking the Marquis of Huaiyin, ultimately leading to the deaths of both of them! Kuai Tong was especially skilled at long-winded speeches, analyzing the strategies of the Warring States period, and had written over eighty articles. He was thick as thieves with An Qisheng from the state of Qi, who had once given advice to Xiang Yu, but Xiang Yu didn’t take it. Later, Xiang Yu wanted to reward him and the Marquis of Huaiyin, but they flat-out refused and scarpered. Tian Hong's noble character, admired by his guests, led them to follow him to their deaths—now that's a real man! So I’ve recorded his deeds here. Strangely, despite many skilled painters, not a single one could paint a portrait of Tian Hong—what gives?
