Ministers › Chief Ministers
Meng Changjun
Qi nobleman Tian Wen, lord of Xue, who kept thousands of retainers, escaped Qin with the help of a dog-thief and a cock-crower, and served as chief minister of Qi and Wei
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Tian Wen
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Lord Mengchang, personal name Tian Wen, was a son of Tian Ying, lord of Jingguo, and a grandson of King Wei of Qi. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says he was born on the fifth day of the fifth month, a date so unlucky that his father ordered him left to die, but his mother raised him in secret. Inheriting the fief of Xue, he took in guests from every state until he fed several thousand. King Zhao of Qin invited him to be chief minister and then planned to kill him; one retainer stole a white fox-fur coat to bribe the king's favourite, and at the Hangu Pass another imitated a cock's crow to get the gates opened. He later served Qi as chief minister until King Min turned against him, then Wei, and joined the coalition that broke Qi. After his death Qi and Wei destroyed Xue, and Sima Qian was told there that its rough youths descended from the adventurers he had drawn.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; chancellor of Qi under King Min