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Tian Ji
Qi general who won a horse race with Sun Bin's trick, brought Sun Bin to King Wei, and led the armies that beat Wei at Guiling and Maling before fleeing to Chu
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
- Roles
- Commanders
Tian Ji, of the Qi ruling house, was a general under King Wei. The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says he often bet on chariot races against the Qi princes until Sun Bin told him to pit his worst team against their best, his best against their middle and his middle against their worst, so that he won two heats of three and a thousand pieces of gold; Tian Ji then recommended Sun Bin to the king. When Wei attacked Zhao, Tian Ji commanded with Sun Bin as adviser, marched on the Wei capital Daliang and beat the returning Wei army at Guiling, and later, coming to the aid of Han, he crushed Wei again at Maling. The chief minister Zou Ji, his rival, framed him, and after a failed attack on the capital Linzi he fled. The Intrigues of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce) says Chu gave him a fief south of the Yangzi, while the Shiji says King Xuan recalled him to his old post.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; Qi general under Kings Wei and Xuan