Campaigners › Strategists
Feng Xuan
Retainer of Lord Mengchang of Qi who burned debt tallies to buy goodwill and secured his lord's position with three refuges.
Inside a tent at dusk, a low table holds a board of faint map-like lines with scattered black and white stones beside a feather fan, a lit lantern, an iron teapot and rolled bamboo slips, while one person sits with their back turned at the open flap, facing a river valley at sunset.
Also known as Feng Huan (in the Shiji) · Feng Xuan (variant)
Feng Xuan, called Feng Huan in the Shiji, was a poor man of Qi who had himself introduced as a retainer of Lord Mengchang, claiming no tastes or talents. Three times he tapped his sword and sang for fish, a carriage and support for his mother, and each time his lord granted it. Sent to collect debts at Xue, he burned the tallies on his own authority, saying he had bought righteousness for his lord. When the king of Qi dismissed Lord Mengchang and he returned to Xue, the people came out to welcome him. Feng Xuan then went west to Liang, prompting its king to court Lord Mengchang, so that Qi reinstated him and allowed an ancestral temple at Xue: his three refuges.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active under King Min of Qi (c. 300–284 BCE)