Undying Flame: Tian Dan Saves Qi: 即墨之战- 田单复国「火牛阵」

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, 

it's the size of the fight in the dog

-some beautiful  stubborn bastard

Music: Destiny

...Only 2 cities left. All else were in enemies' hands. 

Occupying most of central and eastern Shandong, Qi was composed of a large coastal plain and wild coastal marshes. However at its center rose the formidable mount Tai. The people of Qi- and by extension modern Shandong are passionate, honest, and hardy- a band of brothers in thick and thin and as stubborn as bulls.

In 284 BC the nearly 800 year old kingdom of Qi faced an once in a millennia calamity. All 6 of the great remaining Warring States kingdoms all betrayed it and invaded it in unison. Within months, the kingdom lost over 70 cities, lost its heartland, lost its capital, lost its king, and was at the brink of the death's door. For a time it seemed to all that the state which was once- forged by the patriarchs instrumental to founding the Zhou dynasty and helped to consecrate the Mandate of Heaven itself~ the same state that then rose to become the 1st Hegemon of Spring and Autumn, and then once again able to lead the Warring States world under new management~ was breathes away from being smothered by treachery. All was lost, until it wasn't. 

QI DURING THE WARRING STATES- A RESURGENT HEGEMON

Qi: Qi was one of those states that was at the every beginning and at the very end of China's feudal age. Unlike many other states of the millennia, in each of the major periods, the founding of Zhou, the height of Spring and Autumn, and height of Warring States period~ under the leadership of bold and talented soverigns Qi was able to rejuvenate itself and reassert its prominence back to the forefront of their age. Under the dynamic leadership of King Wei of Qi- Qi again became a great hegemon in the east.

3 of the most militarily capable and dynamic of mid- late Warring States period. Qin in the west, and (after the rapid adoption of true cavalry and opportunistic politicking) Zhao in the north, Qi in the east. The state of Chu to the south is another strong state however it struggles to make up for the lost initiatives in reform and organization.

Lead up to the fall. Before the onset of the 3rd century BC Qin made immense strides in territorial expansion. Under the ruthless and visionary reforms of Shang Yang, both the civilian and military branches were completely reformed top down into a meritocracy. The old nobility were abolished and both civil and military positions were opened to talents without distinction to noble birth. What's more the positions were contingent on the service record and dismissible at the sovereign's leisure. These reforms ensured that the Qin war machine was staffed by capable officers and entirely under the sway of the centralized state. Because of these radical reforms even when it came to the mightiest of push and shoves- such as when 5 states all joined in alliance and tried to breach into Qin to crush it, Qin was able to repel them all, and then went on to triple in size through treachery and conquest. Soon, there was only 2 major poles- Qin in the west and Qi in the east.

Music: Sear the Fur for a Better Bite

ENTER THE DISASTROUS KING MIN

King Min's insecurity was such that he was surrounded by shameless sycophants and was so cruel he regularly put critics and those who made him angry to death- to such a point that all criticism was rationalize as not of his own fault and shifted onto convenient scapegoats.

During this time Qin made great strides in self strengthening under the young and extremely ambitious King Zhaoxiang (in the not so distant future he will drive all other kingdoms to the brink of death's door and be the closest sovereign to unite all kingdoms until the time of Qin Shi Huang.) By contrast in the east, to Qi's misfortunes, the state was inherited by a petty and insecure sovereign. King Min was a deeply insecure man possessed by megalomania but had an atrocious measurement for men. Threatened to be outshined by Qin's rapid explosion in size, Min instead turned his attention to the relative weaker state of Song to Qi's south. To "help" him along his plans, an extremely persuasive minister from the northern neighbor of Yan named Su Qin fanned the flame of his covert ambition to take Song.

Earlier: King Min was greatly tempted when King Zhaoxiang in the west made a proposal that Qin and Qi simultaneously declare themselves the "Emperors" of West and East. However- Su Qin, who actually was planted in Qi in order to destroy it from within for Yan, dissuaded King Min from taking up the offer. Su Qin buttressed his argument in the imbalance of power between the 2 "Emperors" and how this would only favor Qin. However, despite the truthfulness of this statement, Su Qin had an ulterior motive. To divide the centuries long partnership of Qin and Qi- thus disrupting their previous Horizontal Alliances (aligning with partners from afar.) Now Qi no longer has allies nor distant partners in crime that it could count on. However Su Qin then continued to fan King Min's burning ambitions with the hope Qi will concentrate all of its military and resources southward to devour Song while its back fully open to Yan. 

Music: Samahdi Fire

ALL HELL CAME FOR QI

Foolishly, King Min listened to Su Qin's calculated suggestions and spent 2 costly wars trying to conquer Song. When at last in 286 BC Qi sent out a massive and expensive all out 3rd war of annexation against Song, this time Song finally buckled and fell with its last king slain by Qi. However, this was exactly what Su Qin needed. 

For his patron, the King of Yan and him hand long planned for this moment with Qi exhausted and its back fully turned. Yan in previous generations had been bullied to the brink of collapse by Qi, now it was Yan's chance. Together, Yan aligned with 4 kingdoms: Zhao, Wei, Han in the center, and Qin in the west and all invaded Qi in 284 BC from many different directions. 

The attack was rapid and Qi began to immediately suffer defeats against the lopsided odds. Worse for Qi, Yan had spent more than a decade planning for this moment with a well trained, rigorously drilled and reformed army. Under the dynamic leadership of its supreme general Yue Yi, Yan was counted among the largest contingent of invaders. At the decisive Battle of Jixi fought in 284 BC, the royal Qi army was resoundly crushed by the combined allied army. Yue Yi did not waste any time and very soon the great host of the Yan army was divided into several rapacious prongs and forked across the Qi heartland in multiple directions. 

At the approaching of the Yan army, King Min fled his capital of Linzi and it was soon looted by the conquering victors. However King Min never admitted fault in any of the misfortunes and only found scapegoats. At last, King Min fled his took refuge in the great walled city of Ju on the east coast along the Yellow Sea. After 6 months since the invasion some 70 Qi cities had fallen, nearly all of the Qi countryside had been conquered by the Yan, and only 2 cities were left. Ju and Jimo- both well fortified walled cities along the coast were left. At last, fortune seemed to have turned for King Min. Chu- the only state left out that had not aligned against Qi had dispatched a rescuing army to aid him in Ju. His Chu rescuers then killed him and took the city. Chu then also began to ravage Qi as well. 

Yue Yi had came like a scythe of death, claiming nearly all of the Qi cities and countryside. The king was dead, the capital lost, only 2 remained. It then appeared to all that the almost millennium spanning kingdom had breathed its last. 

STUBBORN SPARK

There's very little we know of Tian Dan's origins, the dates of his exact birth, nor his prior civil and military training. But he was one of those figures in history who emerges during chaos and made his history in brilliant deeds. 

 

Those familiar with the latter history of Qi may find that his last name of Tian 田 is that of the same as the royal family of Qi. Unfortunately for Tian Dan, this pedigree helped little in his original state. Tian Dan indeed stemmed from a distant branch of the Qi royal family, but in the time of King Min, he was a only controller on the market of Linzi, and was still an unknown to all in high power.

Qi was a strong mercantile kingdom and ever since the loss of its old hegemony from the Spring and Autumn era the kingdom instead turned to trade and exchange. In fact the ruling clan that seized power in Qi- the very Tian 田 were once merchant princes. 

Like many of his fellow countryman, when King Min fled the capital and it was taken by the Yan invaders, Tian Dan fled with his huge entire extended family taking most of their valuables and belongings to Anping. However before departing from Anping, Tian Dan ordered that his family members replace the axels of their wagons with iron ones, shorten the jutting length of the axel and cover them with iron caps. Once the Qi cities began to fell one after another, huge streams of refugees also packed up and fled with their whole families on the congested road. However, because of the overbearing of weight, many of those refugee wagons broke and whole families (and their attached valuables) were captured by the Yan army. 

By the time Tian Dan and his clan fled to Jimo- Qi was already on its death's door. It is here that his timeline is synched up with the coverage of our story so far. When he arrived he was informed the city's previous garrison had sortied out under its prefect and that army was crushed on the field. Yan had conquered all of the cities in Qi save 2 major cities that remained: Jimo and Ju. When the Yan general Yue Yi heard that the King of Qi was in Ju, he assembled his troops to attack it. However another took the opportunity from him. 

A former Qi general who now serves Chu arrived, pledging Chu aid for King Min. However he quickly turned on his host and had King Min killed through torture. This state of affair did not last, and after only 3 months elements within Ju mutinies and retook the city in the name of one of King Min's surviving sons in the city. Ju made its intention to resist known, even if it was doomed. 

Around Ju and Jimo the armies of Yan (Blue) were repelled, and for several years, the city did not fall. Yan then sent its soldiers east and besieged Jimo. The prefect of Jimo sortied to fight them, but he was defeated and killed. 

CHOSEN

Of all the families that fled from Anping, only the family of Tian Dan, thanks to their axle and caps, managed to escape and took refuge inside Jimo in tact. The residents of the city were surprised but also impressed. Because Jimo's garrison had largely been slain on the field, the citizens turned to Tian Dan. Everyone pushed Tian Dan forward to replace the slain prefect, saying: “during the battle of Anping, all the family of Tian Dan escaped thanks to his axle-caps. This man is a strategist.” Thereafter they then made him their general, and entrusted him of defending Jimo against Yan. Although Sima Qian's version presented Tian Dan's elevation in romantic aspects, the reverse could be said for his elevation. In that the miserable citizenry was at such an extreme state of desperation that they would literally pick anyone they can grasp hoping he'd be enough to shore up the loss of leadership. 

It should be clarified that although this is the version presented in the sparse sources regarding Tian Dan and his ascension to leadership. Tian Dan himself likely had some level of unmentioned military training as well, because soon after his elevation he was able to instill text book military discipline and drills for the citizenry. It is this background- that was more likely the deciding factor for his elevation. 

Music: Loyalty Amid Fire and Frost

Tian Dan quickly assessed Jimo's conditions and implement various policies to shore up its precarious condition. First he ordered that both civilian and military elements within the city were all responsible for the city's defense. Though well fortified with walls, Jimo was not a large city. The original garrison was close to 7,000 before many died with the prefect in its failed expedition. At most Tian Dan was only able to have around 5,000 of the remainder of the garrison plus those deputized into its new ranks of soldiery. 

To instill discipline, he mandated that burdens and labor must be shared by both soldiers and officers, including himself. To supplement the depleted wall defenders, Tian Dan ordered that women deployed along the wall. They would look after groups of five men and pass food and drinks, and if needed (such as in later times) even be ordered to fight. By contrast, Yue Yi's host was far larger. Though exact figures were not recorded Yue Yi had numbers on his side. Despite this, for more than a year, Jimo was able to repel Yue Yi's attacks without giving in. 

Although Tian Dan was able to assign duties to the defenders, for the time being he realized he has very little means to change the larger battlefield, he must wait for an opportunity and can only wait. Above all Tian Dan calculated that his rival was one that must be removed. Yue Yi was a well respected commander who had the steadfast loyalty of his soldiers and subcommanders. A personal favorite of King Zhao of Yan, he not only was able to swiftly take over Qi but also excelled at applying pressure and deflate his enemies without only relying on fighting. 

The Yan army assaulted both Ju and Jimo for a year without success, so Yue Yi switched to containment and ordered the Yan army to withdraw to a place nine miles away from the two cities and set up camps and breastworks fortifications along all roads leading out of the cities. He also ordered that all residents who came out of the cities should not be arrested, and those in need should be given relief in order to win the hearts of the people. Because of this Ju and Jimo were unable to stymie the hemorrhage of its own citizenry. Time, reinforcements and grains were on his side too.

SOWING DIVISION AGAINST YUE YI

After 3 years of stalemate, Tian Dan and the defenders held on and Jimo did not fell. And then King Zhao of Yan died- the same King Zhao who was Yue Yi's stalwart patron. His replacement- King Hui of Yan by contrast was very different. Hui grew up resenting Yue Yi's influences at court, and feared that his popularity and broad sweeping power over the military might threaten his own. When Tian Dan heard of this, he immediately tried to seed chaos in Yan by spreading a rumor (with dispatched spies) which said: “Even though King Min of Qi has died, two cities still have not fallen. Yue Yi is afraid to be executed when he comes back to Yan. He is just pretending to attack Qi, but in fact, he want to rally the soldiers of Qi to his troops, and become King of Qi.~

(cont.) ~So far, the people of Qi are undecided, so he is delaying his attack on Jimo, and waiting for his hour to come. The people of Qi fear one thing: that another general would be sent in. Jimo would be doomed.” The King of Yan believed it- after all Yue Yi was able to take over 70 cities in half a year and then was bogged down for 4 years against only 2 cities, and revoked Yue Yi's position and sent another general Ji Jie to replace Yue Yi. Yue Yi then became afraid for his life and escape to Zhao. Note: this version is somewhat fanciful, it is entirely possible there's already long existing tensions between Yue Yi and the crown prince who now ascended as King Hui- and folk tradition and Sima Qian opportunistically attributed this to Tian Dan's doing. 

Ji Jie was far less patient than his predecessor, not the least because he was under explicit orders from King Hui to wrap up the sieges. Furthermore, in contrast to Yue Yi- who was widely respected by the Yan soldiery, Ji Jie did not inherit their great esteem. He was the perfect opposing counterpart that Tian Dan wanted. 

“All warfare is based on deception.” 

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY

To instill fervor among the beleaguered defenders- who by this point had resisted the siege for some 4 years, he sought to create a portent to raise morale. Because the long years had denied the besieged citizens from being able to conduct rituals and rites for their ancestor's spirits and their graves. Tian Dan issued a policy that venerations will thereafter be done in the backyard of each house. Context: Chinese ancestral rites and sacrificial offerings included placing food and wine on an offering table. As a result of the city's collective effort, soon every day there was a huge circling cloud of birds over the city. Tian Dan pointed to these birds and told the citizens this is a sign of heaven's favor, and raised morale. Simultaneously, he used his spies to leak the rumor along the befuddled Qi lines that Jimo had been favored by the gods. 

To stiffen Jimo's own resistance, Tian Dan then purposely spread rumors to Qi through his spy channels that the defenders are desperate and full of fears. And that they deeply feared mutilation, and that if Yan cut off the noses of captured Qi prisoners, the resistance spirit might collapse. Yan besiegers believed this version and then proceeded to cut off the noses of the Qi prisoners and purposely marched them before the city walls and displayed their mutilated faces. As a masterstroke of reverse psychology, the cruelty had the opposite effect, when the Qi defenders saw it then had all heard what was done to even the prisoners that surrendered. The defenders were roused to outrage and anger and swore they'd never be captured by Yan and would fight like demons.

Through these same channels- Tian Dan then played another trick of reverse psychology: this time he instructed the message be spread that: The biggest fear of the defenders is that the soldiers of Yan would open the ancestral graves outside of the city and defile their ancestors. This would freeze the defender's hearts. The army of Yan then began to rip open the tombs, exhume the bodies and displayed it before the city walls then burnt the corpses. When the people of Jimo saw this from the top of the walls, they all started to cry. Every one wanted to go out and fight, and their anger grew tenfold.　

JIMO ON ITS LAST LEG

Tian Dan next staged a scene purposely for Ji Jie's ears and the Yan soldier's eyes. When the next time Yan assaulted Qi's walls, the Qi defenders largely consisted of women, the infirm, old, and very young, with enough sprinkling of soldiers that allowed Qi to beat back the Yan attack. The astonished Yan soldiers promptly reported this to Ji Jie and it seemed to all that Jimo was on its last leg to have resorted to that level of desperation. Much of the initial 5,000 defenders were no more.

Missives from Jimo itself soon confirmed this, written directly from Tian Dan which sued for surrender negotiations. When Yan besiegers heard that the defenders had at last sued for peace (now after 5 years) they all rose in cheers. Afterwards notable citizens from the city arrived with a hefty tribute to sweeten the deal. Tian Dan had collected a vast sum of gold from the citizens, and had over thousand handful of it brought over as a gift. 

The notables related to Ji Jie this is a good will gesture, that should the city surrender the Yan should not take prisoners, violate the wives and concubines and also the possession of the families. That after the handoff the city would be allowed to live in peace. The Yan generals- who had been vigilant for the last 5 years were now content with the city's coming handover. It was the final state that Tian Dan needed them to be in. That day, Tian Dan opened the granaries to let his soldiers gorge their fill. 

UNDYING FLAME

Music: Flame Have Paved My Way

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak”

"When able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away."

It came in one night, like an earthquake or an inferno. When the Yan guards were roused from their sleep the walls of Jimo were alive with the sound of drums and the collective banging of pots and wares from its thousand citizens, women, the old, and the infirm and the very young atop. And barreling toward the camps were thousands of them~ undulating like dragons, and bellowing with fear and wrath.

"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"Tian Dan collected more than one thousand oxen from the people in the city. He had them dressed with red silk, and had multicolored lines, like those of dragons, painted on them. Sharp blades were affixed to their horns, and reeds dipped in grease, so that their tips could be set aflame, were attached to their tails. Several passages were dug in the city walls, and on one night, the oxen were released, followed by five thousand sturdy men.~

Song dynasty military manual detailing Fire Oxen that was used.

"~The oxen, their tails on fire, charged the army of Yan, creating panic. The torches attached to the tails illuminated the night, the troops of Yan saw the lines on their bodies, which looked like dragons, and all those who met their horns were either killed or wounded." 

Then, the five thousand men, their mouths closed with pieces of wood, fell upon them. They were followed by the sound of shouts and drums from the city, and all the old people and children struck metal pots. The noise shook the earth. Caught flatfooted by the onslaught, the Yan soldiers panicked. They were defeated and repelled, and the Qi soldiers killed the Yan general Ji Jie."  Such was the impact of the famed「火牛阵」"Fire Ox Formation."

As what remained of the Yan army fell back in disarray, the Qi soldiers relentlessly pursued it, and completely shattered it as they pushed northwards. 

Upon hearing of Tian Dan's miracle, all the cities his army swept through soon revolted, and rallied to Tian Dan banner, and the upswell of his troops grew larger every day. As he surged from one victory to another, the army of Yan was defeated every day, and finally his army reached the northern bank of the Yellow River (traditional boundary of Qi and Yan.) At this time, more than seventy cities had returned back to Qi.

Tian Dan had delivered a miracle with few equals in history. From the brink of the death's door. Qi snatched his sword and struck back, and in only months was able to retake nearly all that was lost. Upon driving out the Yan occupation. Tian Dan withdrew his troops to personally welcome King Xiang of Qi, who was supported by the city of Ju, to the restored capital at Linzi. 

Because of his merits, he was appointed as Prime Minister and Lord of Anping. He was also granted the title of Yeyi (Ye County, in modern Shandong ) with 10,000 households. The date of his death was unrecorded. After his death, he was buried in Anping City.

PARTING WORDS

Well, there you have it folks, the famed "Fire Ox Formation." I really wish I can add more on the man but sources on Tian Dan was always sparse. Though one can tell whenever his biography was recounted, both the likes of Sima Qian who wrote "Record of the Grand Historian" and Sima Guang who penned "Zizhi Tongjian" are rather fans of this quaint anecdote, its certainly fireworks in the grim end game annals of the Warring States. Contextually perhaps Tian Dan's story would have a greater gravitas if Qi did went on to expand and rejuvenate to a great position of safety, or managed to hijack the course of the end game of Warring State. However, the most Qi could have accounted for was few extra decades in a much reduced form.

Music: 不由己

Status Quo Antebellum (but really less): despite this providential miracle, Qi was greatly reduced in power and wealth. Its powerful neighbors like Zhao and Yan never allowed it to reemerge and rearm to its previous position. For the next half a century Qi would cautiously avoid alliances and obsequiously gave in to Qin and lets its neighbors fall to Qin's warpath. Conversely this period saw Yan's greatest prominence in centuries.

For the rest of Qi's existence the state would avoid nearly all form of political entanglements and avoided angering Qin as Qin slowly crushed each of its rivals- until all of them were gone and Qi became the last state to fall to Qin without much resistance. It seemed to have saw the writings on the wall long before and similarly chose to let its death not with a bang but a whimper. Despite this, Tian Dan's story is still one dear to many. Although rational minds could have deduced that some elements were indeed hyped (his 100 [speech] check and puppet master level of string pulling inside and outside of Jimo) what we were left with was still...astonishing. Examples like this reminds any lovers of history (at least myself) that some times history is not only insanely epic like fantasy- but at times could be miraculous, especially given that it was done by real humans of this grim and mercilessly realistic world.  After all, how many current peoples, current nations, wouldn't wish a hero like Tian Dan emerges- among their ranks and answer their prayers?

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For more about the great battles of Qi- check out the article on sun bin (the descendant of Su Tzu)- and military architect instrumental to Qi's revival. How after he was made a cripple by his own sworn brother- personally lead Qi to vanquish his nemesis in a dark forest of his choosing.