“Intellectual powerhouse, economic giant, diplomatic heavyweight. Qi's Jixia Academy attracted thinkers from every school. Wealthiest state through salt and fish monopolies. Capable of brilliant diplomacy but prone to complacency after periods of success.”
Biography 傳
Tian Dan was a military commander of the Qi royal clan who orchestrated one of the most dramatic reversals of fortune in Chinese history. After the Yan general Yue Yi conquered nearly all of Qi in 284 BC, Tian Dan organized the defense of the last remaining Qi stronghold, Jimo. After three years of siege, he devised a brilliant stratagem: he gathered over a thousand oxen, tied burning torches to their tails, and drove them into the Yan camp at night followed by Qi warriors. The fire-ox attack, combined with a simultaneous sortie, shattered the Yan army. Tian Dan then led the reconquest of all lost Qi territory, restoring the state to independence.