Confucius had been dead for nearly 200 years, and the Era of the Warring States was nearing its end. The strong had annexed the weak. In power were seven of the larger feudal states: Ch'in, Ch'i, Yen, Ch'u, Han, Chao, and Wei. The most belligerent were Ch'i in what is now Shantung province and its northern neighbor Yen.
Late in 284 B.C., tens of thousands of Yen troops marched across the Yellow River against Ch'i. They were reinforced by warriors from Ch'in, Han, Chao, and Wei. The defenders were courageous but greatly outnumbered. After the Battle of Chishui, the joint army advanced on Lintzu, the capital of Ch'i.
The weak winter sun was slanting over the walls of Lintzu when the sad news came from the front. Grim-faced people began streaming through the gates, bound for the city of Chu in the southeast. Then two chariot, guarded by a dozen horsemen sped out of Lintzu. In the first chariot were Prince Tien Fa-chang and his guard Wang Sun-chia, both barely 20 years old.
They had not gone far when a cloud of dust rose far down a secondary road. It was an enemy chariot and several dozen horsemen. They increased their speed as they reached the main highway.
"Stop and surrender," the warrior in the Yen chariot shouted. "No harm shall be done the Ch'i prince." The warrior was General Lo Ching, younger brother of Yen's Commander-in-Chief Lo Yi.
Wang, who was driving for the prince, turned his head and shouted, "General Hsiang Tzu, the Yen troops!"
"Take care of the prince. I'll stop them!" cried the aged Ch'i general from the second chariot. The horsemen also turned and charged. General Hsiang Tzu's spear missed the Yen general, but he felled a number of enemy horsemen in quick succession. The Ch'is fought like lions but they were outnumbered. Arrows showered around them. Hsiang Tzu rolled down from his chariot, fatally wounded.
The prince, seeing his favorite general in distress, rushed back. Onlookers gasped. The prince was falling into the enemy's hands. Scores of them ran up, only to be trampled by Yen horses. At that moment of life or death, a rider came up like lightning. His long sword flashed and cut down a number of Yen soldiers around the prince.
"Your Highness, run ... run to Chu," General Hsiang cried hoarsely. The prince knew how much his life meant to the future of Ch'i. He cracked his whip and the chariot sped away. His guard, Wang Sun-chia, was left behind in the fighting. The prince was out of sight when Wang jumped on a riderless horse and followed.
The man with the long sword fought on fiercely and finally drove away the Yens. He dismounted, ran up to the blood-stained old general, propped him up, and called his name. Hsiang Tzu opened his eyes and muttered,. "The prince ... where?"
"The prince is gone and safe."
Hsiang Tzu nodded weakly. You, you are ..." he whispered.
"I don't think you know me," the man answered. "I'm Tien Tan, a tax official from Lintzu."
"Tien Tan," the general muttered. His eyes brightened with hope. "We still have people like you! Ch'i won't be defeated." Blood gushed from his mouth.
"General! General!" Tien Tan cried. The general opened his eyes, now full of anger. His hand rested on Tien's shoulder. "Long live Ch'i!" he cried with the last of his strength. "Avenge our nation ... Avenge ... " His head dropped. He was dead.
Tien Tan laid him on the ground. The old general had given his life to protect the young prince. Tien looked back at the city of Lintzu and the long road stretching ahead. A cry welled up from deep within him. It was the roar of thousands upon thousands of loyal Ch'is. "Ch'i will live on undefeated."
* * *
King Chao of Yen, waiting in his capital of Chicheng, left for Lintzu with his retinue. A banquet awaited him. An ambitious man, he relied heavily on talented aides who were well paid. His alchemist was always beside him to give him nostrums; long life was necessary if he was to attain his goals.
In the palace of the Ch'is, King Chao enjoyed wine and the dancing of his two favorite concubines. He was pleased with the 200 cartloads of treasures General Lo Yi had collected for him. He was about to grant lordship to the general when his son, Prince Lotzu, stepped forward and said:
"Lo Yi was a commoner in the state of Chao. He also got nowhere in Wei. Now he is commander of the Yen army. That's more than enough. If you give him land, some of our people will not be pleased."
"I shall do as I wish," said the king, displeased.
"Please think it over," the prince continued. "Lo seized the Ch'i capital with the help of our allies. Some one else, Chi Chieh for instance, could have done as well."
Chi Chieh, a treacherous Yen general, was jealous of Lo. He had instigated the prince to use his influence against the foreign general.
"Say no more," the king said. "I have no need for your opinion." The mood of the banquet was spoiled. The king rewarded Lo and other deserving generals. The sight of his son sitting beside Chi Chieh made the king sick. He needed medicine and the comforting of the women.
"Tai-fu (Great Official) Chi Chieh," he called out. Chi Chieh, startled by the unexpected summons, scurried forward and dropped to his knees.
"Tai-fu Chi Chieh," the king repeated. His voice was stern. "I understand you regard yourself as a brave leader of troops. I put you under General Lo. Go and fight the Ch'is along the borders."
The king wanted to keep Chi Chieh out of sight and away from the prince.
King Chao turned to General Lo and said, "Do not hesitate to punish Chi Chieh if he disobeys you." Lo wanted Chi no more than Chi wanted Lo. But the king's order was final.
In Anping, a hundred miles southeast of Lintzu, the streets and squares were crowded with refugees. The people were exhausted and depressed. They had come a long way with the enemy close behind. They still had a long way to go and their future was uncertain.
Tien Tan, the tax official who had saveu the Ch'i prince, was also there—but with a difference. Mrs. Tien and her womenfolk were discarding heavy and less valuable possessions so as to lighten the carts. The men were cutting off protruding axles of the carts and fashioning metal hub caps to fit over the ends.
Some other officials asked what the Tiens were doing. "Preparing our carts to run faster and safer," Tien said. The people of Lintzu had used carts and chariots with long axles to attack and overturn other vehicles. But in flight the long axles were cumbersome and slowed the vehicles.
"General Lo's Yen troops are expected to attack the city tomorrow," someone said. Tien Tan was calm. He said, "I know he will try to take Anping and Hua-i before attacking Chimo in the east and Chu in the southeast. Then he will have all the more than 70 cities of Ch'i."
"Nothing has been heard of our prince, but perhaps we ought to go to Chu to wait for him," said someone else.
"I'll take my people to Chima," Tien said. "Why Chimo?" someone asked.
The people could not understand Tien's intention. The prince, once in Chu, would surely promote Tien for what he had done outside Lintzu. But Tien said:
"If we want to revive Ch'i, we need bases for counterattack. Duke Huan used Chu some 400 years ago in his effort to restore Ch'i. But one city will not be enough in face of the large Yen army."
"That sounds reasonable," a voice said. "But why Chimo?"
"Chimo has fertile land and hard-working people," Tien answered. "It is near the Sea and guarded by hills. If both Chimo and Chu are in our hands, the Yens will be divided."
* * *
Early next morning the Yens attacked Anping. The defenses were weak and the city was doomed. There was great confusion as the people struggled out of the gates and headed southeast. Many carts collided and overturned. Tien Tan and his people were prepared. Their carts, lighter and safer, sped eastward far ahead of the rest.
Lo Cheng, the Yen deputy commander, took note of the fast-running carts. He drove his chariot in pursuit. An arrow released by Tien Tan struck his helmet. Startled, he ordered the other chariots to halt.
"That's the same man," La Cheng muttered. On the arrow were inscribed the characters "Tien Tan". "Who is this man Tien Tan?" La wondered.
* * *
Hua-i, the next target of the Yen troops, was a peaceful, defenseless town. Grand Tutor Wang Shu, who had been in retirement for years, was in the street directing the people.
"Go quickly to the city of Chu and protect the prince," he urged. "Do as Kuan Chung did for Duke Huan and revive Ch'i."
Lo Cheng's chariot entered the town. "Where is Grand Tutor Wang Shu?" the Yen soldiers asked.
"I am Wang Shu," said the old man. "What do you want?" The people held their breath.
Lo Cheng jumped from his chariot and signaled his men to follow with the gift they had brought. "I am Lo Cheng, brother of Yen's General Lo Yi," he said bowing. "We are here to pay our respects to you. Please accept this."
"Wait!" Wang Shu waved his hand and said sternly, "I'm afraid I don't understand.”
"General Lo Yi long has held you in high esteem," Lo Cheng said. "He wants you to come and help the Yens rule the country."
Wang Shu laughed and said, "Tell your general that I am old and do not want to die away from my native place. I cannot accept his offer." He turned and walked away. Lo and all the others followed.
"Please stop, Grand Tutor," Lo Cheng said. His voice was menacing. "I've been ordered to destroy this town if you refuse."
"A loyal official never serves more than one lord; a virtuous woman never remarries," Wang said. He was standing under a tree. "At this time when Ch'i is suffering, and now that you are forcing me to choose, I would rather die than live in disgrace." No sooner had he spoken than he jumped, pulled down a branch, put his chin on it, and kicked at the ground again. It all happened in an instant. Wang Shu fell back, his neck broken.
The Yen general and his men paled and left the scene as swiftly as they had come. Citizens of Hua-i gathered around the Grand Tutor, wailing and caning his name. The old man, breathing his last, opened his eyes and said weakly but clearly, "Go ... go to ... Chu. Don't fall ... under the enemy."
The story of Wang Shu's death moved General Lo Yi so deeply that he marched his army into Hua-i only after the Grand Tutor's funeral. Chi Chieh was not pleased. He asked and was given permission to march his troops toward Chu by way of I-shang while La went eastward to attack Chimo.
* * *
It was after sundown when Wang Sunchia, the Ch'i prince's personal guard, reached his home in I-shang. The Yens under Chi Chieh had swept past the town. Signs of destruction and looting were everywhere. Wang's aged mother was alone in the house. His father, an official of Ch'i, had been dead for years.
His mother concealed her joy at seeing her son. She frowned. The son's tiredness suggested that something had gone wrong. Wang told her the story.
"You know very well what I think of you," she said. "But you also know how important your work is. How can you come home without knowing where the prince is?"
Wang knelt and said, "Mother, I know I should be both loyal and filial, but I was worried about you alone in the house."
"When the country is in danger, you should serve the nation as you do your parents," she said. "Don't worry about me, Even if I must die, I'll be happy and content as long as you are working for the nation."
When the sun rose again, Wang Sunchia left for Chu. He glanced back and saw his mother's thin white hair blowing in the cold wind. His mother was right, he told himself.
The duke of Chimo, standing in a watchtower facing the west, glowered at the stretch of Yen tents across the plain. "I must go out and fight Lo Yi. I can no longer stand the abuse."
Tien Tan standing beside him, had a different opinion. He maintained they should remain on the defensive for the time being.
"Are you afraid to fight in the open?" The duke sneered. He had heard what Tien had done to the carts.
"No, that is not so," Tien replied. "My humble view is that our task of national recovery requires a long-range plan. The Yens are in high spirits after overrunning more than 70 cities of Ch'i. It is not wise for us to clash with them head on. We should wait until the time is ripe."
The duke was too impatient. He led his troops out of the gate and was killed in the brief engagement that followed. It was only because of Tien's heroic resistance that the Yens were prevented from entering Chimo.
Spring had returned to the city of Chu, but the people were sad and worried. The prince for whom they had been waiting was still missing. The Yens were outside the walls.
Then came catastrophe. The city opened the gates for a general from the state of Ch'u in the south. He said he wanted to help the Ch'is. It was an intrigue of Chi Chieh, the treacherous Yen general, who rode in with his troops as soon as the gate opened. The invaders tried to find the prince. Chi Chieh wanted to kill him and declare himself king of Ch'i. With King Min dead, the prince was the only obstacle.
When the search failed, the elders were told to produce the prince in three days or there would be a massacre. They had no idea where the prince was. Even if they knew, how could they betray him?
The chief historian, a widower named Chih, had a daughter who knew of the evil hanging over the country. She thought she might disguise herself as the prince. She was in the garden thinking about it when she bumped into a young man who was watering the flowers. He was a stranger to her.
"Where are you from? What is your name?" the girl asked.
"I... I am from Lintzu. I am Wang ...No, my name is Wang Li."
This must be the prince, the girl thought. He had been about to say he was Wang-tzu (prince). She found out that the young man had been in the city for some time but had been employed by her father's gardener only recently. She did not press further.
When three days passed without any trace of the prince, the Yen general resumed his search. He planned a massacre if the last search failed. At that moment, the garden helper appealed to the chief historian's daughter, asking for protection. He admitted he was the prince.
When Chi Chieh and his men entered the young lady's chamber, she was in bed behind a curtain. The maids, who were boiling herb medicine, said the daughter of the house had caught cold and had a fever. Chi Chieh was suspicious. He ordered the curtains pulled aside. His jaw dropped when he saw the girl's face against the pillow, her eyes shut and her face as white as jade. She was a beauty.
Soon he was gone with his men. The maids rushed to the bed and helped the young lady out.
"Your Highness, please come out," a maid said, and the young man came out from under the quilt. "I shall never forget what you have done for me," the prince said. Instead of answering him, the historian's daughter began to sob.
Tsun-lan, one of the maids, knelt before the prince and said, "Your Highness, you are to be the king of Ch'i and every citizen of this country should help you as our young lady has just done. But she is still a maiden, and yet she had to stay in bed with you. If this matter is known to the public, what will her future be?"
The prince took a jade ring from his pocket. He said to the historian's daughter, "Accept this as a token of my promise that I, Tien Fa-chang, will take you as queen when I ascend the throne of Ch'i."
Shouting voices rose in the streets outside. Thousands of Ch'i soldiers and volunteers were charging into the city. Chi Chieh narrowly escaped death but managed to escape with some Yen soldiers.
After Chu was retaken by the Ch'is, the people proclaimed Prince Tien Fa-chang as King Hsiang. The chief historian, father of the new queen, was appointed prime minister. Wang Sun-chia, who had contributed much to the restoration of Chu, became vice prime minister. Tien Tan, at Chimo in the east, was made commander of the Ch'i troops there.
* * *
Months passed and seasons changed. Chu and Chimo, although separated, maintained contact in their joint endeavors to restore the nation. Troops were constantly on the alert, everybody was preparing for counterattack.
Yen's General Lo Yi, realizing it was not easy to seize Chimo by force, tried to buy the people. He deployed his troops so the city-dwellers could come out for firewood and trading. To show his goodwill, he repaired the temples of Kuang Chung and Duke Huan, the beloved Ch'i figures who had achieved national recovery four centuries earlier.
Tien Tan's men took advantage of the opportunity. They spread the story that the repaired temples symbolized national renaissance. People in cities under Yen occupation organized themselves so they could rise behind the enemy lines when the time came.
Also at Tien's instruction, a Chimo merchant took gifts to Chi Chieh, whom he had known before. The Yen general wanted to know how the man had come out through the siege.
"Don't you know what General Lo Yi was doing?" the merchant said. "He was trying to make friends with the people so that he could become the king of Ch'i in the future."
Chi Chieh told the prince of Yen, who went raging to his father's court. The king brushed aside the story. The prince and Chi Chieh were even more furious.
King Chao finally died. It was 279 B.C., almost five years after the fall of the Ch'i capital.
The Yen prince, now King Hui, named Chi Chieh commander and ordered arrest of the Lo brothers. The brothers sensed the danger, however, and escaped to their native state of Chao.
Chi Chieh, directing the siege of Chimo, ordered that the city be taken in three days. Fierce attacks followed. The Ch'is remained silent within the walls. Only when the Yens tried to climb up the wall did they appear to shower stones and arrows on them. Casualties were heavy. Yen morale went from bad to worse. They had been away from home long enough. They were homesick and didn't want to die in a strange land.
One night Tien Tan sent some civilians into the Yen's camp. Along with wine and gifts, they spread the story that the people of Chimo were ready to surrender. The Yens believed the story. They were overjoyed at the prospect of victory and return to their homes. The wine flowed ever more freely.
Inside the city, more than a thousand head of cattle stood in pits dug under the wall. Bundles of straw were tied to their tails, ready to be lighted. Paint made the animals look unearthly. Sharp blades were fastened to their horns. Soldiers assigned to the oxen were fully armed. They were painted and wore strange-looking robes. Behind the city gates stood chariots, horses, and more foot soldiers. The whole town was awake but silent. Women and children were out in the streets, too.
Tien Tan gave the order. As the bundles tied to the tails of the oxen were lighted, the animals charged out of the pits toward the Yen camp. The men roared and followed on foot, on horseback, and by chariot.
"Charge! Charge!" The thousands roared in unison. Women and children joined in, then followed, sharpened tools in their hands. Cattle, horses, chariots, and people stormed ahead like a tidal wave. The earth trembled.
The Yens were caught by surprise. They staggered out of their tents half dressed. Before they could tell what was happening, they were overwhelmed. Tents were overturned and caught fire.
Chi Chieh was about to turn his horse in flight when Tien Tan's chariot caught up with him. A single stroke, and the Yen general fell to the ground. The charge continued, leaving death and destruction behind.
As the news of victory at Chimo reached other cities, the people rose. The flags of Ch'i soon were proudly raised throughout the country.
"Long live Ch'i! Remember the story of Chu!" shouted the people as they welcomed the king back to the capital.
—translated by Tommy Lee