Tian Jun facts for kids

Tian Jun (Chinese: 田頵; 858-December 30, 903), also known by his courtesy name Dechen (德臣), was an important military leader and politician in China during the late Tang dynasty. He was a powerful warlord who controlled the Ningguo area (which is now Xuancheng, Anhui) as its military governor from 892 until he died in 903.

Tian Jun was a childhood friend of another major warlord, Yang Xingmi, who governed the Huainan area. Tian Jun served under Yang Xingmi in many battles and remained loyal to him even after becoming a military governor himself. However, he eventually became upset because Yang Xingmi would not help him expand his own territory. In 903, Tian Jun rebelled against Yang Xingmi. He joined forces with another leader named An Renyi. For a while, they were a big threat to Yang Xingmi's power. But Tian Jun was soon defeated by Yang's officer Tai Meng and was killed in battle.

Early Life and Friendship

Tian Jun was born in 858. He came from Lu Prefecture (which is now Hefei, Anhui). When he was young, he became very good friends with Yang Xingmi. They were so close that they decided to become blood brothers. People said Tian Jun was good at reading and understanding books. He was also described as calm and very ambitious. At one point, he joined the local army in Lu Prefecture and slowly became an officer.

Serving Under Yang Xingmi

In 884, Yang Xingmi was in charge of Lu Prefecture. A rebel general named Qin Zongquan sent his brother to attack Lu Prefecture. Yang Xingmi sent Tian Jun to fight them off, and Tian Jun successfully defended the area.

Two years later, in 886, another leader named Zhang Ao attacked Lu Prefecture. Yang Xingmi sent Tian Jun, Li Shenfu, and Zhang Xun to stop the attack. They worked together and defeated Zhang Ao's forces.

In 887, there was a lot of trouble in the Huainan area. A sorcerer named Lü Yongzhi was controlling the government. An officer named Bi Shiduo, who was afraid of Lü, started a rebellion. Bi Shiduo and his friend Qin Yan captured Huainan's main city, Yang Prefecture. Lü Yongzhi ran away, and Qin Yan took control. Yang Xingmi arrived with his army and joined Lü. They defeated Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo. Yang Xingmi then became the acting military governor of Huainan. After the victory, Yang Xingmi arrested Lü Yongzhi. Tian Jun questioned Lü, who admitted he wanted to kill the previous governor. Lü was then executed.

Soon after, a powerful rebel named Sun Ru came to fight for control of Huainan. Yang Xingmi left Yang Prefecture and went back to Lu Prefecture. In 889, Yang Xingmi attacked the Xuanshe area. The leader there, Zhao Huang, ran away during a flood. He thought the water would protect him. But Tian Jun quickly got into a small boat, chased him down, and captured him. This allowed Yang Xingmi to take over Xuanshe. This area was later renamed Ningguo.

After this, Yang Xingmi sent Tian Jun to attack Chang Prefecture. This city was controlled by Du Leng, who worked for Qian Liu. Tian Jun surrounded Chang Prefecture and dug a secret tunnel into the city. He surprised Du Leng and captured both him and the city. However, later in 889, Sun Ru attacked Chang Prefecture and forced Tian Jun out.

In 891, Sun Ru launched a huge attack on Xuanshe, trying to destroy Yang Xingmi's forces. Sun Ru's first attacks were very successful. He defeated Tian Jun and An Renyi, pushing all the way to Xuanshe's capital, Xuan Prefecture. But Sun Ru's army got stuck trying to capture the city and ran out of food. Yang Xingmi used this chance to launch a big counterattack. His forces defeated Sun Ru's army. Tian Jun captured Sun Ru and executed him right there on the battlefield. After this victory, Yang Xingmi took back Yang Prefecture. The government then made Yang Xingmi the military governor of Huainan. At Yang's request, Tian Jun became the acting military governor of Ningguo, and An Renyi became the prefect of Run Prefecture.

Leading Ningguo Area

People said that Tian Jun was very good at governing his territory. He was fair and encouraged trade, which made his people love him. He also welcomed smart people to his court. Scholars like Yin Wengui, who was very famous, came to work for him. Yin Wengui had been invited by other powerful leaders but refused them. Tian Jun found a country home for Yin's mother and treated her like his own aunt. Because of this kindness, Yin Wengui served Tian Jun very loyally.

Even though Tian Jun now had his own command, he continued to be loyal to Yang Xingmi. For example, in 893, when Yang Xingmi attacked Lu Prefecture, Tian Jun brought his army to help. Later that year, Tian Jun also attacked She Prefecture, following Yang's orders. He made the leader of She Prefecture surrender to Yang's officer.

By 895, Tian Jun was officially the military governor of Ningguo. At this time, Qian Liu was attacking another leader, Dong Chang. Dong Chang had rebelled against the emperor. Dong Chang asked Yang Xingmi for help. Yang sent Tian Jun and An Renyi to attack Qian Liu's territory to distract him. However, their efforts were not successful, and Qian Liu defeated Dong Chang.

In 897, Tian Jun was helping another Huainan officer, Wei Yue, who was attacking a city called Jiaxing. Tian Jun was stationed nearby to provide support. However, Qian Liu's officer, Gu Quanwu, defeated Wei Yue and captured him. Gu Quanwu then attacked Tian Jun. When Tian Jun heard that Wei had been captured, he pulled back his forces but still lost more than 1,000 soldiers.

In 899, a leader named Wang Tan was under attack by Qian Liu's forces. Wang Tan asked Tian Jun for help. Tian Jun sent his officer Kang Ru to assist Wang Tan. Kang Ru defeated and captured Qian Liu's officer and then took control of Wu Prefecture.

Meanwhile, a small independent leader named Feng Hongduo was located between Yang Xingmi's and Tian Jun's territories. Feng Hongduo had a strong fleet of large ships. Tian Jun decided to attack him and began building his own fleet. He hired the same people who built Feng's ships. When they said Feng used the best wood, Tian Jun replied that he only planned to use his fleet once. His fleet was built quickly. Feng realized Tian Jun's plan and attacked Ningguo first in 902, even though Yang Xingmi tried to stop him. Tian Jun defeated Feng, who then surrendered to Yang Xingmi.

After Feng's defeat, Tian Jun went to Yang Prefecture to thank Yang Xingmi. He also asked for two areas, Chi and She Prefectures, to be added to his territory. Yang Xingmi refused. Tian Jun was also very annoyed because Yang Xingmi's staff, even the jailers, demanded bribes from him. He left Yang Prefecture very angry, vowing never to visit again.

Later in 902, Tian Jun saw another chance to expand. Qian Liu was facing a big rebellion from his own officers, Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi. They captured the outer parts of Qian Liu's main city, Hang Prefecture. Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi asked Tian Jun for help. Tian Jun arrived at Hang Prefecture. He suggested that Qian Liu leave Hang Prefecture, but Qian Liu refused. So Tian Jun surrounded the inner city. Meanwhile, Qian Liu sent his son, Qian Chuanliao, to Yang Xingmi to ask for help. He argued that if Tian Jun took over his territory, Tian Jun would become too strong and threaten Yang Xingmi. Yang Xingmi agreed. He kept Qian Chuanliao as a hostage and gave his daughter to Qian Chuanliao in marriage. Yang Xingmi then ordered Tian Jun to withdraw, threatening to replace him if he didn't. Tian Jun eventually withdrew after getting a large payment from Qian Liu and taking Qian Liu's son, Qian Yuanguan, as a hostage. Tian Jun also gave his own daughter to Qian Chuanguan in marriage. After this event, Tian Jun resented Yang Xingmi even more for stopping his plans to expand, especially since he felt his army was strong and he had plenty of money.

Rebellion and Final Battle

Tian Jun began to think about rebelling against Yang Xingmi. He made plans with An Renyi and Yang Xingmi's brother-in-law, Zhu Yanshou, to rise up together. However, Tian Jun's plans sped up when Yang Xingmi promoted Kang Ru to be the leader of Lu Prefecture. Tian Jun believed Kang Ru had betrayed him, so he killed Kang Ru and his entire family. He then rebelled at the same time as An Renyi. (Zhu Yanshou was also planning to rebel, but Yang Xingmi tricked him into coming back to Yang Prefecture and executed him.) Tian Jun also sent messages to another powerful warlord, Zhu Quanzhong, offering to be his ally. Zhu Quanzhong was happy and sent an army to help Tian Jun.

Tian Jun quickly captured Sheng Prefecture and took Li Shenfu's family hostage. He tried to force Li Shenfu to join his rebellion using his family. But Li Shenfu, who was fighting another leader under Yang Xingmi's orders, refused. Instead, Li Shenfu quickly stopped his attack and headed back east to fight Tian Jun. Tian Jun sent his officers Wang Tan and Wang Jian to face Li Shenfu, but Li Shenfu defeated them twice. Hearing of these defeats, Tian Jun decided to take his remaining ships and sail upstream on the Yangtze River to fight Li Shenfu himself. Meanwhile, Yang Xingmi sent Tai Meng and Wang Maozhang to attack Ningguo from the northeast.

When Tian Jun heard that Tai Meng was about to arrive in Ningguo, he changed his plans. He sailed back downstream to fight Tai Meng. He left Guo Xingcong, along with Wang Tan and Wang Jian, to defend against Li Shenfu's advance. Tian Jun and Tai Meng fought at Guangde. But Tai Meng sent letters from Yang Xingmi to Tian Jun's officers, which made Tian Jun's army lose their courage. Tai Meng then defeated Tian Jun at Guangde, and again at Huangchi. Tian Jun fled back to Xuan Prefecture and prepared to defend the city. Tai Meng then surrounded Xuan Prefecture. Tian Jun tried to call back the army he left at Wuhu to help him. But Tai Meng pushed them back, and Guo Xingcong, Wang Tan, Wang Jian, and other officers all surrendered to Tai Meng. With Tai Meng besieging Xuan Prefecture, Yang Xingmi then sent Wang Maozhang's forces to attack An Renyi.

Late in 903, Tian Jun took a few hundred soldiers and tried to surprise Tai Meng's camp. Tai Meng pretended to retreat, and when Tian Jun chased him, Tai Meng attacked back. Tian Jun tried to escape back into the city, but his path was blocked. He fell off his horse and was killed. Tian Jun's soldiers continued to fight until Tai Meng showed them Tian Jun's head. At that point, they gave up, and Tai Meng captured Xuan Prefecture. Yang Xingmi buried Tian Jun with the ceremony for a common citizen. Yang Xingmi spared Tian Jun's mother, Lady Yin, and continued to treat her with respect.