An officer of the high tomb, over eight feet tall, who put the dead prince's case in one sentence about a son playing with his father's weapons and was made chancellor for it.
A son who plays with his father's weapons deserves a beating. When the Son of Heaven's son kills a man by mistake, what crime is worth speaking of? I once dreamed of a white-haired old man who taught me these words.Tian Qianqiu's urgent memorial clearing the crown prince's name, some while after 91 BCE; Hanshu, juan 66, Biography of Tian Qianqiu (the same words in juan 63)
Appears in
Relations
- Emperor Wu commander — He was made Grand Herald on the spot for a single sentence and chancellor within months, the one minister in this episode to take the seal out of a dream he claimed.
- Jiang Chong enemies — His memorial woke the emperor to the prince's innocence, and the reckoning that followed wiped out Jiang Chong's kin and burnt the eunuch who had worked with him on a bridge.
Myth vs record
Tian Qianqiu was a man of deep experience and statesmanship whom the emperor promoted for his wisdom.
The Book of Han says the opposite in as many words: he had no other talent or learning and no record of service, and took the chancellorship within a month on one sentence, which had never happened before. He was an officer of the high tomb-park, over eight feet tall with a good presence, who put the dead prince's case into the line about a son playing with his father's weapons and said a white-haired old man had taught him the words in a dream. He was called the Carriage Chancellor because his years let him bring a small cart into the palace, and the emperor said the High Ancestor's spirit had sent him (Hanshu, juan 66).