entity Updated 2026-08-24

田筹 / Tian Chou

田筹 / Tian Chou enters through Hanji 972 as a young 右北平 figure whom 刘虞 trusts with a covert mission to 汉献帝. Tian Chou refuses visible envoy display, selects twenty riders, travels from 居庸关 through frontier routes, and reaches Chang’an with Liu Yu’s memorial.

When the emperor appoints him qiduwei, Tian Chou refuses because the Han court is displaced and humiliated. After returning and learning Liu Yu is dead, he reads the court reply at Liu Yu’s tomb and rebukes 公孙瓒 directly, saying Liu Yu was loyal and innocent and that Gongsun Zan hates people who keep integrity.

Tian Chou’s later role is local-order building. From 无终县 he gathers kin and followers, enters 徐无山, farms personally, attracts thousands of households, and sets laws, rites, and schooling. The source uses him as a contrast with both Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan: loyalty becomes executable order rather than soft command or coercive killing.

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