田千秋 / Tian Qianqiu (Western Han)

Overview

田千秋 / Tian Qianqiu enters the wiki through Hanji 401 as the Western Han chancellor whose cautious silence under 霍光 helps show how far practical decision-making had shifted toward the regent in Han Zhao’s court. Hanji 402-1 adds a sharper legal-pressure scene: Tian tries to protect his son-in-law 徐仁 after the 侯史吴 case turns against Xu Ren and 王平, but he cannot move the court outside Huo Guang’s will. Hanji 403-1 adds his death notice in 77 BCE, preserving him as a court-chronology figure before the episode turns to 傅介子’s Western Regions mission.

Current Profile

The sources give Tian Qianqiu a narrow but revealing profile. Hanji 401 has him hold the chancellor title while the episode emphasizes that “政事一决大将军光”: major affairs are decided by Huo Guang. Tian’s defining behavior there is careful self-preservation and nonintervention in Huo’s personnel choices. Hanji 402-1 shows the limit of that posture when kinship obligation pulls him into the Hou Shiwu case: Tian convenes senior officials and scholars after Huo rejects the initial amnesty reading, but the assembled court follows Huo’s line and condemns Hou Shiwu as a great rebel. Du Yannian’s later memorial helps keep Tian from being dragged down with Xu Ren, leaving Tian alive but politically sobered. Hanji 403-1 then closes his current profile with the notice that Fumin Hou Tian Qianqiu dies in Yuanfeng 4 / 77 BCE.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han chancellor under Han Zhao in a court dominated by Huo Guang.
• Presented as cautious and self-protective rather than as an independent governing center.
• Does not object when Huo Guang promotes or appoints officials.
• Functions in the source as a contrast figure who makes Huo Guang’s real authority more visible.
• Attempts to protect his son-in-law Xu Ren in the Hou Shiwu case, but discovers that court consensus follows Huo Guang’s harsher classification.
• Dies as Fumin Hou in the 77 BCE court chronology before Fu Jiezi’s Western Regions narrative.

Evidence

Court position:

• Hanji 401 says state affairs were decided by Huo Guang while Tian Qianqiu held the chancellor position.

Cautious conduct:

• Hanji 401 says Tian was cautious and self-preserving and did not comment on Huo Guang’s official appointments.

Kinship and case pressure:

• Hanji 402-1 says Xu Ren was Tian Qianqiu’s son-in-law and that Tian tried to protect him after Huo Guang rejected the initial treatment of Hou Shiwu.
• Hanji 402-1 says Tian convened high officials and scholars, but they knew Huo Guang’s will and unanimously condemned Hou Shiwu.
• Hanji 402-1 says Du Yannian later argued that Tian usually spoke for subordinates and should not be discarded without major fault.

Death notice:

• Hanji 403-1 says Fumin Hou Tian Qianqiu dies in Yuanfeng 4 / 77 BCE.

Qualifications

This page is bounded to Hanji 401, Hanji 402-1, and Hanji 403-1. It does not reconstruct Tian Qianqiu’s full biography, earlier career, policy role, or relationship with Han Wudi and Han Zhao beyond these episodes’ regency-context description, Hou Shiwu case involvement, and death notice.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 402-1’s Hou Shiwu case layer: Tian tries to protect Xu Ren, finds court opinion aligned with Huo Guang, and survives after Du Yannian narrows the fallout.
• Preserved Hanji 401’s contrast between chancellor title and regent-centered practical authority and Hanji 403-1’s 77 BCE death notice.

Relationships

• 霍光 / Huo Guang (Western Han) - regent whose dominance Tian Qianqiu’s silence helps reveal.
• 徐仁 / Xu Ren (Western Han) - son-in-law whose prosecution draws Tian into the Hou Shiwu case.
• 杜延年 / Du Yannian (Western Han) - official whose memorial helps keep Tian from being punished with Xu Ren.
• 汉昭帝刘弗陵 / Emperor Zhao of Han - ruler under whom Tian serves as chancellor.
• Western Han dynasty / 西汉 - administrative setting for the chancellor-regent contrast.
• 傅介子 / Fu Jiezi (Western Han) - episode context that follows Tian’s death notice with Western Regions diplomacy.