Tian Heng田横

Where the histories differ

Records of the Grand Historian sets up a separate biography for the Tian family to praise their noble integrity, while History of Han downgrades them to a joint biography of four, lamenting that fate is hard to defy.

• histories differThe biography and praise of Tian Heng and the five hundred righteous men who died with him

  In Records of the Grand Historian, the biography of Tian Dan (田儋列传) is a separate chapter detailing the Tian brothers, and the Grand Historian expresses deep admiration for Tian Heng and the five hundred men on the island who died with him: 'Tian Heng's noble integrity, and the guests who admired righteousness and followed him to death, are they not the most worthy! I have therefore listed them. It is not that there are no good painters, but who could depict them, and why?' In History of Han, the biographies of Wei Bao, Tian Dan, and Han Wang Xin are combined into one volume, and although the eulogy sighs that 'Heng's integrity and the guests' admiration for righteousness,' it concludes: 'Heng's integrity and the guests' admiration for righteousness, yet they could not establish themselves—is this not Heaven!' The tone shifts from the heartfelt praise of Records of the Grand Historian to a lament over the impossibility of human effort against the will of Heaven.