Life

Tian Jian succeeded his father, King Xiang, who died in 265 BC. He reigned for 44 years. At the time he acceded to the throne, Qi was one of the wealthiest states, and it was on the seacoast far from the most aggressive state, Qin. For years, Tian Jian's mother acted as his advisor. On her deathbed she wanted to tell her son which ministers she thought were the best. But when the writing materials arrived she could no longer tell him. After she died, Hou Sheng (后勝) became his prime minister. It was alleged by some sources that Hou Sheng was in the pay of the state of Qin.

One famous anecdote is that after the Battle of Changping in 260 BC, in which, according to the historian Sima Qian, 450,000 soldiers of the state of Zhao were killed by the Qin army, King Jian was advised: "Zhao is a hedge that protects Qi... just as the lips protect the teeth. When the lips are gone, the teeth become cold....Go to the aid of Zhao!" However, the king did nothing; during his reign he tried to stay out of wars, as the future First Emperor Qin Shihuang attacked all the states around him.

The kingdom of Qi was the only opponent of Qin after Qin Shi Huang conquered every other state. King Jian and his prime minister Hou Sheng (后勝), a relation of Jian's wife, sent the Qi army to the western border of Qi to protect the country; but Qin general Wang Ben (王賁), son of Wang Jian, attacked Qi from the north instead and conquered it in 221 BC, completing Qin's unification of China.

Tian Jian was captured with his entire court. In one story, the king went to Qin voluntarily, resisting the urging of his loyal counselor, after the defeat, because Qin Shi Huang had promised him a large property of 500 li. Instead, when he arrived in Qin, he was sent to a remote area with his wife and daughter, where he starved to death. The Qi people made a sarcastic ballad to commemorate him. "Oh, pine trees! Oh, cypress trees! Making the king of Qi die in a common village–this was a guest who was good at adapting!"

Later in the Han dynasty, the official Wang Mang usurped the emperor and took the throne. Wang Mang proclaimed to have descended from Jian of Qi (through from the Eighteen Kingdoms).

Ancestry

生平

前265年，齊襄王過世。翌年（前264年），齊襄王的兒子田建繼位，史稱齊王建，獲得太后君王后輔政扶持。當時秦國實行遠交近攻的策略，由於齊國位處東方海濱，在君王后的輔政下對秦國維持謹慎的外交關係，對其他五國諸侯又保持距離，因此在五國忙於應付秦國攻擊之下，齊王建在位四十餘年都不曾有戰事。

前260年（齊王建五年），長平之戰時，齊國、楚國援救趙國。趙軍缺糧，向齊國請求援助，齊王建不肯答應。周子以「脣亡齒寒」的道理勸說齊王建應盡快救援趙國，以確保趙國作為齊、楚的屏障，同時亦能贏得救亡抗秦的道義和名聲。齊王建不聽，結果秦軍繼續攻打趙國，擊敗趙國後坑殺趙軍四十萬。

前249年（齊王建十六年），君王后病逝，同年秦國消滅了姬周僅餘的勢力東周國。君王后死後由族弟后勝擔任齊國國相。后勝多次收受秦國使臣的錢財，他派遣的賓客進入秦國，也受了秦國的重賄而勸齊王入秦與秦王會面，不做戰爭的準備，也不幫助五國抗秦，結果在秦國持續的攻勢之下五國相繼破滅。在秦國擊敗魏國置東郡（前242年）後，齊王建仍在前237年（齊王建二十八年）入朝秦國，並獲秦王政設酒宴招待。秦國在前225年（齊王建四十年）滅魏後開始在歷下之地（今山東省濟南市歷下區）陳兵威脅齊國；至前222年（齊王建四十三年），秦先後消滅了燕、代，至此六國僅餘齊國尚存。

前221年（齊王建四十四年），齊王建及后勝派兵守備西界，不與秦國通使。秦國以此為由，命王賁率兵由燕地南下入侵齊都臨淄，齊國西部的主力未能回援，以致秦軍入城時臨淄民眾不敢抵抗。秦使陳馳以五百里封地誘騙齊王建投降，齊王不納即墨大夫之諌而聽信后勝及陳馳之言，不戰而降前往秦國，結果被俘後遷往共地（故共國所在，於今河南省輝縣）松柏樹林之中，最終餓死。齊國百姓怨恨齊王建不及早與諸侯合縱攻秦，聽信姦臣賓客之言，致使國家滅亡，因而編出歌謠說：「是松樹嗎？還是柏樹嗎？讓齊王建住到共地的難道不是賓客嗎？」

在位年與西曆對照表

在位年與西曆對照表

家族成員

• 弟田假。前208年（秦二世二年）六月，自立為齊王。

• 田儋的從弟田榮起兵，驅逐田假，田假逃亡楚國。

有孫田安，曾于秦漢之交受封為濟北王。