Hou Tian

Hou Tian (510–9 April 561), courtesy name Boyu, was a military general of the Liang and Chen during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. During the Hou Jing Disturbance, he vacillated his allegiance between the competing powers and delivered the final blow to Hou Jing's army while serving under Wang Sengbian. Hou Tian effectively became a semi-independent warlord in the Jiangxi area, but after his followers ousted him from his territory, he went to join the future Emperor Wu of Chen at Jiankang. Under the Chen, he decisively defeated the Hunan warlord, Wang Lin in 560, ending a three-year-long conflict that threatened the dynasty.

Despite his history of defections and betrayals, Hou Tian was one of the few southern commanders at the time who boasted victories against both the rival Northern Qi and Northern Zhou, and played pivotal roles in the suppression of Hou Jing and Wang Lin. After his death in 561, he was posthumously honoured and enshrined in Emperor Wu's ancestral temple.

Early life and career Hou Tian was a native of Chongguo County (充國縣), Baxi Commandery (巴西郡; northwest of present-day Nanbu CountySichuan). His father was Hou Hongyuan (侯弘遠), a prominent noble in the Western Shu region. In an unspecified year, the rebel, Zhang Wen'e (張文萼) occupied Mount Baiya (白崖山; in present-day Libo County, Guizhou) with 10,000 soldiers. The Inspector of Yi province and the Prince of Poyang, Xiao Fan ordered Hou Hongyuan to quell the disturbance, but he was killed in battle. Hou Tian swore to avenge his father's death and led the vanguard in every battle against the rebels, eventually killing Zhang Wen'e. His deeds in the campaign earned him renown, and Xiao Fan rewarded him by making him a general.

During the remainder of Xiao Fan's tenure in Yi province, Hou Tian was often sent to subdue the non-Chinese tribes living in the mountains and valleys that had not yet submitted. For his merits, Hou was appointed the Adjutant of the Inner Troops and Administrator of Jinkang. When Xiao Fan was appointed Inspector of Yong province in 541, Hou was made Transcending Martial General and Administrator of Fengyi, and when Xiao was garrisoned at Hefei in 548, Hou also followed him there.

Hou Jing Disturbance Seizing Yuzhang In the same year he was transferred to Hefei, the general, Hou Jing besieged Emperor Wu of Liang at the capital of Jiankang. Hou Tian followed Xiao Fan's son, Xiao Si (蕭嗣) to rescue Jiankang, but after the city fell in 549, they returned to Hefei and followed Xiao Fan to Pengcheng after his plan to attack Jiankang with the Eastern Wei did not come to fruition. In early 550, the Interior Minister of Linchuan and Prince of Shixing, Xiao Yi attacked the rebellious Administrator of Yuzhang, Zhuang Tie (莊鐵). At Xiao Si's urging, Xiao Fan sent Hou Tian to rescue Zhuang. Xiao Yi's forces were destroyed by Hou, and he was killed in battle.

In the middle of 550, Zhuang Tie was once again under attack, this time by the Prince of Shouyang, Xiao Daxin. Xiao Fan sent Hou Tian with 5,000 soldiers to reinforce Zhuang, but while he did so, both Xiao Fan and Xiao Si died back in Pengcheng as the city was lost to Hou Jing's general, Ren Yue. Xiao Daxin also surrendered to Ren, so Hou Tian remained under Zhuang Tie's care. However, Zhuang was deeply suspicious of him, and Hou, feeling uneasy, pretended to invite him over to discuss a matter before killing him and occupying Yuzhang commandery (豫章郡; around present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi) for himself.

Hou Tian then followed the Liang commander, Wang Sengbian in his campaign against Hou Jing, leading the vanguard and defeating the rebels in all his battles. He also captured the two garrisons of Nanling and Quetou (鵲頭; in present-day Tongling, Anhui). After Liang forces recaptured Jiankang in 552, Hou Jing fled towards Wu Commandery, so Wang ordered Hou Tian to pursue him with 5,000 elite troops. Hou Tian caught up with Hou Jing at Wusongjiang. At the time, Hou Jing still had 200 boats and several thousand of men. Hou Tian routed them, capturing several of Hou Jing's generals and all of his weapons. One of these generals was Peng Jun (彭雋), who Hou Tian had his abdomen cut open and intestines pulled out. Seeing that Peng was still not dead, Hou collected the intestines before beheading him.

Retrieving Xiao Fangzhi In 554, the Inspector of Qin province, Yan Chaoda (嚴超達) laid siege to the Northern Qi territory of Jing province (涇州; around present-day central Anhui). Wang Sengbian ordered Hou Tian and Zhang Biao (張彪) to lead their forces from Shiliang (石樑; in present-day Tianchang, Anhui) to reinforce him. However, the two delayed their march, and after Yan was defeated by the Northern Qi general, Duan Shao, they withdrew to Qin Commandery (秦郡; in present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu).

As Hou Tian's forces laid siege to Murong Yan's city, he and Ren Yue built several miles of reed barriers on Yingwu Islet (鹦鹉洲; in present-day Wuhan, Hubei) to block the waterways, spreading panic among the city defenders. However, the weather was stormy at the time, and there were strong winds and waves that constantly broke the reeds, which encouraged the defenders who saw this as divine intervention. While Ren Yue moved south of the city with the siege weapons, Hou Tian camped north of the city, burning down the city walls and destroying the local properties as he intended to attack the city from two sides. However, Murong Yan sallied out and defeated them, capturing 500 of their soldiers. Later, Hou and Ren were joined by Xiao Xun with 50,000 troops, and they launched a night attack on the city. They were still unable to make a break through, and by dawn, they issued a retreat. Murong's forces pursued them, killing one of Hou's top generals, Zhang Baishi (張白石). Hou offered Murong a thousand taels of gold for the return of Zhang's head, but Murong rejected him.

In May or June, Hou Tian and the others returned and besieged the city again with their full force while Murong continued to hold out despite food shortages in the city. That month, Wang Sengbian reached an agreement with Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi to install the pro-Qi Xiao Yuanming to the throne in exchange for peace. As a result, Wang ordered Hou Tian to withdraw back to Yuzhang while Emperor Wenxuan agreed to cede Ying province back to Liang.

At the time, the Northern Zhou general, Shi Ning arrived upstream to attack Wang Lin. Hearing this news, Hou Tian predicted that Wang will not hold out for long, so he withdrew his troops to the lakeside. Shi Ning soon besieged Ying province, and Wang was forced to lead his ships downstream, anchoring a few miles away from Wuhu. The following day, the Northern Qi sent tens of thousands of troops under Liu Boqiu (劉伯球) and Murong Zihui (慕容子會) to reinforce Wang as he marched towards Liangshan to bypass the Chen army and seized the strategic terrain. Hou Tian ordered his troops to prepare breakfast and divided his troops at the tail end of Wuhu Islet, where he anticipated for Wang's arrival.

In December 560, Hou Tian fought Dugu Sheng at Xijiangkou (西江口; north of present-day Yueyang, Hunan), eventually defeating him at Yangye Islet (杨叶洲; northwest of Yueyang) where he captured Dugu's men, weapons and all of his warships. Dugu withdrew ashore and built a city to defend himself. Meanwhile, the Chen court also dispatched Hou Andu to assist Hou Tian in his campaign. Soon, the Northern Zhou commander in Baling, Yuchi Xian (尉遲憲) surrendered to Chen, and Dugu and his remaining followers secretly fled from Yangyezhou. Hou was thus left with Heruo, and the two were locked in a stalemate for a long time. In January or February 561, Hou offered to lend Heruo his boats, allowing him to cross the river and return to the north. Heruo was worried that Hou had set up a trap and asked him to fall back a hundred li first. Hou agreed, leaving his boats and ordering his troops to withdraw. After Heruo's withdrawal, the whole of Xiang province was returned to the Chen.

Death and posthumous honours In February or March 561, Hou Tian was appointed Chief Controller of military affairs of the six provinces of Xiang, Gui, Ying, Ba, Wu and Yuan, General of Chariots and Cavalry and Inspector of Xiang province. He was also granted the title of Duke of Lingling while his other official titles remained the same. Soon, however, Hou submitted a memorial requesting to return to the capital due to illness. On 9 April 561, he died on his way to Jiankang.

Hou Tian was posthumously appointed Palace Attendant, Grand General of Agile Cavalry and Grand Marshal. He was also given the posthumous name of Zhuangsu (壯肅), and later that year, he was enshrined in the temple of Emperor Wu along with Zhou Wenyu, Hou Andu and others. He was succeeded by his son, Hou Jingzang (侯淨藏), who was married to Emperor Wen of Chen's daughter, Princess Fuyang.