Gesso 4 Sweatpants(Black)

“Qi Fan Bang Chang Fa Hua” Six-Character Knife Coin

In 284 BCE, during the Warring States period, the renowned Yan general Yue Yi led an invasion of the State of Qi. Qi’s leadership misjudged the situation, failing to anticipate that Yan had formed a coalition with six other states. The overwhelming allied forces swept through Qi, capturing stronghold after stronghold within six months. Even Linzi, the capital of Qi, fell, leaving only the cities of Ju and Jimo unconquered.

With the survival of Qi hanging in the balance, General Tian Dan devised an ingenious strategy. He deliberately spread word that what the people of Qi feared most was having their noses cut off as punishment. The Yan commanders believed the rumor and mutilated their Qi captives. Seeing their countrymen treated this way filled the people of Qi with rage.

Tian Dan then spread another rumor: that the people of Qi feared nothing more than having their ancestors’ graves desecrated. The Yan army fell for the deception again, digging up graves and burning the remains. This further enraged the people of Qi and ignited their determination to resist.

Seeing that the time was right, Tian Dan prepared his counterattack. He gathered more than a thousand cattle, painted their bodies with colorful patterns, covered them with ochre-colored cloth, fastened blades to their horns, and tied oil-soaked reeds to their tails.

Late at night, the Qi army secretly opened more than a dozen passages through the city walls and set the reeds on the cattle’s tails ablaze. Driven mad by the flames, the cattle charged directly into the Yan camp. At the same moment, Tian Dan led 5,000 elite soldiers into battle behind them.

Faced with the flames, the clattering blades on the cattle’s horns, and the deafening sound of drums and gongs beaten by the people inside the city, the Yan troops believed they were facing some supernatural force. Panic swept through their ranks, and the army quickly collapsed.

Tian Dan seized the opportunity and pursued the retreating forces, recovering more than seventy cities of Qi and driving the Yan army all the way to the river.

To commemorate this extraordinary reversal and the recovery of Qi’s lost territory, King Xiang of Qi minted the Six-Character Knife Coin as a commemorative issue.

From the Battle of Jixi until Tian Dan’s restoration of Qi, the people of Qi held firmly to the cities of Ju and Jimo. Their resistance later became associated with the saying “Never Forget Ju” (毋忘在莒)—a reminder not to forget times of hardship, even in times of security and prosperity.