Volume 4, Chapter 21: Cutting Off a Vital Part

Ji moved unhindered on the battlefield for many years, winning more battles than he lost, frequently taking sole command, relied upon by the Grand General. In the twenty-third year of the Rongsheng era, the Grand General led an army and invaded Zezhou, fighting the Great Yong’s main army at Qinze and dispatching Ji to attack the enemy’s supplies. Unexpectedly, the Yong army was crafty. The Prince of Qi adopted a disguise and departed from the main army, setting a trap. Ji did not discover it and was ambushed into an encirclement. Fighting hard all day and all night, Ji’s army used up all its ammunition and provisions. In the face of the strong enemy, a meteorite fell at Qinshui. All of his troops were killed, none of them surrendering. At the time, the Yong commander, the Prince of Qi, Li Xian, although disgusted by Ji’s ma.s.sacres, still cherished his talent and dispatched an emissary to convince Ji to surrender. Ji refused, singing a song as he met his end. At the time of his death, he was thirty-one years old. The Prince sighed with admiration, prohibiting his corpse from being desecrated, ordering his household troops to deliver the body back to Northern Han. Seeing Ji’s corpse, the Grand General felt a sorrow that penetrated him to his core. Adhering by Ji’s previous request, the Grand General buried Ji’s ashes in his homeland.

—Northern Han Dynastic Records, Biography of Tan Ji